Adele's second studio album 21 explores themes of heartbreak through soul music. Released in 2011, the album topped charts in over 30 countries and had three worldwide number-one singles. The album packaging uses monochrome colors and close-up images of Adele's expressive face to represent the soul genre and emotions conveyed through the music. While mainly sticking to soul conventions, hints of brighter pop influences are shown through a green color on the CD to draw attention. These conventions are consistently represented across the vinyl, CD, and digital packaging.

1. ADELE 21

2. BACKGROUND
• 21 is the second studio album by Adele.
• Released on 24 January 2011 in the UK
• Its name was the age of the singer during its production.
• The album explores themes of
anger, revenge, heartbreak, self-examination, and
forgiveness.
• Adele began writing 21 in April 2009
• The album topped the charts in more than 30 countries
and has appeared in the Guinness World Records.
• The United Kingdom's best-selling album in the 21st
century, it had a 23-week at top of the UK Albums Chart
and is the longest time for a female solo artist.
• Rolling in the Deep, Someone like You and Set Fire to the
Rain became worldwide number-ones.

3. Genre
The genre is Soul and this is shown in the
key conventions used.
Key conventions that have been used:
• Monochrome effect on both the
image and the title.
• Having the main artist being the main
focus of the cover.
However having a attractive
female artist on the front cover
can also be a convention of the
pop genre.
Target audience
I think the target for this is for young
adults and adults as it is a sophisticated
digipack which only shows the main
artist and clearly shows the genre.

4. CD / VINYL COVER
In the foreground is the artist, to
clearly state whose album it
is, with her eyes shut and this is
a key convention of soul music
artists being on the front with
no special effects and a plain
background.
In the background is a grey
clear backdrop that allows the
artist to again be the main
focus of the CD/ Vinyl cover.
The text shows who the artist is
as well as the albums name in
a clear easy to read way but
does not take the focus off the
image of the artist.
The representation shows Adele in a
reflective mood which represents to
the audience that her songs will
reflect this. This also represents the
soul genre as the monochrome
setting and the way she is posed.
As the colours are in monochrome it
shows the genre of the music .
Although having 21 written in green
draws attention to the album covers
name.
It makes the artist look upset
or deep in thought.
Which connotes to what the
music is about.
The artist looks attractive and
smart on the cover as it has a
close up of her face.
Therefore you see the emotion
of the artist.

5. CD BACK COVER
AND SPINE
In the foreground is the artist
Again she has no special
effects and a plain
background however it is a
darker image with her eyes
open.
In the background is a black
backdrop that lets the artist
merge into the background to
again be the main focus of
the CD/ Vinyl back cover.
The text shows all of the tracks
on the CD and Vinyl, in the
same font as the title on the
front cover.
The barcode and the record
label are shown in the
foreground at the bottom and
show who has the rights for the
music and the barcode shows
it is a official music record.
As the colours are in monochrome it shows the
genre of the music . However it has darker
colours on the background to take the primary
focus away from the artists face.
The representation shows Adele
staring, thus breaking the forth wall
and this again represents feeling
from the artists face however the
primary focus is the text.
Having the artist again on the
back reinforces the emotion
which would be on the songs
as emotion is portrayed on
the artists face.
The artist looks attractive and
smart on the cover as it has a
close up of her face.
Therefore you see the emotion
of the artist again however
this time with her eyes open.

6. INSIDE CD BOOKLET & DISK
The inside cover is a repeat of
the CD front cover. Looking at
the CD Disk you can see the
colour of the front covers letters
‘21’ is repeated with a while
chalk like text across it with the
title of the album across it.
Having a green background
and the number 21 in the
foreground attracts your
attention to the white writing.
The bright green used on the disk makes it
stand out but use sophisticated and subtle
colours, rather than the a fluorescent
green, associated with the pop genre, that
attract the audience to the disk.
Using the white writing
The representation is the disk
being the primary focus as the
colours stand out, being the
only colour on the actual cd
case; inside and out. This means
it could represent the pop
element that Adele portrays.
Connotation
The bright colours used on the
disk makes it stand out but
use sophisticated and subtle
colours that attract the
audience to the disk and let
the audience identify whose
artists CD this is. Therefore this
is a key convention within the
soul music genre but shows
the subtle pop influence by
using a bright colour.
The denotation simply shows a
green CD Disk and a white 21
written on the front of it.
However the disks
connotations present to the
audience the pop element
that is interwoven into the soul
conventions. So the subtle
cover of the booklet contrasts
with the CD cover thus
leading it to be noticed more.

7. VINYL, VINYL
BACK COVER, AND CD POCKET
Looking at the vinyl and the CD pocket the
conventions shown in her CD is repeated in
both products thus her audience being
able to identify her products.
The only difference being the close up
image on the CD pocket that again shows
the artist’s face and emotions.

8. REFLECTION
Through this research I have learnt the key
conventions of artists products are repeated across
the forms of media used. I have also learnt that
throughout this the soul genre is shown with subtle
aspects of pop. This is what I will need to incorporate
in my own digipack to create a realistic pack.
• Creating a digipack that implies to the audience
the genre through the use of colours, representation
and connotation is how I must go about creating
mine.