media

1. Characters
The front cover of this digipak shows
Florence herself portrayed in an almost
storybook fashion. She is shown
wearing a pair of fake lungs attached to
a ribbon around her neck – this related
to the title of the album. Florence’s hair
is also cut and styled into an
unconventional look which relates well
to the ‘indie rock’ genre of the album as
its different as oppose to a mainstream
look. A photograph of Florence alone
has been used for the art within the CD:
this image is in black and white and
shows the singer wrapping her arms
around herself – this suggests a sense of
insecurity or shyness, giving the singer a
hint of innocence and purity. This is also
reflected within the main cover as the
singers body language appears gently
positioned.
Narrative
The digipak seems to have a
narrative as there is a suggestion
of a fantasy/storybook world
within the front cover image. The
digipak does entice the audience
to purchase the CD as the front
cover image as well as choice of
title ‘Lungs’ intrigues the
audience to want to understand
the reasons behind them further.
Iconography
As the album name is ‘Lungs’,
iconography has been as the main
singer is shown wearing a fake pair of
lungs in the album art front cover, as
well as a diagram of a pair of lungs
used on the back of the album art,
relating to the album title. For the CD
art, a close up shot of a pair of hands
grasping what appears to be a heart
has been used. This maybe have been
used to keep the organ theme going,
but also may suggest a possible
struggle as the hands are roughly
Setting
The front cover appears to have
the main singer posed in front of
a large draping curtain which looks
grey/navy and almost bark like as
if the singer is standing in front of
a large tree. In front of this curtain
yet behind Florence are also
blossomed branches and birds –
this makes the mise en scene
appear to be set in a make believe
forest giving the impression of a
storybook/fantasy world
suggesting a world of purity and
innocence.
Style
The colours of this digipak appear
rather muted and calming, such as
the use of soft blues/greys and
dark reds within the front cover
artwork. This relates to the indie
genre, capturing the audiences
attention creatively, but doesn’t
stand out too much with uses of
vivid colours that an album of the
pop genre may conventionally use.
The back cover of the album is
also black and white, making it
simple for the audience to read
and acknowledge. The CD art
itself, however, is shown using a
warmer yellow tone, yet is still
rather muted. The use of the
colour yellow gives a warmer feel
to the image of the heart
suggesting feelings
Digipak Analysis: Florence and the Machine – Lungs – Indie Rock Genre
positioned around the organ
instead of holding it delicately as
the heart itself is one of the most
essential organs. This could relate
to possible heartbreak which may
link to some of the tracks on the
album ‘Lungs’. There is a
suggestion of folk/fairytale within
the mise en scene

2. Characters
The album art for Kanye West’s
album ‘My Beautiful Dark
Twisted Fantasy’ uses paintings
painted by artist George Congo -
5 alternate covers were created
for this album. In this version, it
shows Kanye’s severed head,
crowned, being pierced with a
sword. The character appears
fearsome and powerful, with the
facial expression and the
portrayal of his eyes wide open,
relating to song ‘Power’ from the
album. His assumed status is also
conveyed through the crown that
he wears, suggesting the artist
believes he is dominant and
higher than everyone else. The
CD art shows another one of the
George Condo paintings, one
which was banned by Apple and
superstores for being too
provocative, featuring a naked
half woman half creature on top
of a man shown drinking. The
bizarreness of the painting
suggest Kanye’s desire to be
different and willingness to break
rules. It also further supports the
suggestion of Kanye’s powerful
persona, as he new such painting
would cause controversy in the
media, yet continued to use it
anyway.
Narrative
The use of specially made
intriguing paintings by George
Condo for this CD entices the
audience by being so mysterious
forcing them to wonder what
each of them mean, creating a
narrative enigma. Once listening
to the album, the paintings begin
to make sense.
Iconography
As an album of the hip hop genre,
this digipak does not show the
stereotypical features expected of
a hip hop CD. Instead, artist
paintings are used for the front
cover, suggesting a higher social
class as oppose to the stereotypical
street-raised rappers who
emphasis their rough upbringing.
Although in painting form, the
character is still recognisable as
Kanye West which could be classed
as iconic as there is no artist name
on the CD itself, just the image.
Setting
The album front cover painting appears
to be set in a dreamlike world,
featuring clouds and vivid blue skies,
which conveys an image of a fantasy
heaven-like setting, relating to the title
of ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’.
The characters severed head appears
on a podium-like display, further
suggesting the artists power and
supremacy thoughts about himself and
also referring to the track ‘Power’. On
the back, the album tracks are written
in a creative font. The type of font used
suggest a similar quality to calligraphy
– this font gives the album an almost
regal sense, which again relates to
power and royalty.
Style
As the album art is all digital with no
used of photographs, only paintings,
no camera was used. The use of the
colour red is frequent throughout the
digipak, used on both the front cover,
back cover and internal artwork. This
colour connotes strength and power –
a continuous theme of this digipak.
Within the inside, typography of the
artists name ‘Kanye West’ spreads
across 4 pages. This creative design
reflects the artists imaginative side,
which could also refer back to the
‘fantasy’ setting/theme of the digipak.
Digipak Analysis: Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Hip Hop Genre
The use of folk-tale like characters
for the album art show that Kanye
West, as a hip hop artist is
different and unique to the genre.

