The document analyzes and compares the digipak designs of three albums from artists considered part of the sadcore genre: The 1975's self-titled album, Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence, and Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago. It finds that The 1975 and Bon Iver albums feature simplistic black and white designs that fit sadcore conventions, while Lana Del Rey's includes some color elements. Key visual motifs like flowers and lighting/pyrotechnics are also discussed in connecting the albums to their artists' styles.

1. Digipak Analysis

2. The 1975 – (self titled) The 1975
The Digipak for this album fits the
genre conventions of Sadcore as it
is black and white and extremely
simple. Although the 1975 are
considered more indie/alternative
they are still in the subgenre of
sadcore because of the lyrics and
music that they produce.
The 1975 are an English rock band
originating from Wilmslow,
Cheshire. They have released four
EPs and two albums. Their self-
titled debut was released on 2
September 2013

3. Front Cover
The front cover s very simple,
being a black and white sign with
the bands name, which is also
there album name as its their self
titled album. The black and white
follows a trend with the band
during this album period. As you
can see in the pictures to the side
the album cover and a screenshot
from one of their videos are both
black and white and simple. This
is done So people recognise the
band through the motif of their
colouring.

4. CD
The cd carries on the theme
with it having only the name
on the cover in black, and the
actual cd a lighter black(which
looks brown on the picture).
There is nothing else on the cd
making it sleek and simple.
This cd is very aesthetically
pleasing and fits with the
band. I think that with having a
simple cover people do not get
to interested in the artwork,
and focus solely on the music
on the CD.

5. Back cover 1
This is the back cover for the
EP that was released before
the full album, fitting with the
black and white theme and the
font they constantly use. They
also use the style of writing
that is familiar with the band.
They use block letters with
spaces between each letter.
They are also known for using
two // to split songs and words
which is very common with
the band. They use this style of
writing with their social media
posts to link to their products.

6. Back cover 2
This is the back cover of the album
self titled ‘The 1975’. As you can see
this one is coordinates well with the
front cover of the album, with the
black and white and the lights. Not
only does this correlate with the
front cover and the music videos the
1975 produce but also with the
pyrotechnics and lighting at their
concerts. As you can see at the side
people would associate the show
with the 1975 straight away because
of the presentation of the stage. This
is done so the band is recognisable
by anyone who has seen either the
album cover, the music videos and
the live shows.

7. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
This album doesn’t
stereotypically look like a
sadcore artist Digipak
because there are elements
of colour throughout it.
Elizabeth Woolridge
Grant, better known
by her stage name
Lana Del Rey, is an
American singer,
songwriter, and
model.

8. Front Cover
The front cover of this Digipak is a
simple photograph of the artist,
Lana Del Rey, standing next to a
car with the name of the album in
big writing at the bottom. This
album fits with Lana’s sadcore
genre by being black and white
and simple. Lana is known for
being alternative which isn't
really presented on the cover of
this album, however because she
is on the cover and looks pretty it
links with her music videos where
she is always featured looking
nice.

9. Back Cover
On the back cover there is a
split between black and
white and colour. The back
cover does link with the
front as it is a photo of Lana
Del Rey in black and white.
The colour at the side looks
odd and doesn’t fit with the
theme on the outside.
However in the next slide
you will see that it does fit
with the CD.

10. CD
The CD art for this albums is
multicolored flower petals with
the artist name and the name
of the album. The petals are a
common motif within the
artist. As you can see to the
side there is a another album
cover where she is wearing a
flower crown. Having this
constant reference to flowers
makes people make a quick link
to her different albums and
videos. I did a Google search of
Lana Del Rey and flower crown
and as you can see it’s a
common theme she has.

11. Bon Iver
Bon Iver is an American
indie folk band founded in
2007 by singer-songwriter
Justin Vernon. Vernon
released Bon Iver's debut
album, For Emma, Forever
Ago independently in July
2007.
Bon Iver is considered a
Sadcore artist because of his
lyrics and rhythm. The Digipak
slightly relates to the genre
conventions as it is simple and
plain. However it is brown and
white, which is a lot brighter
compared to the other two
artist Digipak’s I analysed.

12. Front Cover
The front cover of this
digipak is a photograph that
people find hard to realise
what it is. The image is a car
in the snow with a rusted
door open. I think this
picture was used to relate
the whole Digipak together
because the snow is white
and the rust is brown like
the album.

13. CD
• The CD links directly to the
album artwork as it is
brown and white. The
names of the songs are at
the bottom and the artist
name is at the top. The
name of the album is not on
the CD because it is trhe
name of the first song on
the album. The cd art fits
with the genre conventions
because it is plain and
simple, which is what most
sadcore artwork looks like.