Missing content from Digipak mock up and adjusting the digipak to audience feedback

Digipak Spine Design Journey:

I have used Powerpoint to create the spine and 3 missing panels of the digipak because the design for them is simplistic and didn’t require iStudio’s precise and complex editing tools.

Spine:




From my research of digipak spines I identified the conventions and included them on the spine that I created in order to make it look more professional and authentic so that it is more resemblant of a realistic media product. I stuck with the black white and orange colour scheme to maintain continuity throughout the digipak whilst also linking it to the website. I chose to do this because it makes the two products look like they are a part of the same brand.

The typography has changed slightly. I initially planned to keep the artist’s name and album title in the same font as it was on the cover, however when I changed the size of the Blurryface text (font was bad behaviour) it became unreadable because of the scribbles. So I had to change the font, and decided to go with the font copperplate because it is a serif font and the artist’s name is in sans serif so the contrast connotes that the album and artist don’t fit in with a set genre/style, as in this case the songs on the album are diverse and cover a variety of genres, thus highlighting one of the album’s unique selling points. Futhermore, the serif font makes the album looks more classy and sophisticated which coincides with the style and layout of the website, thus establishing continuity.

From my research, I noticed that the layout of the spine tends to have the serial number on the far left hand side of the album, followed by the artist’s name and then the album title with the record label being on the far right, just after the album title. So, to follow modern conventions, my digipak spine’s layout is set out like this, as it will make my digipak look more professional and authentic. Moreover, I have stuck with the black, white and orange colour scheme to reinforce continuity throughout the digipak and the website.

I used the shape section of powerpoint to draw out a rectangle that would act as my digipak spine. After drawing it out I readjusted the measurements so that the spine was 8.5mm by 125 mm. This is the standard conventional size of the spine, and by following these conventions my digipak becomes closer to a realistic media product. This meant that my digipak spine design is realistic and able to represent an authentic looking digipak spine. After getting the precise adjustments I changed the colour of the spine to black to enhance the appearance of the digipak. I chose black because it blends with the dark colours on the front and back of the digipak and because I wanted to create continuity throughout the digipak and website and the website uses a black, white and orange colour scheme. I then used text boxes and typed the appropriate titles, names and serial numbers in and positioned them in a way that follows conventions. I then copy and pasted an image of the official artist’s record label and put it in the conventional position on the digipak.

I then grouped all of the different boxes and shapes together and rotated the spine to a 90-degree angle, as this is how it would be displayed in stores.

Back Cover:



I have done some more thorough research into the conventions of digipaks and found the conventions of a back cover. This is my response to the audience feedback from my mock up saying that my digipak doesn’t conform to many conventions and therefore looks unprofessional and unrealistic. The conventions are that the name of the band tends to be at the very top with the name of the album underneath this. There is also a list of song titles that are usually centred and a barcode in the bottom right hand corner. Furthermore, the name of the record company, the copyright and year, who owns the copyrighted material are key conventions too. Sometimes there will be the distributer of the album, however it is not that common.

I have changed the layout of my back cover slight in order to include and conform to more of these conventions. I have chosen to do this as it will make my digipak back cover look like it is authentic and genuine as it will have all of the things that you would expect to find on a back cover of an album.

I have moved the track list so it is lower down in order to make room for the artist’s name and album name. I have kept both of these in the fonts that they were in on the front cover in order to maintain continuity. Additionally, I have screenshotted the copyrighted information about the album and have positioned it on the right to fill up a massive empty space. So, I have also moved the record label’s logo, it is now underneath the track list. So now people know who the artist is signed to. Additionally, I have re-positioned the barcode so it is now in the bottom right-hand corner, so it is in its conventional place, so transactions will be much easier and faster in shops. In response to my feedback, I have changed the spacing of the track list so now they have the same equal spacing, creating a sharper more prestigious looking track list and back cover.

