Rhianna's debut album digipak features a close-up shot of her facing down with dark makeup, drawing attention to her facial features. The color red represents love, hurt, and sex reflected in the album's songs. Ben Howard's digipak shows him diving underwater, representing his love of surfing. The large font on his name promotes him as a solo debut artist. Lana Del Rey's digipak is a simple medium shot of her vintage style outside, focusing attention on her beauty and indie music genre.

1. ANALYSIS OF
EXISTING DIGIPAKS
By Megan Sellar

2. This is Rhianna’s digipak from her debut album ‘Loud’. The front page of the digipak displays a close up shot of Rhianna facing the
ground and not looking directly at the camera. Her choice of body language suggests she is deep in thought. Her bright red lipstick and
choice of dark eye make up instantly draws the audience’s attention leading them to focus on her dominant facial features. The use of
the colour red is important as it follows connotations of love, hurt and sex which is also reflected in her choice of songs featured on her
album: ‘Only Girl in the World’, ‘Man Down’ and ‘California Girl’. Overall, the main image is displayed to be quite sexual as the audience
are only able to see her bare shoulders which ultimately portrays the genre of her music – R&B as this style of music is typically seem to
more open and free due to the older target audience.
The typography used on the front cover of the digipak is quite simple as it only shows the arts name ‘Rhianna’ and the name of her
album ‘LOUD’. The text is shown to be quite subtle through the use of the colour white which adds to the feminine and romance theme
which is displayed throughout the digipak. The name of the album contrasts with the theme of her digipak as the design mainly revolves
around feelings of love and romance, reflecting the emotional songs included in her album. However, it could be argued that her album
is perhaps called ‘LOUD’ to reflect her personality as she is displayed in the media as a bold musician who plays such a big influence
within the music industry.
The inside cover of the digipak follows the main house style of red but in a softer tone, creating a nice balance from the intense shade
displayed on the front cover. The image conveys Rhianna to be lying on the ground in a seductive manner covered in red roses –
portraying feelings of lust and desire. The bed of red roses also display the idea
of a natural environment, conveying Rhianna’s natural beauty, which the female
audience thrive on and look up to. She is also shown to not be facing the
camera, creating a mask of identity.
The CD disc includes an image of a pale pink rose to reflect the beauty of her
work, not just the visual impact of her digipak but also the music included. The
rose is also used to symbolise feelings of innocence and love. This is reinforced
through the style other music through the song: ‘California King Bed’ as the
song features the lyrics ‘inside of a rose’ showing the connection between the
rose and love.
DIGIPAK 1:

3. DIGIPAK 2:
This is Ben Howards digipak ‘Every Kingdom’ which was first released on the 30th September 2011 in the UK. The front cover of his
digipak shows him diving under the sea, conveying elements of nature. The front cover could possibly represent his love for surfing -
which is shown in his charitable work to keep England's beaches clean. The main title at the top of the page ‘Ben Howard’ is written in
large, bold white font. This seems to place value and importance on the artist himself and his name. This could be due to the fact that
not only is he a solo act but this is also his first debut album, therefore his name is important as he is introducing himself in to the music
industry. Goodwins idea of demands of the record label can be recognised here as the record label has obviously tried to sell Beg
Howard to the public by placing his name in such big lettering and showing only him in the picture. This is a key convention of digipaks.
The use of bright and bold colours could suggest the digipak has a much deeper meaning. For example, the bright light in the corner
where the sun is shining through the sea could connote the artist’s bright and hopeful future in the music industry, or suggest the idea
of new beginnings and happiness. Another connotation can be seen in the darkness of the water at the bottom, this darkness could
represent unknown and mysterious places.
Aspects of Barthes’ enigma code can be recognised within this cover as what it means is a mystery and it allows for ambiguity, which
means the audience can interpret it in different ways through different perspectives. The figure in the cover, which is the artist himself
creates an element of mystery , leaving the audience to feel unsure as to who he is or what he’s
doing.
The layout of the album cover is very simple as it only consists of one background image of the
artist diving in to the water, the name of the artist and the name of the album. The simplicity of
the album links well with the artist’s music as Ben Howards’ music is conveyed to be quite calm
and tranquil. The album cover also follows the route of the eye, as there is a main masthead
across the top of the cover, which then leads down to the image of the artist.
The preferred audience would receive this album cover in a positive way as they would already
like music from this particular genre of music and would enjoy the simplicity and ambiguity of
the design.

