Analysis of a digipak

1. The Heist
Macklemore and Ryal Lewis
DIGIPAK RESEARCH

2. This example of a digipak is ‘The Heist’, and album
by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. I have chosen to
analyse this digipak because it has an interesting
design and an interesting insert.
The back panel of the digipak contains the song list
and carries the same, minimalistic style and
colour scheme from the front panel.
The colours used on this digipak are
predominantly black and gold with white on
the insert. the front of the digipak is very minimalistic
with a simple design which has been created to look like crocodile
or snake skin. This use of a minimalistic design looks quite sophisticated
and fans of Macklomore will get gratification from this as there is a link
between
this design and the music which has a lot of raw emotion in it.
The digipak has the track
list on the back which
is what you would
expect to find
on any
digipak
There is also
thikgs like barcode
and legal information but
it has been put on very small and
limited to add to the minimalistic style

3. The digipak has a spine which follows the house
style of the digipak. The design of the digipak
uses Stuart Hall’s reception theory to give
consumers gratification as the snake skin
design is closely associated with Macklemores
fashion, he wears a lot of old clothes that he buys
from thrift stores, and one of his most iconic
outfits include rare animal skins. The gold text
is also related to the genre of the music, the genre
is hip hop and gold is often associated with this
music and the artists as it shows wealth and is
something they can wear as an accessory or
brand. From a design point of view, the gold
easily stands out against the dark background
which would make it more eye catching to
consumers of the product.

4. These are the other two sides of the digipak, it follows the same
design as the front and back of the digipak. The disk itself is gold
like the text on the front of the digipak and referenced the song
‘gold’ from the album which will be recognised by fans as this is his
iconography and a reference to his music. The white text is very
striking and has the message “welcome to the heist” which is like a

5. This is the insert that comes with the
digipak, it follows the same design that
is on the inside of the digipak with the
same message to fans.
There are two different fonts used on the digipak, the difference in them makes them stand
of space around the image which also makes it stand out more but it makes it a lot easier
the audience from the message form the artist which is obviously what they want the audie
The inner two panels of the digipak have a r
another digipak, ‘the blueprint 3’ by Jay Z, th
two main colours and has a very minimalistic

6. The insert from this digipak is possibly the most interesting feature, it relies on fans being
them knowing the music. There is a lot of art work in the insert that links to different songs
context to each of the songs and I believe doing this is more interesting that just having the
found in other digipaks and is more common.

7. Each page of the digipak has a different photo or artwork which relates to the song it is ab
I think this is an interesting way of displaying the insert as there has obviously been a lot
of planning and time taken to create
this insert and the artwork for them, it gives fans a connection to the music and the artist
who we can tell has been involved
with the production of this product. This gives fans a sense of connection to the artist at
a more personal level and allows them to

8. This another example of
a photo used in the insert. This is a
better example as it is easier to understand what the
song is about. Firstly, the artist has been used in this picture
which gives a higher gratification to fans as they may not see picture like
this in a traditional CD case or anywhere else. The song is about
consumerism and the
artists experience of growing up always wanting to have the newest/best
pair of Nike shoes which are

9. Although the digipak has a high level of relevance to
the artist, it is not what I
would say as a hip hop/rap digipak would tend to look
like. it doesn't’t
follow the general conventions of the genre as there
would
normally be images, most probably in black
and white which had the
artist in them.
Other conventions of a
hip hop/rap digipak would be
the artist showing off their wealth as this
is part of the sub culture of the genre.
This digipak does not follow these conventions and may be
due to the difference between Macklemore’s music and the
stereotypical sound of hip hop. I also feel this digipak bears a similar
relation to Jay Z’s ‘The Blueprint’ which has a very minimalistic design