Research and planning – Digipak: Identifying conventions and analysing existing digipaks

Purpose:

• Marketing tool that sells/promotes the album
• Displays indirect information such as the ideologies of the artist
• Creates, adapts or feeds into the representation of the 'star image'
• A product to keep hold of, can be a collectors item
• Attract a particular target audience
• Buy into artist lifestyle and ideas
• An everlasting product that will symbolise the artist and the album.
• Form of synergy- advertising and promotion
• Creates a relationship between the artist and audience

What are the generic conventions?

The generic conventions of a digipak includes:

• Artist image
• Tracklist
• Parental advisory label
• Record label
• Barcode
• Album title
• Company details
• Critical sticker

Analyse two examples that are similar to your genre/artist

Catfish and the Bottlemen: The Balcony

 

 

 

Title of the Album: The Balcony: The album name is not very specific nor does link with the image therefore it is hard for the audience to tell exactly what the artist means. However, this vagueness allows the audience to look into the album themselves and possibly research more which engages them with the band and product more. This is common for indie bands who often use unique names for their album in order to convey an ‘inside’ message for their audience.

Star Motif: The vague album shows that the artist might want their audience to explore their music and album but at the same time conveys a sense of mystery. They value minimalism and show that audience that sometimes ‘less is more’.

Overall layout: In general, the layout of the album is neat. The design and the writing correspond well and don’t interfere with each other spacing. The album is not overcrowded which allows the audience to ‘breathe’.

Popular Culture/ Hebdige Subculture: Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British indie-rock band. This makes their style to be very distinct and unique which appeals to a minority rather than a global mainstream audience. The album has some explicit language and shows a true expression from the artist and their point of view on different ideas, whether political, cultural or societal. They are not afraid to be who they’re and cause controversy around their style of thinking which makes them a niche band. This allows subcultures to identify with the band as they have their own unique style and like to express themselves and stay true to their lifestyles. Therefore, as a minority they can identify with the niche band who is also not afraid to stand out. The design itself is also appealing to subcultures due to its simplicity, which the subcultures can decode themselves and find somehow familiar. In addition, the explicit illustration is controversial and provocative and subcultures often cause controversy due to their rejections of mainstream values and repelling hegemony.

Typography: The typography of this design is simple and easy to read. The band’s name is written in a consistent typography which they use on all of their previous works and merchandise. This allows the audience to familiarize with one design and recognize it amongst many other products. The simplicity of the typography shows the consumer that the band isn’t trying to glamourize itself but simply supply their fans with good music.

Information: The digipak includes generic information like a barcode, which is a necessity. It also has the logos of its production company/ music label which is also necessary due to the bands contract and legal reasons. There is a track list which informs the audience of the music available and the copyright information at the back of the album.

Main Image/ Artist: The main image of the album is a simple illustration of headless figures who have their hands touching one another’s genitals. The simple line image allows the audience for an individualistic response basing on their own memories or experiences. They are able to decode the image for themselves. By using such illustration, the artist is able to show their niche appeal due to its unique design but at the same time shows that they don’t glamourize themselves. It can also convey they sense of humor which is appealing for the audience and allows the consumer to familiarize with their personality.

Lighting and Colour: The black and white helps to convey the indie rock genre due to its heavy contrast. It will attract the correct target audience who are familiar with the common conventions of rock. The simple colours show that the band values their music more than expensive advertisement.

                         

Shura: Nothing’s Real

Title of the Album: The album is titled ‘Nothing’s Real’ which reflects the creative and ambiguous side of the album and the artist. It is also easy to read and understand as it is short and snappy, making it more appealing as it is also an intertextual reference to one of John Lennon’s quote which broadens the appeal.

Star Motif: The artist’s ideologies and values are evident through the image, portraying the two side of her persona. This can make the audience feel curious about her character and her beliefs. The image is also professionally edited, as it divides the artist picture into two. The first one, which is colourful and dominant, suggesting reality, whereas the second one, which is black and white to represent a fantasy world, something surreal.  These two images juxtaposed each other in a delightful way.

Overall layout: The layout is neat and the information are placed onto the page is a structured manner, with the artist name placed onto the top-left corner and the album title under it.  The track list is listed on the back cover with a simple font, just as the album title. However, the back cover seems empty but it looks professional and it is conventional for its music genre due to the audience expecting simple designs but good music.  This lead to mysteriousness which makes the viewers want to purchase the album.

Popular Culture/ Hebdige Subculture: Although she fits in with popular culture due to her image, she also appeals to subcultures as she is not the ‘ideal’, girly female artist that all females can relate to. Therefore, she appeals to both hegemonic community and subcultures which broadens her appeal.

Typography: The typography used is simple and bold. The small size of the writing infers that the blue connotes loneliness where the main artist is trying to show her emotions. The blue shows that empty space is hard to fill, which allows people to relate to as today many of us experience burdens in some way or another.

Information: The information included in the digipak is conventional as it includes the artist name, album title, barcode, track list and small print regarding the production company.

Main Image/ Artist: The main image portrays the main artist who is looking away from the camera. Her facial expression suggest that she is thoughtful and serious. Despite the close up, the image doesn’t glamourize or sexualise her which conveys the indie genre.

Lighting and Colour: The lighting used in this digipak is high key lighting which corresponds to the light colours and helps to show her facial expression. The colours used are dull green and blues which connotes to her deep emotions as well as the theme of fantasy and non-realistic vision. 

Ideas we plan to use:

• Consistent typography which will be recognizable for our audience and allow them to always distinguish our artist amongst others.

• Create an album name that is not too obvious but something that will link to the overall message and theme of the product. Something that will intrigue the consumer and want them to find out more about the album or artist.

• Have a simple layout and images which will not interfere with the writing too much. We will try to avoid overcrowding information in order to create a professional product which will be easy to look at for the audience.

• Include the key information which are necessary on every product.

• Use colours that will link to our genre in order to grab our target audience attention and make sure we appeal to the right consumer. This will help to increase the number of our sales and we will have a satisfied audience.

• The idea of altering the artist image, just like Shura did in her album.

Conclusion:

This research task was very beneficial to our understanding of digipaks. It helped us to see what successful products have in common and how they use conventions effectively in order to attract their target audience successfully. This is important because by using incorrect conventions you are at risk of not selling your product and making a loss, thus not breaking to the global audience. In order to secure our success, we have identified key features that our product will include and therefore began to plan what our digipak will look like. By planning this beforehand we are able to create drafts of our design and keep on consulting our audience for their feedback which will ensure we fit their expectations. Some of the conventions we settled on was a name that will be vague but link to the theme of self-disruption and work alongside our video, track list and image which shows consistency and convey the meaning of our products effectively.