The track list is typed in the font Mongolian Baiti and is size 18 – the size and serif font make the text clearly visible and easily readable so the audience knows exactly what songs are on the album. It is key to provide information to the consumer, as albums with fancy and overcomplicated fonts can be very hard to read so people give up and lose interest in the album, so the music is never given a chance. The artist’s name is in size 32 connoting that it is the most important piece of information on this page, which is true as it signifies who’s album this is.

I have also replaced the stock image with an picture that I took during the music video shoot, so continuity is established between the music video and the digipak. Furthermore, the website also features this image in a slideshow so continuity with the website is established too.

Audience Feedback:

The main problem with the final design for the back cover was that the copyright for the album was way too big and the red background made it really distracting and drew the audience’s attention away from the main focus of the back cover, the track list and the main image. – I have responded to this feedback by shrinking the size of the copyright so it is in a readable size but not an overwhelming one that overpowers the whole cover.

Another recommendation was that I should change the colour of the artist’s name to orange, as it is currently white, whereas on the cover it is orange, so the white undermines continuity throughout the album. – I have responded to this by changing the colour of the artist’s name to orange, in order to re-establish continuity throughout the digipak.

Final Back Cover:




Disk:



No changes needed to be made - simplistic design was kept so it wouldn't distract from the main focus of the digipak - The effect of mental illness on teenagers that is presented in a hyperbolic way. For additional connotations see digipak mock up.

Missing 3 Digipak Panels:




I decided to make these panels in Powerpoint because their designs are simplistic and don’t require the complex tools available in iStudio. I inserted the image of the extinguished candle and arranged it so that it was sent to the back. This allowed me to put text over the image. I typed the quote in the sans serif font, as the connotation is that it is simplistic so it is clear and easy to read. I then repositioned the image so that the candle was on the far left so the smoke is the main focus as it is in the centre of the panel. I then cropped the image so that it would fit the powerpoint box which is roughly the size of a digipak panel. I made the colour of the lyrics white to coincide with the other panels, as the quotes will also be coloured white, so continuity is achieved. Moreover, the colour contrast of the white text and black background enhances the lyrics and make them stand out. Furthermore, all of the quote and lyric panels have the text in the same font (Calibri (Body)), thus once again achieving continuity.



I chose to have no image on the quote panels because the main focus of the panel is the quote, so the picture would just distract the audience’s attention away from the main focal point, thus rendering the panel ineffective and pointless. The binary opposite colours black and white enhance the quote as the colour contrast enables the quote to really stand out. The two quotes aim to raise the issue of the stigmatism behind mental illnesses and how they are not taken seriously. It also raises the issue of people being labelled as mentally ill and consequently resulting in them being discriminated against by society as they are considered to be “Weird” or “Different.”

Photoshop - Editing the Digipak images

In order to create my album artwork, I used Adobe Photoshop which is a photo editing and manipulation software.

I imported a photograph, which was taken on the day of my video shoot. This became my background layer, allowing me to put over elements on top of it. For example, most images used for album covers feature a parental advisory logo which tends to be pasted into photoshop and then layered over the top of the original image. However, my album doesn’t need this warning as the content is suitable for children.

I used the enhance portion of photoshop to convert the pictures into black and white, however, I remembered from my target audience feedback that they didn’t the loose guide image from the mock up as it was too grey and looked boring, so after some quick experimenting I found that the portrait style of black and white was the right shading for the images to create the desired effect.

Audience Feedback:

I then ran a poll with my target audience to see whether they liked the images in black and white or in colour.

I asked 10 members of my target audience which they preferred. 9 out of 10 voted for black and white for both the cover image and the images inside the digipak. This was a surprise to me as I personally believed that the cover image looked better in colour and planned to use the coloured version, however as the project is about appealing to target audiences I will adjust my plans and use the black and white images so that my product will appeal to its target audience.

My target audience also pointed out that if I went black and white for one of the portrait shots then I’d have to do it for all of them to establish continuity, which is another reason why I decided to go with what my target audience liked and recommended.

On the other hand the images of the candle will remain coloured as there was a unanimous agreement that they work best in colour.

