The document analyzes and summarizes the design elements of digipak album covers from four different artists: Red Hot Chili Peppers, AC/DC, Foo Fighters, and Emineh. For each album cover, key design elements like colors, images, text styles and placements are described. Comparisons are made between how the designs fit or diverge from conventions within their respective genres of rock or rap music. Overall impressions and opinions on what design aspects work well or could be improved are also provided.

1. Digipak’s Analysis
By Ben Simmons

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers
First of all the digipak album cover is in a mix of colours, this is different for a rock band as you wouldn’t associate that type of genre
with bright and happy colours. Rock is usually seen as darker colours for a digipak. However the back of the album is a lot darker, this
relates more to the genre. The text used for the name of the album is very big and colourful, this makes the album easy to notice and
stand out more. The text used for the bands name is small and simple, this shows that the band want the album name to stand out
more than the band itself. The cover doesn’t show any of there faces which also shows that they are trying to bring more attention
to the album itself compared to the band. The back of the album does show their faces, it’s all dark which can relate to the rock
genre. The track list on the back is white and can be read easily of the black background. This layout and design works well for this
band because it’s not particularly emotive. It’s also very mysterious and has the right mix of colour in it to not get mistaken for a pop
album cover. I like the different font’s used throughout the whole cover and how they don’t put their faces on the front to use that
to sell their album, I dislike how the front of the album doesn’t link that much with the rest of the pack. The CD’s are very plain and
don’t really tell you much about the band or album, but do relate in colour to the album.
The poster is similar to the front of the album but doesn't quite fit with the rest of it. I like the use of mise en scene within the poster
to show the name of the band. I like the way the like just shows the band members and I feel like it was a good idea to show their
faces on the poster compared to the album as it is bigger and more noticeable.

3. AC/DC
First of all the digipak has a nice range of darker colours which represent the genre of music they are. The digipak follows the
conventions of a normal digipak also. The text used on the band’s name makes it stand out more. The size of the bands name will
catch your eye and then you will notice the smaller text underneath telling out the name of the album. I think this is a very clever way
to design your digipak and it could be useful for my one when I make it. The opposing colour of the white text on the black
background works well. Similar to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers they also don’t have their faces on the cover which shows that they
don’t want to use that as a factor of selling their album. Throughout the whole digipak there is only one person shown. The back
again shows the track list and has very simple styled text and doesn't really stand out that much. The inside of the digipak links well
with the album name “LIVE AT RIVER PLATE” because it shows a crowd of people most likely at their concert. The CD’s themselves
have a nice mix of colour. The red on black on one then the black on red on the other is a smart idea. Unlike the previous one it’s not
plain and adds a nice diversity to the digipak.
The poster again links well with the album name because it is “live” it shows someone a on stage. The colours are different from the
digipak cover, however it still fits well with the genre as it’s not that bright of a colour and doesn’t really have much of an emotive
feel to it.

4. Foo Fighters
The album cover is very simple and follows the normal convention of a digipak. The dark colours connote well with the rock genre. They
use their faces on the front cover which is different from the previous two rock digipaks I have analysed. They also use a range of
different vibrant colours. This makes their faces stand out more and could be used as their selling point. I dislike the colours and I feel like
that a mix of brighter colours don’t mix well with a rock genre. I also don’t think the colours look that good together. The digipak does
follow the conventions of a normal one. The text used for the album name is plain and not very appealing. I feel that it is a very simple
and boring album cover. The back has a track list like most normal digipaks. It’s also very similar to the front being plain and not having
much to it. However I feel because it is the back of an digipak it shouldn’t have too much on it as that’s not the part you will be seeing
first in a shop. The CD however is very interesting and doesn’t link too the digipak that much. The yellow and black go well together and
the highlight of the word ‘fight’ is a smart idea.
The poster is the same as the digipak cover it follows the genre of rock by using a darker colour as the background. But the colours used
on the faces are not very appealing and wouldn’t really make me that interested in looking into buying the album. I think that if they
stuck to a smaller amount of colours and maybe used less vibrant ones it would of worked better.

5. Rihanna
The cover for the digipak follows the conventions of a normal pop artist as it is close-up on the artists face. This is because they
want to use her face as the selling point of the album. Since she is well known if you spot her face in the store you will immediately
know who’s album it is and if you’re a fan you would purchase it. The use of bright colours works well for the cover as it’s a pop
artist and you get the feel that is a cheerful album which would want to make you buy it. The typography for her name is quite
simple, her name is very small at the top and not so easy to read however because you can see her face, her name wouldn’t really
matter. Making the word ‘LOUD’ massive was a smart idea and it because people relate the loud things to something big. The back
is different and doesn’t follow conventions since it doesn’t show a track list or any information. This could be her trying to innovate
the way digipaks are made. The inside also doesn’t have any information just another picture of her lying in roses. The colour of
the roses link well with her hair and this could have been used to make people begin to relate roses to her whenever they see
them. The CD’s again don’t have any information but just bright colours which link well to the genre of music.
The poster has a bit more information than the album cover this is probably because more people will see the poster and will need
to know what it’s about. Similar to the cover it just has a picture of her on it. This is again to sell her image as it is a well known one.
The text for her name is bigger but still not so easy to read. I like the idea of using the artist as a selling point because it works well
and can get you more sales.

6. Eminem
The album cover is simple and it shows him walking in an urban landscape. The colours show a moody setting, this could
connote that albums about bad times which most rappers rap about. The fact that he is walking alone proves might show
his loneliness which could relate to the songs he sings about. This follows the conventions of a rap cover since most of
them are either showing the artist or somewhat relate to their problems. The text used for the album name is easy to read
and noticeable. He doesn’t include his name on the cover, however this could be because people might realise it is him
from the picture. He is wearing clothes that might relate to a rapper like: a hooded jumper, woolly hat, trainers etc. The
back of the cover follows the conventions by listing the tracks, however they seem a little small and might be hard to read.
He does show his face on the back of the cover this might be because he needs to make sure people can know who this
album is from. The text on the back is also very plain and simple but that again doesn’t matter since it’s on the back of the
album. The CD links with the image of the ‘O’ in the word ‘RECOVERY’ this is a clever idea which I could input into my own
digipak.
The poster is similar to the album cover however it shows more information on what it’s about and it also tells you who the
album is by. The text used on the poster is again very simple. His name is adverse to the album name, this makes you
notice it more and think about what it means. I think out of all the posters I have looked at so far this one is the best
because he doesn’t use his face to sell the poster and it has the most information out of all them so far which is very useful
for anyone looking into buying the album.