Digipak Analysis Hayley McCarthy
Album Artwork A visual representation for the album, its purpose is to entice and engage the audience into purchasing the album. Album cover art has the opportunity to be extremely expressive and convey the genre or message of said album, as well as becoming iconic in its own right. Conventionally, the cover art is the only image in the advertisement, demanding full attention within the composition. Acting as a visual representation of the album, this enables the audience to recognise the artwork when they come to purchase the album. Following the brand identity of the artist, album covers often follow conventions specific to genre. For example, album artworks for the genre of pop music tend to include an image of the artist, often in a medium close up or close up framing. This can be linked to Andrew Goodwin’s theory for music videos, with there being “a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist/vocalist” here used as a visual representation of the artist, appealing directly to their fans. To the right is a selection from a Google image search of pop albums, reiterating the convention of using an artist image in place of a traditional artwork. In contrast, indie album artworks conventionally feature a graphic or physical art piece, rather than a close up of the artist. This could be a direct result from the origins of the indie genre, with it originating in the film and music industry in the 1950's and 60's to describe those were unsigned or without a distributor, who then released their content completely independently. Today however, the term indie describes an aesthetic rather than a process. Major record labels continue to dominate the music industry today, offering greater financial aids for unsigned artists. An artist’s goal is to become signed in order to utilise the companies use of vertical integration, securing each album/track from production to exhibition. Unsigned – traditionally ‘indie’ artists – who become signed are encouraged to maintain their aesthetic to heighten their ‘star image’ as well as retain their existing fans. In turn, these artists maintain an 'indie' aesthetic for marketing purposes, altering the intended meaning of this word to form a genre encompassing soft, melodic music, as well as variations such as indie rock, indie pop, and indie psych. Traditional, unsigned indie artists have fewer fans due to the lack of exposure that a record label would bring, with possessing fewer demands for close ups or images of the artist than there would be for those in the charts. Pop genre artists often have a strong ‘star image’ and larger fan bases due to being in the public eye, so these artists are idolised and sexualised far more than indie artists, resulting in using their face to advertise their music. In contrast, the indie genre as a whole values artistry over fame, with there still being a large number of unsigned artists producing music. This is reflected in the use of artwork in their album covers. Whilst the track I am using is technically a hybrid genre of ‘indie psych’, indie is considered the main genre, so an art piece or graphic would be conventional to include for my own digipak. Relating Joan Lynch’s theory to the music video, it too is a hybrid genre between conceptual and performance, corresponding to this genre mix. Overall, I have focused on aesthetic and artistry in the video to be conventional with the indie genre, and want to continue this when I plan my own digipak.
reckless kelly long night moon outer
Main Image
Font
Logo
The lacking mention of what platforms this album will be available is unconventional of a magazine advertisement. Perhaps due to the younger target audience, it is assumed that they will access the album through their usual means and do not require this information. However, on the online banner advert, the iTunes and Amazon logos are present, making it peculiar as to why they have not been consistent with this inclusion.
The serif font corresponds to the traditional aspect of the indiecountry genre, creating a consistency between the body text and band logo. Using the same font for the band title and headings, this creates an association for the audience, viewing this font as information to be highlighted. The similar weighted body fonts do not overwhelm the piece or distract from these focal points, whilst still demanding enough attention away from the complex background. By using the same yellow tones from the album artwork, this aids the consistency of the text and hence the brand identity, which is important considering that this band does not have an overly large following.
The relatively small fan base in comparison to most mainstream artists is evident through the inclusion of the band’s logo in four areas of the page. This constant addition reiterates the brand identity of the band, helping to create a recognisable aesthetic that the audience will be encouraged to buy into. Yet this inclusion does not disrupt the composition, conventionally maintaining focus on the imagery.
Website
Production notes
The brand identity is conventionally continued into the website, heightening the star iconography of the band. The aesthetically pleasing nature of the artwork is largely highlighted on this page, with the blue and yellow palette continued on merchandise purchasable through the website. The cross-platform presence enables the band to showcase their products, and in turn heighten their potential revenue.
Despite featuring a barcode, other conventional elements such as a flannel panel and record/distributor logos are absent from this digipak, suggesting that they are unsigned and independent.
Thank you note A personal message from the band thanking the audience fulfils the purpose of a digipak; to sell to more dedicated fans who want to invest more of their time into the artist. Such note is a possibility to connect the fans with the artist, which is vital in gaining a larger, loyal following.
reckless kelly long night moon inner
Artwork
Disc
Text
Featuring an enlarged version of the moon from the front cover, this promotes the already clear design continuity evident in this digipak. I personally think it is very clever to integrate the CD art with the remaining artwork in this way. Whilst not being particularly interesting as a stand-alone piece, the differing palette juxtaposes the rest of the product, making it a focal point of the inside cover. This could connote that the band are keen to maintain the focus on their music, especially considering the artistry associated with the band’s indie-country genre.
Continuing the artwork from the front, this strengthens the consistency of the design, strengthening the existing brand identity. As well as creating a fluid composition that is easy for the audience to follow, during my research, I have discovered that the placement of the stars is not random in the artwork, instead the western night sky has been depicted precisely, enabling the audience to recognise constellations if they wish. Whilst this may be unappreciated by most, those more dedicated fans who decide to research this digipak further will discover this intentional hidden aspect to the text. This once again highlights the stereotypical care and artistry that indie artists possess.