Side by side images:

Set for the shoot:

Camera Settings:

The Aperture was f/6.3, with a Shutter speed of 0"4 and an ISO of 100. The wide aperture setting of a low f stop of f/6.3 allows for a shallow depth of field so my facial expression appear sharper and stand out more. This was an intentional choice as the sharp expression will highlight and emphasise the head movements of the artist. The long exposure involves using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements. So these settings were ideal for capturing motion, especially head motion where I changed my expressions. I decided to use a low ISO speed as it meant that there was low image noise on the pictures which is what I wanted as the image noise would have lowered the quality of the images. I used a high shutter speed so that there would be a longer exposure time to capture the motion of my head which in turn created an image showing someone having a mental breakdown.

The front cover image was taken with an aperture of f/16, a shutter speed of 1" and an ISO of 100. These higher settings created a much brighter image that works well as a front cover. I decided to increase the settings to test out how the image would look if it was much brighter. The narrower aperture meant that there was a wider depth of field and the longer exposure of 1 second meant that more motion was captured creating a more aesthetically pleasing image.

Finished Digipak Cover:

I finished making the digipak cover in powerpoint. I took the image and inserted it into a powerpoint document. From there I created two text boxes and typed the title of the album and the artist's name. The font of the title is called Bad Behaviour and is size 60, whereas the the font of the artist's name is Distortion Dos Analogue and the size is 32. I then changed the colour of the title text to white and the artist's name to orange. The connotations of these can be seen on the digipak mock up post. This concludes the construction of the digipak cover.

Digipak Mock up

Digipak mock up:

The digipak I plan to create will be in the Maltese cross style to highlight the suffering of a mentally ill person during a breakdown. The multiple panels around the disk will allow me to highlight the individual’s facial expressions whilst bringing to light the issue of mental illness in secondary schools as it is often overlooked and deemed unimportant.

Front cover:



The image on the front cover of the digipak links my tasks together. It features the same artist that is in the music video and on the website. He will be wearing the same clothes that he wore in the images of him on the website and that he wore in the music video. Thereby, linking the three products together as continuity is established. The image will be taken at a medium close up and the camera will have a long exposure to create an image of a person having a BlurryFace, thus linking the title of the album with the image. The artist will make eye contact with the camera to create a personal connection between the audience and himself. This will also intrigue the audience as it will act like he is inviting the audience to find out about his dark story which adds to the mysterious aspect of the image and character, whilst also triggering the audience’s curiosity. 

The image is a medium close up shot of the artist, which signifies that this is his album. The long exposure makes the artist look like he has three faces, indicating there is an imbalance/ impurity within him. The “impurity” is the mental illness that he suffers from. My music video explores the life of a student suffering from MADD in my music video, as a result, both products are linked. The image itself is too demonic for my liking so it acts as a rough guide for what my image will look like. My image will be a lot less sinister and more eye-catching as it will have vibrant colours. He will be wearing a black hoodie in the shoot to connote that he has been tainted and is impure (He has a mental illness). However, he will be wearing a white shirt underneath the hoodie to indicate that there is still purity and innocence inside him. This is reflective of people with mental illness being labelled and consequently being misunderstood; therefore, this product criticises the social stigma behind mental illness as it highlights the effects of the discrimination that people with mental illnesses experience because of their condition. The artist in the music video will be suffering from Mixed anxiety-depressive disorder (MADD), it is a diagnostic category defining patients who suffer from both anxiety and depressive symptoms of limited and equal intensity accompanied by at least some autonomic features. The music video will follow a day in his life where he wishes that he could go back in time to when things were simpler and ends with him having a mental breakdown whilst trying to revise for an exam.

My research showed me that most digipaks from this genre have a parental advisory logo on the cover as the Parental Advisory Logo helps to inform parents that songs or music videos contain explicit lyrics that might be consider offensive or unsuitable for younger children. However, this album doesn’t have any material that could be considered offensive or unsuitable for young children so I decided not to include it.