3. Digipak Analysis: Rihanna – Loud – Dance-Pop / R&B
Characters
This digipak only features one
character – Rihanna herself. She
is shown as a close up shot of her
face on the front of the album,
with striking, bold red hair. She
also has matching bold red
lipstick on – these striking colours
relate well to the title of the
album “Loud”. She is shown
looking down, not making eye
contact with this camera
suggesting shyness and
innocence. The purity of the
image is challenged by the visible
tattoo shown on Rihanna’s neck
which emphasises her as an RnB
artist, relating the image to the
genre of the CD. It goes against
the stereotypical conventions of
an RnB artists CD which Rihanna
has done in the past as women of
the RnB genre are usually
portrayed in a ‘sexy’ style, with
minimal clothing showing
themselves as an object to
desire. Even though Rihanna has
still created a CD of this genre,
she has gone against conventions
to create a purer image that
reflects the more innocent side
to the love theme rather than the
stereotypical objectivity of
women and sexual side of love.
Narrative
There seems to be a narrative to
this digipak as the inside album
artwork suggests a fairy-tale like
setting, showing that the CD
may be a story about love as the
roses are an iconic symbolism of
love. However, when listening to
some of the tracks and lyrics,
not all the songs featured on
the CD are so ‘innocent’ as
suggested by the digipak
artwork. Nevertheless, most
songs relate to some aspect of
the theme of love.
Iconography
Roses are iconically used within
this digipak, featuring on the inside
artwork as well as on the CD art.
The symbolism of the rose
connotes innocence and love, and
relates to the love theme of the CD
tracks such as ‘Only Girl (In The
World)’. The danger connotation of
the colour red can also relate to
the risky love themed songs such
as S&M. In the song ‘California King
Bed’ the artists create love imagery
using the lyrics ‘inside of a rose’,
showing the connection between
the flower and love.
Setting
On the inside artwork, Rihanna is
shown lying on a bed of red roses. This
gives off a storybook atmosphere as
she appears in a dream like state. The
princess-like dress shows Rihanna as
innocent as if in a fairy-tale, with the
roses showing love in the females life.
This goes against the CDs RnB genre as
it is more stereotypically
representative of a more indie genre.
The main imagery used on the front
album artwork is shown to be taken
within a studio, using high-key lighting
to capture the artists facial features in
the best way, making her look more
aesthetically appealing. This use of
high key lighting creates strong
shadows around the artists face, which
emphasise the focus on the artists face
and made-up facial features
Style
There is a strong use of the colour red
within this digipak which is a strongly
emotional colour connoting love and
possibly danger. This could be relating
to the emotional songs featured on the
CD. The artist is also shown in a white
dress, connoting innocence which
relates well to a fairy-tale vibe. The
vivid colours relate well to the title of
the album “Loud” as the boldness of
the red is striking and eye-catching to
the audience. The text on the front
cover shows the letters rather spaced
out in capital letters which suggests
the loud aspect of the name.