The document summarizes research on the album covers of three popular albums from 2012-2013: fun.'s "Some Nights", Bruno Mars' "Doo-Wops and Hooligans", and Adele's "21". It analyzes the visual design elements, color schemes, photos, and typography used on the front and back covers of each album's digipack and how they relate to the mood and themes of the music.

1. Research: Digipacks
For my second ancillary task, I have decided to create a
digipack for my band’s new album.
Before creating my product, I researched and analysed
some of the most popular album covers from the past
five years in 2013, according to Complex.

2. fun. - Some Nights
Some Nights was released in 2012 by fun. and was photographed
by Nacho Alegre and Lindsey Byrnes.
The album cover is extremely simple, with just the title of the
album and an image – not even the artist’s name is on the front.

3. The top of the front cover has the title of
the album, Some Nights, and nothing else.
This is a fairly unconventional album cover
since usually it would have at least the
artist’s name but would usually be bigger
than the album name. I think that breaking
these conventions helps to convey the
unusualness and confusion of the songs.
The photo used on the front cover is very
interesting. Complex describes the cover as
the perfect visual capsule of the album’s
existential confusion and everything-on-
the-line party attitude. The photo is not
very clear and is very mysterious, and is
slightly eerie and dark because of the
slightly disturbing colours and worrying-
looking person sitting with their head
downwards. The person has something in
their hand that they are about to set alight
with a lighter. The photo is also slightly
poor quality, perhaps implying that the
photo is a memory or a dream.
Overall, despite the cover not being
particularly detailed, this cover is filled with
different mysteries and connotations that
perfectly reflect the mood of the album.

4. The album name is
repeated on the back cover
but is considerably smaller.
The album tracks
are all listed. They
are formatted into
two columns.
The artist name is on
the back cover but is
bigger than the album
name.
The artist and
album names
are repeated
on the spine
of the CD.
The record
label is also
on the spine.
The spine
is identical
on both
sides.
There is a barcode on the
back of the album for
retailers to scan when
selling physical copies.
Terms and conditions
from the Record Label.
In terms of the
overall style of the
back cover, it is
assuring continuity
to following a
similar theme to
the front cover.

5. Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops and Hooligans
Doo-Wops and Hooligans was released in 2010 by Bruno Mars.
Although this was Mars’ debut album, he was fairly well-known
because of his global debut single, Just The Way You Are.
The cover’s artwork was directed by Nick Malvone Bilardello.

6. The artist’s name is larger than the
album name but is not the most
prominent thing on the cover.
The typography is fairly wacky and
childish, which may be symbolic of
Mars’ cheeky attitude and the
overall mood of the album. You
wouldn’t see a font like this on
Some Nights!
The album name is fairly tiny but
because it is placed so near to the
much more obvious artist name, it is
still easy to spot.
There is little else on the front
cover as it is mainly filled with
the long winding path left
behind a black jet flying off
into the distance. This path
could be representative of
Bruno Mars’ successful future
career in the music industry.
A really lovely yellow colour is used
on the front cover. This colour has
connotations of happiness, self-
confidence and hope.
There is a silhouette of who can only
be assumed to be Bruno Mars. This
reveals humility in the wake of so
much success.

7. In terms of the overall style of the back
cover, it is assuring continuity to following a
similar theme to the front cover.
The album tracks
are all listed. They
are formatted in a
single light circle in
the very center of
the back cover,
making them the
most prominent
feature.
There is a barcode on the back of the
album for retailers to scan when selling
physical copies.
There is a website
address for Bruno
Mars’ website. This
assures synergy
across all of
Bruno’s products.
The record label idents are
both on the back cover.

8. Adele - 21
21 was released in 2011 by Adele. The digipack was
photographed by Lauren Dukoff.
It was Adele’s first full album, but Adele released an 8-song
EP at the beginning of 2009.

9. The main focus of the front cover is the picture of
Adele. The photo is lit beautifully, and alongside
her make-up makes Adele come across as a visual
role model for teenage girls and young adults –
the main target audience of pop music. Using a
photo of the artist also helps the audience link
the album to the artist by promoting her.
The album name is the same size as
the artist’s name. The only thing that
differentiates it is the fact that it is a
different colour (light green). It also
uses the same typography. This is
reflective of Adele’s modest
personality and her attitude towards
life in the sense of being able to live
with what you get, as is reflected from
the songs on her album.
Adele’s name is written in clear,
white letters. The white
contrasts particularly well with
the black, making it a very
obvious component of the front
cover.

10. There is a
barcode on the
back of the
album for
retailers to scan
when selling
physical copies.
The album tracks are all listed. They are listed in
one clear column, using a bright white colour
that contrasts nicely with the black background.
There is another
photo of the artist
on the back cover as
well. This helps the
audience to create a
connection
between the album
and the artist.
The record label ident is on the back cover. Record label rights