The typography of the album’s title is scruffy and rough revealing the genre of music that is explored on the album. Moreover, the denotation is that it looks handwritten, and the connotation is that the artist on the cover who is mentally unstable actually wrote it on the album during one of their breakdowns which thereby, makes the album feel more personal as it is the artist’s form of escapism from his mental breakdowns. Placing the title on the top central portion of the cover is a convention, as seen from my research, as it is clearly visible and does not draw attention away from the artist who is the main focus of the cover. The typography includes the title of the album, which is a much larger font than the artists name. The title of the album is font size 72 and the artist’s name is size 32. I chose to do this because I felt like the picture shows the audience who the artist is and if they want further information about him then they can explore his website. The font for the artist’s name uses a distorted font, connoting that he is different to most other musicians, alluding to his mental illness and therefore, creates a mystery about the character which is reinforced through the abstract image showing multiple heads. It is coloured orange to follow the colour schemes that the website uses, which creates continuity and develops a brand sense, showing that these two products are a part of the same brand.

Inside the Digipak:



When the digipak is opened there will be 5 panels. The disk panel shall be in the centre with four different panels surrounding it on each side. I chose to make the disk panel simplistic and minimal so that it would not distract the audience’s attention from the main focus; the images of the artist on the other four panels. The layout of the disc is inspired from my research on the Gorillaz digipak as they also only feature the title of the album and the band’s name on the disc. The inspiration behind the Maltese cross idea came from bands like the Gorillaz who also used this layout for their album ‘Demon Dayz.’ The strange and abstract layout is reflective of the style of music featured in the albums, that being alternative rock as it does not follow the conventional mainstream layout for a digipak.

The Four images around the disk will depict four different poses of the artist suffering from a mental breakdown. The current images are a loose guide to what will be produced. The images will be taken at a medium close up so that the audience can get a good look at him and so that the clothing can be seen so there are added connotations. The images will also be taken at eye-level to create equality between the audience and the artist, reminding the audience that although they look scary and weird, it is still a human being. The images will show the artist’s suffering in an explicit and graphic manner to highlight the pain and torture that people with mental illness struggle with. I decided to do this in an attempt to raise awareness to the issues of secondary school students struggling with mental illnesses, stress and anxiety as this issue is often overlooked and dismissed. So, this hyperbolic presentation of what it is like to suffer from these should help to change these attitudes.



The artist’s facial expression will be aggressive and overexaggerated to really emphasise how much people with conditions like this suffer. The denotation of this panic and desperation for help exposes what overwhelming levels of stress can do to a person and how it can have an intense effect on a person’s life, to a point where their life is ruined. The artist will also be wearing the same clothing that he wore in the music video thereby linking the two products. Moreover, there will be pictures of the artist on the website where he wears these clothes so the website, digipak and music video will all be linked together. Two of the pictures will show the artist holding onto his head, connoting that the main source of his pain is coming from inside his head. It also suggests that he is facing an inner struggle and fighting a war that is ongoing in his mind. One of these two pictures will show that the artist is covering his face, connoting that he is ashamed of himself, revealing the sad reality behind what some mentally ill people feel about themselves. I decided to create a picture like this to make the audience sympathise with the artist and make them feel like they must do something about this issue so that people like the artist don’t suffer in silence. The lighting will dramatically change the image as it will add an enigmatic feel to the image. It signifies that the audience do not know the artist’s story which is what will be explained in the album and music video. This is reflected in the photography as he does not make eye contact with the camera in any of the images that are inside the digipak.





Back cover:



The back cover includes an image of the candle that was used in my music video which thereby links the two products together. The candle is an extended metaphor for the artist and his current condition. The candle features in the choruses of the music video as it becomes relight connoting that he wants to go back in time to when he was younger as the artist is currently stressed out and his hopes, passions and dreams have been “extinguished.” The candle could also be representative of his mental stability and how it has faded over time and has finally been extinguished. A barcode is used to identify a sale, and is read universally. From my research, I have learnt that It is conventional to include barcodes on the back cover of albums. It is usually placed in one of the corners to ensure it doesn't distract attention from other elements on the back cover. So, as a result I have included a barcode on the back of my album in the bottom left corner, so that It doesn’t distract the audience’s attention away from the track list and the image.

