Existing Digipak Analysis

In this section I will taking a look at two album digipaks; 'Stereo Typical' by Rizzle Kicks and '#3' by The Script. I have decided to take a look at these two albums as they are British groups with fairly similar target audiences to what I am familiar with.

Stereo Typical

This is the album cover for Stereo Typical, the debut album from duo Rizzle Kicks. As you can see, the album is filled with the same colour beige even on the artist's clothes, Rizzle Kicks logo and the background. This is to fit with the retro style that Rizzle Kicks use and actually makes the album more recognisable as the colour is rather unique. 

The cover follows a fairly standard layout of a large image of the artist over most of the cover, with their name and album title above. This is used by most as it sells the artists' image and helps make the album tied to them as a duo; when someone sees the album in a shop they will see the image of Rizzle Kicks and can tie the image to when they may have seen them before. 

The clothing worn by the lads is reminiscent of their genre and stereotype (notice the album name too) with hoodies and the snapback hat. This ties into the codes of what most expect from a hip hop style artist. They have further tested this idea in their facial expressions; the duo are staring blankly into the camera which could be a tip towards the idea of 'local yobs' who hang out on the streets. 

Overall, I like the overall effect of the cover and think the way they have taken the conventions of their main genre and played it subtly is very clever. I think that for my digipak I will try and do something similar, even if I'm not doing a hip-hop song.   

 This is the back cover for Stereo Typical, and as you can see the beige colour has been continued from the cover. This helps to keep the continuity from the cover and make the album look more professional. For the top of this side, they have included the album name again in the same style as the cover. However, they have changed the red A to a B for this side, which could be a reference to A and B sides on old records. This is a clever addition and helps to accentuate the retro style of Rizzle Kicks.
Included on the rest of the side are the songs, organised in a clear order in terms of when they appear on the album. They are again a beige colour to fit with the styling of the album. I prefer the organised form of the song list as I find it confusing when the songs aren't put in order or organised in a funny way.
At the bottom of the album is the barcode, information on the record label as well as the URL of the Rizzle Kicks website. This is reasonably standard, however it is important to include things such as the website as the Internet is a big factor in marketing and selling in the modern day.

Finally, this is the CD for the Stereo Typical album. The first thing you may notice is that the CD is not the beige colour of the rest of the digipak, and is instead a medley of a dirty shoe and general litter. This adds colour to the album and also reflects the urban nature of hip-hop music. Again, the name of the album as well as the Rizzle Kicks logo make an appearance to help keep the continuity and make sure the CD can be identified.

The inside covers of Stereo Typical are actually quite plain; the left inside panel is basically a copy of the back cover and includes the tracklist on it again, which I can see being quite a helpful aspect as it means the user can double check what track they want to hear first as they take the CD out of the case. Below it is more contact links such as their website and Facebook page, as their target market is likely to have the Internet and social media accounts to share about the album.
The second pane on the right is a continuation of the CD art, as seen from the back of the shoe and the packaging. This means that when the images are lined up, the Rizzle Kicks logo and album name will be the right way up to make it easier to read. I quite like that the owner of the CD must line up the CD properly in the case to make the image look right, which also keeps the artist name much more on show.


#3

 The next digipak I will be looking at is #3 by The Script. Released in 2012, this album gained Platinum status in the UK and included a variety of popular songs. The first thing I like about this album cover is the color scheme; the black, white and grey all work together to provide a slightly moody and darker image of The Script. Furthermore, we can see from the facial expressions of the band, who are organised into a slight collage within each other, that the album may be a more serious one.
The text font is different for the band name and album name, which i'm not sure about. I think that the album would look a bit better if they had chosen the same font for both, because it would make the album more uniform. However, both texts are easy to read on top of the white background and the album name is easy to remember.
Finally, on the bottom right of the album is a sticker that mentions the lead single of the album 'Hall of Fame' as well as some bonus tracks. I think this is a good feature for an album, as The Script can sell more copies of their album off the back of the single's success. The name of the song is written in much larger font for that reason.
Overall, I think the visual effect of the album is very strong due to the colour scheme and would definitely look good on a shelf, and I really like the use of a sticker to help entice the customer with the lead single.

The back cover of #3 follows on from where the front left off; using a black and white colour scheme and a collage of the three band members. However, the image has been changed to keep the same style but in a different order, This helps to keep the album fresh and unique while having a clear identity and style that a person would recognise. 

In the top right is the track list, which is placed into a black box to fit with the style of the album. Like the Rizzle Kicks album above, I like the clear vertical order of the track list and makes it a lot easier to read and understand. One thing I noticed is that all of the 'E's in the tracks have been turned the other way. This fits in with the name of the album and adds a little extra quirk to what can usually be a fairly plain list. 

In the bottom right is another black box with the band website as well as the Sony Music name and logo. Again, this is very important for the branding of the band and helps to keep a digital presence for the artists.  

This is an image of the inside covers for #3. Differing from the outside covers, the inside uses two longer ranged shots of all three members, which is a popular choice for groups. I like the overall effect of how the outside cover of the album changes so much from the inside, except for the black clothes and filter on the band.
The left panel clearly denotes who the frontman of the band is by having him stood facing and looking towards the audience, slightly in front of the other two guys. This can also be seen on the front cover as the other two members are placed inside the shape of the frontman's head. I can understand why this has been done as Danny O'Donoghue is easily the best known member of the group thanks to his involvement in shows like The Voice UK, so it makes sense to have his image as the main focus.
On the right pane, a long shot of the band casting long shadows can be seen when the CD is taken out of the case. I like the effect that this can give on the listener as they will be reminded of the band image when they take the CD out to listen to it. The posture and positioning of the band against the plain background makes it seem as if when the CD is played the band can be all that you need to see and hear, which is a clever and strong effect that I quite like.