Digipak Research

Alike every media product digipak's have their own set of conventions and generic style in order to fulfil its purpose effectively. 

These generic conventions include:
- Have a recurring house style throughout so that it looks like it all fits together. This can be achieved by using the same colours, fonts and graphics.
- Have the album and artist name which is visible so that the individual can Identify the album at first glance.
- Have a tracklist, usually found on the back of the digipak which will allow the individual to learn what songs are used within the album.
- Has a barcode which is primarily there for a commercial advantage which will help retailers with regards to selling the product and also for stock control uses.
- The digipak will also often have a small paragraph which will be found next to a few graphics. This is often the copyright and publishing information which tells the user which company's were involved in the publishing side of the album.
-Another convention of digipak's is having the name of the album and the artist on the spine of the digipak. This is because when the cd's are stored away or on show at the retailers, the spine is the only bit you can see of the digipak, because of this it allows the digipak to be identified easily without having to pull it out and look at it more closely.

Digipak example: Chase and status - No more idols

I decided to have a look at the album which the song I am using is a part of. This album is No more idols by chase and Status.As you can see already, this digipak follows each and everyone of the generic conventions highlighted previously. These include the trackless, the layout of the spine, the copyright details, the name of the album and the artist and even more importantly the house style of the digipak which runs throughout. As you can see the digipak is limited with regards to the colours used, it uses a greyscale image with yellow lettering and a black background for the rest of the digipak. I believe that this is used specifically in order to obtain a simplistic style of the digipak. I believe that the image of the bulldog also captures this level of simplicity but also grasps a sense of patriotism. The dog is a British Bulldog and as the duo are British themselves it comes a cross as the intention that they are showing off their British identity. This can also quite conveniently coincide with the name of the album 'no more idols' which suggests that as a national identity, British people do not need to look up to any other countries and envy the way they do things. In fact its more of a sense that as a British bulldog can be linked to a working class mentality that individuals should embrace their national identity despite what social class they come from.

Digipak example: Pendulum - In Silico

Pendulum’s second album, titled “In Silico” meaning “created by or performed on a computer” is the first time the artists logo makes an appearance on a digipack, the round labyrinth like disc. This time in different colours with a fetus in the centre. Behind appears to be a circuit board, which is blue in colour on a black background. It follows the usual Pendulum themes in the fact the background colours are often very dark/black, with the colours in the foreground being much more bright and colourful.The fetus in the centre of the logo, when coupled to the album title could be an intertextual reference to Nirvana’s album “InUtero” which literally translates as “in the womb” so this album could paint an idea of being “born digitally” in a computerised world, as well as highlighting the contrast in styles and differences of the two bands, which again portrays Pendulum breaking away from accepted norms and conventions found within mainstream society, and as a band that “stands on it’s own” in terms of genre, which appeals to existing fans who like the idea of not fitting in and being themselves rather than feeling trapped into conforming with the rest of society.



Digipak example: Nero - Welcome reality

This digipak as you can see is conventional in the sense that its layout is specific in order to follow the conventions of this media product type. The bands name is large and in their house style font allowing the album to be easily associated to that artist and allowing it to also be easily recognisable. The colours used throughout are dark as there is a dark and sinister aesthetic to the whole digipak which runs throughout. The fact that this theme and style does run throughout adds to its level of professionalism as all components of the digipak look linked and like they should be together. The graphic image shown is 2 people looking at a skyline of a city, this city however looks like an urban wasteland as the colours red and black are heavily used. There is also a thick layer of smoke adding to this desolate depiction even more. I believe that the name of the digipak ties in well with this as it suggest's that the desolate city is our reality and the two people approaching the city are being welcomed to reality. This is not a nice way to review reality but I think its important that they focus more on realism more than a utopian fantasy. The cd itself is fully black with white lettering, this can be connoted to give a documentary style approach suggesting that Nero have tried to reach a level of                                                    social realism.

Digipak example: Disclosure - Settle
Here we have disclosures album entitled settle, this albums front cover depicts the artists when they were younger sat in a chair. The two kids however have the famous doodle faces on their faces which is often found within disclosures music videos and marketing strategies such as posters, this white doodle face is used as an icon almost which directly relates to the artist so that whenever people are to see this they will automatically assume that disclosure is involved somehow. You can connote the relation between the name of the album and the picture used on the front cover in multiple ways, one could simply means that the two boys with smirks on their faces would not sit still when the photo was taken and there for the word 'settle' as in settle down would fit appropriately. The colours used are brown/orange which can connote the 90's era where the photo was taken but also a level of simplicity and realism. It can therefore tie down with the sense of honesty as they haven't made an attempt to produce an amazing aesthetic with beautiful pieces of artwork. This can the coincide with the name of the album 'settle' which can connote a sense of being appreciative of what u have and to settle for it.



What I have learnt from this
By undergoing this research into digipaks I have been able to conclude some points which will help me in terms of creating my digipak and in terms of following the conventions of my chose genre. I have found that on more than one occasion digipaks which belong to the drum and bass/underground dance music genres often avoid using conceptual pieces of art. These digipaks in my research are mush more likely to use realistic graphics which can be there to raise awareness of social and environmental issues which we face today within society. I found that the honest and realistic approach is preferred as it doesn't glamourise non glamorous aspects of the world which are often made to look better aesthetically in an attempt to shy away from the issues we face. The colours used are often dark and dull in order to present this idea of realism further.