From my research, I found that the track list is a convention of back covers. It informs the audience, showing them which songs are on the album. From the track list, they can identify popular singles which may have been released previously. I have written the track list in white as it contrasts the black background which allows it to stand out. All of the tracks are numbered so the audience can skip tracks if and find their favourite. I have put the titles of my tracks in size 18 font making them clear and readable.

Another convention which I found during my research is Copyright and legal information. These are usually discretely written in a small font at the bottom of back covers. This will be added to my final design for my digipak as it will make it look more authentic, genuine, and closer to a realistic media product as it will follow modern conventions. Moreover, I decided to include some symbols that fans of the artist associate themselves with as they call themselves ‘The Skeleton Clique’ which acts as a hidden extra to the more devoted and hardcore fans of the artist. Moreover, some symbols that were used on the official cover of ‘BlurryFace’ feature on the back of my digipak to act as an intertextual reference.

3 missing panels:

There are currently three panels missing. I missed these out due to the complex layout of the Maltese cross digipak. I have decided to add these in later with the final design for the digipak as they will be simplistic panels, two will have quotes with a black background and the other will feature the lyric “Wish we could turn back time” from the music video that I will be creating thereby linking the two together. There will be an image of the extinguished candle from the music video as the background for the lyric panel. It will act as a form of promotion for the music video, which in turn, could boost ad sense revenue gained from the extra viewers as fans of the digipak would watch the video on YouTube. I chose this line from the song because it highlights the artist’s longingness for the past and emphasises how much he hates life right now because of his condition and the stress he faces, which all adds to the point that I am trying to make about how serious mental illnesses are and how they should not be dismissed and overlooked when students suffer from them.

Spine:

I also forgot to create a spine for the digipak due to it being quite an overlooked part of an album. The spine I plan to create for the final design will be simplistic and will use the same fonts that are used on the front page of the album to create continuity. It will also use the black white and orange colour scheme that the digipak and website use in order to establish continuity and to connect the two products together.
Possible Quotes:

Here is a list of the possible quotes that I could use for the two missing panels:

"I'm not lazy. I'm just exhausted from fighting my way through every single day."

"Never let the options of others become the measure of your self worth."

"Don't let your struggle become your identity."

"If mental illness could be seen on a sufferer maybe society wouldn't say "just get over it."

"Not all wound are so visible. Walk gently in the lives of others."

"Masquerading as a normal person, day after day, is just exhausting."

"The greatest cruelty is our casual blindness to the despair of others."

"It's a disorder, not a decision."

The Two I Plan to use:

I let my target audience vote to choose which quotes they liked the best and these are the two winners:

"If mental illness could be seen on a sufferer maybe society wouldn't say "just get over it."

"Don't let your struggle become your identity."

Lyric I plan to use:

“Wish we could turn back time” with picture of the smoking candle in the background.

Audience Feedback and Response:

There was mixed feedback about my fonts, some said that it intertwines with the pic as they’re both disjointed i.e. ‘BlurryFace’ links with the literal blurred face. Whereas others said that they don’t like the fonts because they look too childish and immature for the genre of music. My response to this will be that I will run a tally with 10 people from my target audience to see which font they like the most and the winner of the poll will be used in the final design. By doing this I know that I will be appealing to the majority of my target audience even though the sample is small.

Others said that they liked the look of the disc as it looked professional. They particularly like the background of the disc and how it links with the front covers image.

My target audience also commented on how they particularly like the back cover as it has all the connotations expected to see like a barcode, however it is missing some copyright material which is a connotation of a back cover, so my response will be to add this missing content so that this feedback is fully achieved.

However, on the other hand, some of my target audience said that there were a lot of conventions of a back cover missing like: The artist's name, how the album name should be underneath the artists name, the barcode should be in the bottom right and corner and that there should be copyright information. They said that since it lacked all of this, it look unprofessional and unrealistic. So my response will be to do some thorough research into the conventions of a digipak back cover and adjust the layout so that it conforms to conventions. This will make it look professional and realistic.

