Blog post 5 digipak research

1. Digipak Research
-In order to develop my understanding of the technical features and conventions
of digipaks, I have studied examples from a range genres. Here I have looked at
two digipaks of constrasting genres closely

2. Digipak Research
-Muse, ‘Black Holes and Revelations’ Digipak

3. Digipak Research
- Outer 3 Panels
- The cover of the digipak features four men sat around a table on the surface of mars with another planet
in the background. These men with their toy horses are meant to represent the four horsemen of the
apocalypse (tying in with the title, Revelations to be the stories in the bible featuring the four horsemen) .
This rather bizarre image allows the audience to identify the genre of the album to be alternative rock.
(Alternative rock often being quite ‘out there’ and eccentric). The strange attire worn by the men further
the eccentricity of the situation conforming to the genre.
- Not only that but the Mese en Scene (in particular the red and blue contrast of the land and sky) creates
a visually appealing image to look at which may draw audiences and potential customers in.
- Interestingly the cover of the album does not feature the artists, this conforms to the bands insistence
that they are more interested in their music than the way they look highlighting them as artists more than
showmen.
- Conforming to the visual conventions of digipaks, the Muse logo, album title, track list and record label
logos are prevalent.
- The bold black typeface used within the muse logo will be instantly recognisable to fans, the sans serif
font is easier to read and makes the logo stand out from afar. It also reiterates the bands brand image of
not being terribly interested in their image, more interested in function over form.

4. Digipak Research
- Inner 3 Panels
- The inside of the digipak features a fairly minimalistic design.
- The red font on the patterned black background stands out and is visually appealing. It is also in fitting
with the rest of the aesthetic style of the digipak artwork.
- The red font in fact seems to be made out of the image on the 3rd panel of the digipak. This furthers the
notion of the ‘red planet’ or mars which helps to continue the ‘sci-fi’ or out of this world feel of the album
(Black Holes and Revelations).
- The planet Mars featured behind the disk space furthers the albums ‘other worldly’ feel whilst the
blackness could represent space.
Synergy
- The back of the digipak features several record label logo’s and the artists own
website. (www.muse.com). This synergy allows the audience to have the
information to easily acquire more information and products by the artist and
their record label.

5. Digipak Research
- Artist image
The digipak has an important role to play in
establishing the artist as a recognisable brand
and creating familiarity with its audience. This
means that fans who own one album will
subconsciously be drawn to an advert for a
new album release.
All of the MUSE covers feature the same bold
logo and never feature the artists themselves
on the cover. This decision highlights the bands
insistence that they are not in fact concerned
with their image rather their music. The covers
all feature quite surreal and colourful images
that present an almost sci-fi feel to their
albums reflecting the electric and synthetic
instruments often used in the music.
All of the albums have quite provocative or
bizarre titles (Uprising for example) which
alludes to the intense nature of the artists
music.

6. Digipak Research
- Sigur Ros, ‘Valtatri’ Digipak

7. Digipak Research
- Outer 3 Panels
- The cover of the digipak features a boat out at sea with what appears to be stars overlayed on the
image.
- The sticker on the front of the album provides individuality to the product. This appeals to loyal fans of
the artist as the sticker only comes with first editions of the album. Making this a collectible for fans
allows the digipak to have a more personal connection with the artist and perhaps adds more value to the
product than an internet download.
- The use of a ‘written’ font connotes a more personal touch to the album and adds to the image of the
artist as not being controlled by the music industry and free to their own creativity. This will be
recognisable to the loyal fans that the digipak has been targeted towards because the same font has been
used with most of their other albums.
- Certainly the text on the back of the cover gives the album a very personal touch due to the message
thanking family and friends for their help and even containing mistakes and scribbled out errors on the
cover.
- A convention of the post rock genre is to not have the artist on the front of the album. Similarly to
alternative rock, this is to portray the artists as more concerned with their music than their bands image.

8. Digipak Research
- Inner 3 Panels
- Similarly to the Muse Digipaks, the Sigur Ros digipak has no text on the inside and uses a
single image across all three panels. The serene image of the sun breaking through the trees
fits well with Sigur Ros’s music style which is often thought of as beautiful, consoling and
peaceful.
- The ‘crackly’ nature of the image makes it appear to of been taken with an old camera or is
perhaps reminiscent of an old vinyl sleeve. Which would appeal to fans who perhaps are
looking for more distinct artists away from the mainstream.

9. Digipak Research
- Artist image
The album artwork for Sigur Ros allow the
audience to quickly identify genre, brand
image and style of music. From the examples
below the ‘scrawled’ handwritten text used on
many of their album covers make it clear that
the artists wish to deliver a unique and
personal touch to their music and grant the
feel of something that wasn’t mass produced
by a ‘corporate machine’. The photos used are
always quite distorted or abstracted, a
convention of the post rock genre that allows
fans to identify the band as outside of the
mainstream or fulfilling a niche.

10. Digipak Research
- Artist image and synergy
The album artwork for Sigur Ros allow the
audience to quickly identify genre, brand
image and style of music. From the examples
below the ‘scrawled’ handwritten text used on
many of their album covers make it clear that
the artists wish to deliver a unique and
personal touch to their music and grant the
feel of something that wasn’t mass produced
by a ‘corporate machine’. The photos used are
always quite distorted or abstracted, a
convention of the post rock genre that allows
fans to identify the band as outside of the
mainstream or fulfilling a niche.

11. Digipak Research
- Overall Findings/Decisions
- The track list for the album often appears on the panel in the middle so that it will be
presented on the back of the digipak.
- From these two examples it can be seen that the artists genre is directly linked to the
aesthetic style of the digipak and will feature genre iconography.
- Using a 6- panel format will allow for a less condensed/cluttered layout allowing for more
focus on the digipaks visuals.
- It seems to be of vital importance to adhere to the demands of the record label so the
digipak will have to contain their logo’s and branding as a form of synergy.