Digipak Research

By Harry Buckley

Front Cover - Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto

• The front cover of the digipak shows a random background created by a colour scheme of spray paint and electric/neon colour tones, this is very effective in drawing the audience in, as it is eye catching.

• Also the overall background of the digipak front cover shows a clear reference to graffiti. This is because the band ‘Coldplay’ are of the alternative rock genre and they are trying to target their teenage audience by giving them something they can relate to, in the graffiti element of the cover.

• One of the main positives of this front cover is that the album title ‘Mylo Xyloto’ is very large and since it is see-through it goes well with the background colour scheme.

• The key theme of the cover, with the bright vivid colours highlights that songs such as ‘Paradise’ that are included in the album are uplifting and aspiring. Meanwhile, Coldplay would of wanted it to be an explosion of vibrants colours as a counterpoint to the subdued colour palette of Viva La Vida, their last album.

Inside Cover

• The inside cover keeps the theme of the busy, bright, neon graffiti background consistent throughout the digipak. This is also shown,with both the front cover and inside cover, as they both make the title of the album stand out. With the inside cover using the large capital bubble writing, M and X which is the first letter of each word of the album title.

• Also the simple background highlights the bands professionalism and class, as they do not feel the need to use their album digipak cover as a tool to promote themselves.

Back Cover

• Once again the theme is used on the back cover as well as the front and inside. This creates a very professional image of the band and the simplicity of the Coldplay digipak is very effective.

•The song titles are clearly listed in the same bubble font that is used throughout to keep the consistency.

•It looks very effective with the bubble font and is a font associated with the band ‘Coldplay’ because they use it in most of their album covers. While it also promotes them as a unique and whacky band that are different from the usual mainstream band.

Front Cover - Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

• The front cover of the digipak shows one main image of the artist ‘Jay-Z’ as he is the brand identity of the product. This is current in most rap album covers as the album digipak is used as a promotional device to promote the artist’s brand identity.

• The use of the 3 red lines and the background collage symbolises the albums title “The Blueprint 3”, which is also written quite bold in the top left corner of the front cover.

• The artist’s website is at the bottom left of the cover highlighting his success, that has led to his high status in stature. This success is also shown with the clothes the artist’s is wearing and the jewellery.

• The black and white theme is consistent with the song “Forever Young” that is included in the album.

• The front cover has the parental advisory explicit lyrics logo at the bottom left, to illustrate that the songs within the album contain swearing.

Inside Cover

• The front cover of the digipak shows various different musical instruments, highlighting that his music contains elements of all types of music.

• The use of the 3 red lines and the background collage symbolises the albums title “The Blueprint 3”, which is also written quite small in the top right corner of the front cover.

• The artist’s name ‘Jay-Z’ is small at the top left of the front cover of the digipak. Yet, it is not very big, showing that the album cover is not a tool by the artist to promote their image. Instead it is used to advertise their music with the use of the musical instruments.

• The black and white theme is consistent with the song “Forever Young” that is included in the album.

Back Cover

• The back cover keeps the theme throughout the digipak consistent, with the simple black and white colour scheme being effective and efficient.

• The only bad thing about the back cover of Jay-Z ‘The blueprint 3’ album is that the song titles are hard to read because of the black lines going through the writing.

•The album logo is shown on every stage in the digipak cover to constantly promote the artists music and to further enhance the status of Jay-Z’s brand.

Front Cover - Ellie Golding - Bright Lights

• The front cover of this album cover has one main large image of the artist, Ellie Goulding. This is to promote her brand image, which is herself.

• The image on the front cover gives a feeling of carefree and relaxation, which is what the artist wants her audience to feel when listening to her music.

• The colour scheme used on the front cover go well with the relaxing theme, with the bright colours symbolising the songs being uplifting.

• The text ‘Ellie Goulding’ is big and bold, contrasting the background. This is because the artists is the branding identity of the album, as she is the selling point and main focus. The album title is in a smaller font underneath the artists name, showing it is important but not as important as her image.

Inside Cover - CD

• The text ‘Ellie Goulding’ is in a bigger and bolder font than the tittle of the album which is ‘Bright Lights’. This is because the artist is the branding identity of the album, she is the selling point, so her name is in bold as it implies it is the most important thing on the front cover.

• The bright colour (yellow) used for the background of the CD keeps the theme throughout consistent and symbolises the album title.

Back Cover

• The back cover is very simple, keeping with the theme of the rest of the digipak. The album title ‘Bright Lights’ is symbolised with the use of the dots coming out from the background colour scheme.

• The song titles are a bright gold colour in capital letters, making them very clear and readable. Also the colour palette used for the words is keeping with the rest of the album digipak, in order to make it look professional and current.

• The small print at the bottom of the back cover highlights her success as it has her own website address. Also it makes Ellie Goulding look professional with her record label logo.

• On the side of the back cover there is the artist name ‘Ellie Goulding’ this is significant to the promotion of the album as it is her brand image that sells the product.