Ancillary Task 1 - digipak
THE 1975 -
Layout - Regarding the layout of The 1975's Album, (Self titled album), It is apparent that the approach was that the layout has a simplistic appearance, using negative space as the main feature to the layout. In regards to the position of the text features, they are set out very central and symmetrically, they are set over various imagery and black backgrounds, this layout is very easy to read, and easily identifiable, the theme of vast use of space on the front cover and cd help place importance on the text rather then the image.
Text - The font used within the 1975's digipak is a couple of styles mainly following the same font, There is not massive variation in font use, the typeface's used are very complementary, with one being very simplistic and having a smooth aesthetic with every letter taking up the same amount of space. The other typeface used has a very unique look, this helps to identify the bands branding and promote them. This is a more complex font with parts of letters missing but still distingusable
this typeface is used mainly for the titles and band names (the larger fonts). The 1975 have made sure that the information displayed on the digipak is conveyed simply and throughly, the digipak is easy to read and recognisable from a distance. This along with the original dark image well recognised with the brand of band, this helps to ensure the success of the album with the fanbase, observable through the physical digipak, the streaming and download platforms also follow the digipak aesthetic.
Images - The photography used on the digipak have been composed and edited connoting the alternative rock genre. The album being completely in black and white. This connoted the music video style the band use, which is also in black and white. this gives the image a vintage vibe perhaps to connote the bands name the 1975, using this vintage vibe along with the bands name adds a timeline to the cover. the black and white theme used is one that me and my partner experimented with in our preliminary task. The image used within the digipak is the same image. the image consists of a massive rectangle flouresent Lightbox which the band designed, the complex typeface used is also not digitally added on the cover it is part of the image. the album's alternative rock feel links to the titles within the track list, with songs like 'sex', 'robbers', 'girls', 'heartout' these songs are all sexual/rebellious titles. As an audience experiencing this product, we can understand and identify the band is a rock band this way through the social culture forms and conventions that we have given social meaning to these denotations. the fact a light box is used suggests the fact the band and the space in the image around the band is lit up that perhaps the band is a light in the dark, or that this is a band that stands out amongst the other bands in the genre. Having a disk that is blank of any imagery, this again follows the bands themes of negative space being used to advantage - me and my partner will be using this concept within our work.
ALt j -
Layout - The general layout of Alt J’s “AN AWESOME WAVE” is also simplistic, with the front cover being a image, the track list being simplistic text and the disc also having the track list on it, it is clear that this band are keeping there digi pak simple therefore to appeal to a larger audience, The conventions presented are similar to the previous artists work analysed above, this more basic layout, eases them into the genre whilst subtly adding hints of their identity and message of what they are about through their colourful front cover. The front cover is kept very minimalistic which follows the indie rock genre conventions, the fact that the band havent used their name or pictures on the cover contrasts with richard dyers star critieria as he suggests people would buy the album for the band rather then the music.
Text - the only typeface used for the album remains the same throughout, there is no variation in fonts, the font is simplistic and easy to understand each letter is geometrically square looking to ensure the text in the digital would be simple and easy to recognise. the only text that is different is the legal info at the bottom of the back cover track list , the font chosen doesn’t not link o the album cover as such, but has use of bold or darker colour perhaps to highlight the main songs or most popular choices, this is a interesting concept not many artist use. The font also uses a interesting wingding style bullet point to space and separate the track list up, this is also used on the compact disc itself. Using such a simple and recognisable font upon the first album release is also a marketing strategy for widespread success.
Images - The image used on the front of the digipak, uses a bold and colourful image, its unusual and unique, this helps distinguish the bands distinct style. the rainbow spectrum of colour on the cover helps further to distinguish them. the cover image could be interpreted in a variety of ways, an example of this is it could be oil/flames/tree roots and other imagery.
lana del rey -
Layout - The basic layout of Del Rey’s own digipak follows conventions of both indie pop and a more vintage approach, del rey is known for doing this in her work. The layout of text emulates a older style of digipak, this connotes the older more vintage aesthetic of the artist.
