Existing Digipak Analysis

5 Seconds of Summer – Self Titled Album

Outside Cover

The spine of this album has the band’s name on it. This is a popular convention for all music genres. This is practical for when the albums are stacked on a shelf, the owner can easily identify which album it is.

The band’s record label logo is visible as well as Capitol Records’. The positioning means that it does not take away from the final product. Also, the website sited makes the band more accessible.

The barcode is placed strategically on the back to avoid ruining the aesthetics of the front. However, it is large enough to be found easily when being purchased and is surrounded by a blank space in order to be quickly located

The “rock” hand gesture is located so when the audience opens the digipak it is the first thing they see. This is a typical convention of the rock genre and highlights what the band is.

One of the wristband is of Blink-182, a very famous pop punk band. This shows that the band are fans of this genre and may draw inspiration from them into their own music.

The front cover is covered in personal doodles drawn by the band. This helps sell their brand as them being “all about the music” as they have put a huge amount of personal effort into their first full length album. This appeals to their fan base. The “Hi…Hey” is a reference to their label Hi or Hey Records, which fans would understand and appreciate. Also, “dropout” is in the context of high school drop out. This is very typical of the rock genre as they are diverging from the norm.

Instead of having the track list numbered vertically as other artists and band typically do, this digipak has the song titles in drawings scattered around on the back cover. Again, this appeals to their young audience as it is more appealing to look at rather than a list.

As this the UK edition, the band have tailored the design to the individual country. The colour scheme is very English with the red cross supposing to represent the English flag. All of the band members are wearing black skinny jeans which is very conventional of this genre.

The sticker lists the singles that have performed well in the chart shows. This makes the band more recognisable and encourages people who are not necessarily fans to buy it.

Inside CoverIn contrast to the outside cover, the inside has a very different colour pallet. It features black which represent the rock genre and it carries on the tailored to English effect as it has highlights of red.

The two outer panels are decorated with photos from the band’s beginning in 2011 to present. This design creates a relationship between the band and the audience as they can see how the band has grown.

One of the photos is of Cal in his underwear, a red cross has been placed over covering him. This is a display of them being inappropriate for young audiences and them attempting to embrace the rock genres’ bad nonconforming reputation.

Red box around two separate pictures to include all four band members. This represents them being united as a band.

Picture of a stuffed toy penguin. This goes against and challenges the typical conventions of the rock genre.

The disk holder is plastic. In prior EP’s the CD was located in a cardboard sleeve. The band now has the money to have more “professionally made” physicals.

There is evidence of them rejecting Andrew Goodwin’s theory of the lead singer being the main person in the band as there is an equal amount of coverage as all of the band members. Even though his theory was for music videos, it can be applied here.

The doodles that are on the front cover are also on the disk. This furthers the house style and extenuates the band’s brand.

Tucked inside this sleeve is a lyric book. This is another way to connect to the fans as in the back of the booklet, there is a message from the band thanking them.

The font used has become a logo for the band with it appearing across a variety of their media texts.