The digipak for Rihanna's album Loud emphasizes themes of love, romance, and sex through the use of color, imagery, and Rihanna's provocative poses. Red dominates the cover, representing love, while roses and Rihanna lying in a bed of roses on the CD and inside depict romantic and sexual themes. The back cover shows Rihanna in a suggestive stance, implying a promiscuous performance is about to take place. Overall, a narrative of a love story appears to be portrayed, with Rihanna expressing sadness over a lost lover.

1. Digipak Analysis
Rihanna - Loud

2. In this digipak, Rihanna is the only character featured throughout it, so all emphasis is
placed on her. On the main cover, the colour red stands out to the viewer, especially with
the red hair and lips. The lips are shown to be very full, which could be representing her
ethnicity. The colour red has obvious connotations of love, romance and sex. These
connotations are shown throughout the digipak analysis. In terms of typefaces, a sans serif
font has been in used, in large spaced out letters. The font used is not only modern but it is
in large letters so it stands out. Fairly high key lighting has been used to almost make the
face of Rihanna glow.
The CD itself has a picture of roses, which again emphasises love, and shows the sexual
nature of the digipak. The colour pink also has these connotations. The inside of the digipak
depicts Rihanna lying in a bed of roses, wearing what looks like a wedding dress. These again
have connections to love and romance. Her body language in the image is also provocative,
which again strengthens the emphasis on sex and love in this digipak. The colour red again is
used heavily in this image, and it stands out well along with the white that’s used on the
dress.
On the back cover of the digipak, Rihanna is seen sitting on a stool, and she looks as if she is
‘backstage’. The viewer gets the impression that a show/performance is about to take place,
especially with show curtains in the background. Rihanna is looking at the camera in a very
provocative way, and along with her choice of clothing, it emphasises the sexual nature that
is being portrayed in the digipak. The tattoo and her stance further emphasise the theme of
the digipak.
It seems as if a narrative is being portrayed in this digipak, in particular, a love story. The
sadness that Rihanna is trying to portray could reflect the loss of a lover or the end of a
relationship. The back cover shows perhaps a change in her behaviour, as she becomes a lot
more sexually promiscuous. A narrative enigma is used because the viewer wants to know
more as a clear story isn’t being shown. For example, the viewer wants to know what has
gone on as it seems like she has lost a lover.