The document provides an analysis of the digipak for Florence and the Machine's album "Lungs". It summarizes that the digipak effectively incorporates conventions like the artist and album name while keeping a consistent theme of lungs. It also engages the target younger audience and provides extra information inside without being too focused on promoting the individual band members. Overall, the digipak layout successfully represents the album's content and brand in a memorable yet typical packaging format.

1. Florence and the
Machine
DIGIPAK ANALYSIS

2. I chose the artist Florence and the Machine
to use for my three essays as I thought she
was an artist that fits well in the genre of
indie music. I thought that it was a good
choice as it means that the group will have a
further insight into the indie genre so this
means that we can make a more effective
final product through our research.

3. Florence and the Machines target audience are the younger
generation of about 14-20 year olds. They say that they have targeted
this age group because it is the age when you start to become aware
of how the world works. I think this age group is targeted well through
her music video as she talks about things which any person of an age
younger than 14 may not actually understand fully and also the
concept of the video, the spiritual ritual, may not be fully understood
either. This shows how Florence is trying to challenge her audience
and make them question certain things, which they may not have
otherwise. However as it is quite a young target audience Florence
and the Machine need to make sure that their music is still interesting
and engaging for the audience so that it appeals and attracts the
audience which they want to appeal too. I think they have done this
well as they have used many different aspects to make their music
video different such as the use of camera shots, mise-en-scene,
props, costume, extras and so on. This ensures that any audience
watching the video will find that they are constantly interacting with the
music video and be thinking about what is going on.

4. This album has used many typical conventions of a digipak
including the artists name on the front cover, the album name
on the front cover, it has an individual booklet inserted inside
the digipak giving extra information and it has a track listing.
The digipack does include one main picture of the main artist
‘Florence’ however it does not incorporate images of the other
members of the band. This may be because they wanted to be
independent and for their music to speak for itself. The colours
they have used on the front of the digipak are quite muted
which is conventional of the indie music genre. They may have
used more muted colours on the front cover of the digipak to
sway the audience’s attention towards the lungs placed on
Florence’s chest and this is effective as again it makes the
audience think of the album name therefore making it more
memorable.

5. The name of Florence and the Machines digipak is ‘lungs’. On the front of the
digipak they show reference to this as you can see a pair of lungs on the top of
Florence’s chest and then on top of this are the words ‘LUNGS’ in bold white
writing making it stand out. As the name of the album is incorporated so much
on the front of the digipak this makes it hard for the audience to forget the
name of the album therefore making the product stand out more and therefore
the text anchors the image. The main artist, Florence is looking away from the
audience, using indirect mode of address. This is quite typical of the indie genre
as they don’t want the artist to be the focus of the product unlike in the Pop
genre. As well as this Florence is in quite a shy pose, this seems to signify that
the artist is letting the music speak for itself instead of the digipak being
focused on the actual artists. Also clearly stated on the front of the digipak is
the band’s name, ‘Florence and the Machine’ this is good as it means that
customers will easily be able to find what they are looking for and the album is
more easily accessible.

6. The theme used on the digipak is relatively simple yet effective
and that is shown through the typeface used on the front of the
digipak. The name of the album is all written in capital letters
which makes it stand out more to the audience. This also
makes it clearer and easier for the audience to read.
Unconventionally the typeface colour is white, and this could be
a dangerous decision as the artist is wearing white resulting in
the text not standing out. However the text is against the dark
lungs on the artist’s chest making the font stand out even more
and drawing the audience’s attention towards the lungs again
illustrating the name of the album. The typeface on the album is
relatively old fashioned and formal. This relates well to the
video as it has quite a vintage feel because of the mise-en-
scene with the vintage costumes and filters. This creates strong
brand identity between the digipak and the music video as the
audience can see this link.

7. The back of the digipak is very bold and stands out well. It has
a white picture of a pair of lungs on the back which is good as it
contrasts well to the black background of the digipak. It is good
that the back of the digipak is consistent with the front as it also
incorporates the lungs which again reinforces the brand identity
of the album and illustrates the album name well. The back of
the album is different to the front in its colour scheme as it is
much darker using only black and white, this could be because
in the songs on the album the band have used quite dark lyrics
such as 'girl with one eye’, as a whole the album gives off a
quite a dark, obscure and unnerving impression which relates
to their songs. The image used is effective as it isn’t an image
of the band or artist so it makes the audience think about what
they are looking at and why it has been chosen to be put there.

8. The artist has also chosen to use the annotations of the
lungs as a track list for the music. This is a more
interactive and conceptual/interesting way of presenting
the digipak so it is entertaining for the audience. I think
that the barcode in the right hand bottom corner of the
album takes away from the effectiveness of the album as
it takes away from the colour scheme of having a black
background and makes the back of the album look a bit
messy and unorganized which is inconsistent with the
rest of the album. This is something that our group should
think about when making our digipak and making sure
that it is effective.

9. Inside the album there is an extra insert to give the
audience more information on the album. On one side of
the booklet there would be the song title with a few lyrics
from each song and on the other side there is an image
of Florence, the lead singer of the band. The insert
carries on the theme of innocence throughout Florence
and the Machines album, and the lyrics printed on the
cover of this insert fit with this theme. The image above
the lyrics read ‘Here I am/a rabbit hearted girl/frozen in
the headlights’. Any other lyrics could have been chosen
but these lyrics have to add to the effect of the album as
a whole.

10. I think as a whole the Florence and the Machine
album ‘Lungs’ is extremely effective and well laid out.
It incorporates most conventions of a typical digipak
whilst still keeping the audience interested and
giving them as much information as possible.
Something else effective which they have done is
keep a recurring theme throughout the album and
make all of their images and text consistent so the
audience know what they are buying and know that it
will be of consistent quality. This is something that
our group should consider when making our digipak.