Existing digipak research
- 1. EXISTING DIGIPAK RESEARCH Will Watts
- 3. AWOLNATION’s album cover for ‘Megalithic symphony’ no information about the digipak itself, in the sense that not even the name of the album is shown. This could suggest the target audience should already know this artist, as well as the fact that the target audience may be a very particular audience. This is shown through the fact that ‘true fans’ of this artist may not need any information, as they already know about the band. The colour scheme very much compliments the main image; a rock formation spelling out the initials of the band name. The blacks and purples contrast well with the whites and greys, which together, connote a very ‘mystical’ and ‘mysterious’ feeling to the album cover. This theme of mystery can also link to the lack of information given, as if the producers of the album art are luring the audience to ‘reveal’ the mystery inside. The inside also gives no information about the album, again, adding to theme of mystery. The only information given is on the physical disc, showing the album name, and artist. The three images are somewhat linked through the field of landscapes/ locations, which again, adds to the mysterious theme of the digipak. The use of contrasting colours (yellows, blues, and greens) also somewhat shows a progression through these different settings, much like the audience is ‘progressing’ through the album.
- 4. The main information is based on the back of the digipak, suggesting that in order to get to this information the audience must almost ‘travel’ through the digipak, which links to the the images of different locations. This transition connotes adventure, mystery, and travel, which could be the producers using their knowledge of what their target audience like, in order to create a very powerful, yet minimal design for the digipak. Track listing, barcode, and record label are the only sources of information given on the back, which again, is minimal, however it seems an appropriate amount of information, to the target audience who would already know this band well.
- 6. Michael Jackson’s ‘The Motown Years’ plays with traditional ideologies of the ‘MoTown’ genre, in the sense that the the digipak has been designed in a ‘old time’ style, as if the main image of Michael Jackson is being viewed on an old fashioned television, which links in with the historical context of ‘MoTown’ itself, as this particular music style was big in the 1950/60’s. The use of the cross hatched look also adds to this, in the sense that it creates a very ‘hand drawn’ feel, which audiences of this particular genre will take a preferred reading to. The target audience of this genre would have been around when this music was in its prime, most likely, so they will be familiar with the techniques used on this cover. This particular layout has 4 panels, 3 of which hold 3 different CD’s, behind each CD is a track listing for each song, which gives a lot more information than it first seems, meaning that the digipak requires the audience to ‘explore’ further. There is also an image page which continues on with the ‘old timey’ theme of the digipak.
- 7. Much like the AWOLNATION digipak, the two image pages have minimal information, which again suggests that there is a very particular audience for this kind of genre, thus, not needing as much information as a conventional digipak, to attract the audience’s attention. The back panel includes information about each CD, as well as a barcode and the record label. Again, minimal information is used, yet it is used to its advantage. The two image panels also close in a way that the band looks as if they are all in the same photograph, which creates a smooth and flowing look to the digipak, this also enables the audience to have a clear idea of how to progress through each page. This adds to the appeal of the digipak to this particular audience, in the sense that when they open up the digipak, The Jackson 5 will be the first feature they are greeted with. I may look into perhaps using this style once I create my own digipak, as this seems like an effective way to introduce the band.