4. DIGIPAK 3:
This is Lana Del Rey’s digipak from her album ‘Born To Die’. The front cover displays a simple medium close up shot of Lana’s face and
outfit. By applying a medium close up, it frames the audience to concentrate on her beauty and voyeuristic features. This is a common
feature seen within the indie genre to allow record labels to create a representation of the artist. The simplicity of the design allows us
as the audience to focus on Lana’s vintage style seen within her outfit, hair and makeup. The image has been taken outside which is
links well with the genre of her music – Indie, as most indie music videos are filmed outside typically in wooded areas.
The iconography used on the front cover of the digipak is quite vintage yet which would appeal to consumers who enjoy this style of
music. Her overall appearance is also seen to be quite vintage as her makeup is shown to be quite plain. Regarding the colour scheme of
the album it is clear to see there is some iconography of the American flag through the colours white, blue and red. For example, she is
shown to be wearing a plain, white blouse followed by the artists' name which is also highlighted in white font. The colour blue is also
vivid as it is included in the background image behind and in the text ‘Born To Die’. The colour red is also shown as Lana Del Rey is
shown to be wearing red lipstick. The use of the colour red could further suggest feelings of love, lust and passion.
In contrast to the design of the front cover, the CD features a white background which is surrounded by three red roses. The use of the
roses is ironic as roses are often associated with love and death, which is illustrated in the name of the her album ‘Born To Die’.
Even though no text is shown, the iconology is continued with red
showing passion and patriotism of America and it’s flag. Linking in
with the American flag, a few songs reference to her patriotic sense of
her overall album, such as ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Million Dollar Man’
Inside the digipak, lyrics from each track listening is listed from Lana
Del Rey’s album. A type writer styled font is used to display the lyrics
which create a vintage and retro look similar to the front cover. Blood
splatters have been placed around the page which could signify Lana’s
betrayal of love and how it has been destroyed from past
relationships. The worn down paper behind reinforces the artists love
for vintage and retro which appeal to the young indie audience.

5. ALBUM COVER
I also looked at Sam Smith’s debut studio album for further inspiration. The front cover displays him to be siting down, repressing his
thoughts, holding his hands together as a sign of hope. His body language further portrays him to be quite sad and depressed conveying
the album to be quite emotional. This is further illustrated through the name of the album ‘In The Lonely Hour’. In a recent interview
Sam Smith described the purpose of the name of his album: "People are saying, 'Oh but it's too sad', but that's what it's about. I was
sad, heartbroken, and I wrote about being sad. Hopefully I'll be happier soon and I'll write about that.“
The colours used throughout the album are fairly simple and dark to illustrate the sad and emotional songs involved in the album. On
the front cover Sam Smith is shown to be wearing dark clothes: black jacket, grey top and black jeans to show a continuation of the
house style of black and white. In comparison to his single cover for ‘Money On My Mind’ the cover is seen to be much more colourful
and bright, which suggests the songs of this album to be much more happier.
The typography used on the front, back and disc cover is very consistent as the font type is Sans serif. The title of the album is shown to
be a smaller font size in comparison to the artists name Sam Smith which has purposely been enlarged to help promote his album. This
is has also been used on the cover of his single ‘Money Of My Mind’ showing progression of brand identity.
The back cover of the CD album includes Sam Smith’s conventional brand identity with his name and the title of the album. The back
cover also includes a list of songs which are included as part of the album package. At the bottom of the back cover, he has also
included the barcode and informal details of the album.
Similarly to the front and back cover of the album, the disc cover includes
his name and title of his album ‘In the Lonely Hour’. The disc also follows
his house style of black and white. Around the outside of the disc he has
also involved formal details relating to the companies he has associated
with during the making of his album.
In comparison to my own music video, the song I intend to use is quite
sad and emotional which may fit well with the visuals of this album cover.