The absence of text is quite unusual for the inside of a digipak, conventionally featuring some sort of thank you note or lyrics book. Considering the indie genre, this could be a method in letting the artwork dominate the text, with the textual content on the front 3 panels instead.
Aesthetics
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1 3
Aesthetically, I find this artwork pleasing, with a subtle contrast in texture and tone complimenting the precise yet complex composition perfectly. The aforementioned dominant disc focal point forms the first point of reference for the viewer, with the horizontal-natured clouds then drawing your eye leftwards. However, the application of marks on these clouds creates a differing flow, encouraging the viewer’s eye back towards the disc. Once again, this could connote the focus on the disc and hence the music that the band wish to maintain. Also, this largely right to left reading is unusual for a western audience, who usually view texts in a left to right fashion. This could symbolise that this album is different in some way, wether that be reference to the indie-country genre, or a consideration of their previous works.
david bowie the next day outer
Artwork
Imagery
Reusing Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ album artwork, this use is unconventional, with album artwork usually something new as to progress the artist’s brand identity. As outlined in Jameson’s theory that can be applied to Postmodernism, pastiche is evident through this inclusion, recycling iconic imagery from the past. At first, one would associate using an image from the past would connote a retrospective or ‘greatest hits’ album, but obscuring this image with a bold white square shifts this focus to the new album, ‘The Next Day’. This could connote that Bowie is attempting to forget and otherwise remove the past, yet the audience is aware that you can never successfully achieve this, especially for someone as iconic as Bowie. Despite the artistic directions that he may take in the present, he will always be compared to his past fashions due to how influential he was in the pop and rock genres. By obscuring this image from the past, this is instead illustrating the album title, with Bowie - and many others - attempting to move on to the next day.
As the cover art features Bowie when he was younger, I find the inclusion of another image from the present interesting, especially as it is obscured in the same way. The lack of pose is what immediately strikes me, Bowie is visually trying to remove his past iconography, with this album being a far purer reflection on his identity. I believe that Bowie is comfortable with his identity now, with the close up, straight on, eye level shot extremely exposing, despite the shape blocking this. The combination of graphics and images has been extremely effective in this text, demonstrating the artistry associated with the indie genre within the rock genre.
Track list Featuring a conventional track list on the back panel, I really like the continuation of obscuring Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ album, continued from the front cover. The central alignment of the text continues the conventional vertical composition of the text, using the same font as the cover strengthens the recognisable brand identity of this piece. However, due to Bowie being an international star, this allows a certain freedom within his design, yet he continues to maintain the same house style throughout, promoting a professionalism within the digipak.
Colour & Shape
The use of the white square promotes detachment, referencing his identity both in the past through his endless fashions as well as in the present, having been absent from the music industry for the past decade. The monochrome palette compliments the stripped-back nature that this album encompasses, in my opinion allowing the audience to relate to the intended message more easily due to the lack of distractions such as bright colour and bold prints that Bowie is famed for. White as a colour connotes purity in western society, mirroring the quite personal statement that Bowie is portraying within this album. Personally, I immediately thought of Kazimir Malevich’s piece ‘The Black Square’ upon seeing this artwork. Considered the defining work of Modernism, it was a revolutionary symbol that was intended to be nothing more than a shape on a canvas, an example of suprematism. This simple yet iconic nature I believe can be transferred to this album especially, highlighting all that Bowie has encoded in this text for the audience to decode, according to Stuart Hall’s theory.
david bowie the next day inner
Imagery
Form
Featuring the only uncensored image of Bowie, acting as a visual metaphor for the text itself, with the process of opening a digipak compared to removing the layers of obscurity, revealing the artist beneath. The image’s placement next to the CD creates a relationship between the two, with the purity mentioned from the outer panels transferable to this, reiterated through the exclusive lack of obscurity of the middle image. Once again, this album holds connotations of being deeply personal to Bowie, reflecting on his very own identity. The pose is equally important, with the direct, focused stare and eye contact engaging the viewer, which is appreciated even more due to the censored nature of the previous images. As we are used to seeing Bowie in an elaborate outfit with equally flamboyant makeup, this stripped-back appearance once again corresponds with the theme of the album, as well as promoting a confidence within himself through this direct pose.
Continuing the inclusion of squares, the mirroring and inversion of the colour of the shape on the two outer panels creates a visual contrast. Black and white as colours possess varying connotations. but applying Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theory, I believe that the placement of these two shapes has been encoded to suggest the two varying shades of Bowie’s identity; white symbolising moving forward as noted from the cover and album title, and black demonstrating the past, opposite to the white. This is also reiterated through the repetition of the central image, with the obscured and uncensored version featured on the digipak, portraying the oppositional themes within this album.
Poster An interesting take on a traditional lyrics booklet, Bowie refrains from detaching himself from his past for this element, with it in full colour featuring a vibrant palette that Bowie is famed for. Continuing with the use of a square to obscure, more fluid bands of interweaving colour occupy the bottom third, almost as if it is slowly reaching the linear forms that dominate the piece as well as the digipak as a whole. This could be symbolic of the fact that despite Bowie attempting to hide his past self, it is never too far away, and this confinement to a single element of the digipak is an embodiment of his personal containment of this aspect of his identity. Personally, I like the listed lyrics on the back; a nod to traditional inclusions of lyrics before the proliferation of hardware made these easily accessible knowledge.