Text - Del Rey’s Album uses one typeface throughout the written aspect of the digipak. The text used is constructed in a way that makes the text crucial to the digipak. This is the case especially with the title of the album name of the artist and the track list, this makes it more clear to the audience. Del Rey uses this minimalistic approach to her advantage as Del Rey has become such an icon that she doesn’t need such a description on her work, her name and correlating image are enough to bring in sales. The colour of the text is a deep red colour almost the colour of blood, this brings connotations of passion, love, romance or as the title of the album says lust to mind. this colour contrasts with the white costume choice talked about below presenting innocence.
Images - the photographs presented on the back and the front covers follow a ‘hippie’ movement trend, they connote the title well, as the whole concept of hippy lifestyle is to follow a love for life vibe. so the title ‘lust for life’ suggests a similar approach. This could be a play on words to the LOVE LIFE movement as she is suggesting a more ‘sexual’ love for life, this could be a reference to feminity or sexuality as a representation. The mise - en - scene presented in these photographs helps to represent the time/era/vintage effect she is trying to portray, the costume used is a white ‘flowy’ dress this conveys themes of maybe pureness or innocence. The flowers in her hair also represent similar tones with the daisy being the fifth most popular flower in the world, the flower represents commonly innocence, purity, and cheerfulness. the lighting is a desaturated sort of light tone, this suggests again a more vintage vibe as if the photo has faded or been aged. The body position suggests a care free attitude on the front with open armed posture and a friendly smile, in contrast on the back cover she has a much more glum look. Her makeup similar to her costume suggests a older period of time as this is a older makeup look, presented in the 60’s. There are no props as such but the background setting of vehicular theme is an interesting one, del rey is positioned in front of two types of trucks, this could suggest her free ness for travel, or the fact she’s always moving or experiencing life, Or perhaps the life of the musician as they are usually on tour after some more research into the meaning behind the trucks i noticed that the truck shown is the same as the one on her first album born to die 2012 she explains this as "Being on the road was a big part of the songs".
She looks comfortable within her photograph and compared to the other two digipaks she is the only artist that chose to have herself on the cover (or even both covers). she looks as if she is at peace or fufilled through her body language and makes her stand out/ and be admired within in her music genre. Her look is a natural look instead of a more superficial look most female artists take.
Halsey -
Halsey’s accompanying Digipak, connotes the poster and music video, keeping continuity flowing within the artists work, with similar imagery, mise en scene and shots seen in both other media forms, she also sticks to the colour scheme she has set out, pink purple. we can also again see here the post apocalyptic scenery used, her digipak whilst compositionally very simple, has a mass of text. the same image is used on the front cover and inside on the cd page, the other two pages have similar images but these have been ripped leaving the mountain and blue sky behind, almost creating a pattern. Textually the cover has the title of the album the name of the artist, a frame around the image, the parental advisory label. on the back cover there is the trackless for the album, label and barcode. on the inside we can see the cd and only the cd there is the album name, artist name, label, parental advisory label. on the opposing side to this there is a special thank you to everyone involved in the making of the cd a sort of credits page. I will use these conventions when creating my own digipak. the same font style is used without the form, with badlands an halsey always being in a bigger size than the main text.
The hunna -
The Hunna’s digipak, follows a very basic theme, it presents a what could be marble/concrete background with a burgundy book on top, on the book the Hunna’s name and Album name 100 are gold leafed onto the book surrounded in a decorative gold leaf border, this book front cover could represent the album being the beginning of the career path, and showing their plans for more to come, it could also represent the fact that this is a chapter of their music and the book is their representation of the lives, this composition similar to the music video is very minimalistic, this comes with a a red transparent cd, which is shown in vinyl form in the image, this connotes the rich colour scheme shown on the cover, with gold, burgundy and black this adds a slightly royal tone to the digipak. this contrasts widely with the other digipaks, as they have a much more simplistic cd concept and also feature seen in del reys digipak cover the artist, This is unusual and follows a similar style to alt J’s digipak, aswell as having a cd digipak the band also have produced the vinyl version of this, the again shows a more alternative form for alternative music and is a concept i would like to explore in my own work.