One individual stated that they didn’t like the picture as it needs to look clearer and suggested that I should overlay a sharper image to achieve a cleaner look, however after I explained to him that it was meant to look like a mental breakdown he suggested to keep the abstract as it adds to the intensity of the attack whereas a clear image would subvert this desired effect.

A few people commented on the fact that the digipak was missing a spine and 3 panels so in response I will create them and add them to the final design. I will use their ideas and implement a line from the song on one of the panels and for the other two I shall use quotes rather than a fact about mental health. Using a line from the song will create continuity by linking the music video and the digipak which shows the audience that these two products are a part of the same brand.

One member of my target audience said that the image on the front cover looks to grey, going on to say that it made the cover look bland and boring. I will respond to this feedback by using a lighter shade of black and white so that the greyscale is not overpowering.

One member of my target audience said that I need to even out thee spacing on the back cover of the digipak as it is currently uneven. Currently, the uneven state subverts the authentic look that I was going for so my response will be to change it so that it is all evened out to make it look cleaner and sharper which in turn will make it look more authentic. 

Layout of Digipak:

Digipak Analysis: Gorillaz - Demon Days

Album Cover:

This is the 2nd album from the Gorillaz, which was released in the UK on the 23 of May 2005. This was the 1st time the four animated fictional characters were shown to the world. The four characters are shown in a fictional animated world that we can see in the music videos such as the single Dirty Harry and Dare which features Sean Rider from The Happy Mondays. The 1st track of the album “intro” contains a sample from "Dark Earth", from the soundtrack to the 1978 film ‘Dawn Of The Dead.’ This straight away shows the tone of the album and lets the listener know what they’re in for. The four characters look of the Asian origin, which is ironic because the album was released 23 days earlier in Japan that in Britain. This may be because Japan love the animations created by the unique band. The front cover shows the four animated character from a side view, split into four pictures with the artist name shown at the top, and the album name shown at the bottom. 

Front man, Damon Alabarn was previously in the band Blur before the Gorillaz formed. To the right we can see the cover used on the front of “Blur: the best of”. The two album covers are very similar in the way that they use the same layout, of showing four animated pictures of four of the band members. The source of the similarity could possibly be from Damon Albarn. One reason he may have made the two similar is that people may recognise the similarity between the Blur album cover that was released 5 years before Demon Days. By Damon making the two albums similar, he could possibly attract Blur fans to listen to Demon Days.

The concept band Gorillaz, conceived by Blur Frontman Damon Albarn and British comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. The band are the most successful band that have no real members, with the band themselves simply being fictional creations. From the start Gorillaz has always been about visual representation and a whole concept based around the bands formation and each member’s history. The artwork in no way strays away from this visual overload and the cover for the bands sophomore LP ‘Demon Days’ has become there most iconic piece of visual work.

CD:

The cd itself also mirrors the image on the front cover with each member profile being silhouetted against a white background.

Parodying The Beatles 'Let it be’ album cover in which each member of the bands profile shot is placed within four squares on a black background. This intertextual reference to this classic album helps the audience connect with the album, they see the fact that the album is linked visually with the Beatles and can instantly be recognised by anyone associated with it. This is used in order to create an extra layer of meaning with the viewer and help broaden the target audience.

Limited Edition Of The Album:

A limited edition of the album also exists and although it contains similar artwork to the regular edition, it does boast constructional differences. The Digipack folds out into four panels in an 'X’ shape revealing the cd in the middle of them. This folding pattern allows for the owner to choose which individual member of the bands portrait takes up the front cover position. So, the consumer can customise their album by choosing which member they want on the front cover. On the foldouts are similar shots of each member however slightly changed with expressions and positioning having changed. There is a sense of continuity throughout and user personalisation that allows listeners to choose their own favourite members as the mascot for the album. This engages with the audience in a huge way as it allows them to create their own unique version of the album.

Booklet:

The booklet insert for the standard edition of the LP is interesting as well as instead of presenting the lyrics for each song, instead individual images that represent each are on the pages. This is due to the fact that Albarn and Hewlett wanted the theming and visual narrative to be more dominant than that of the lyrical contents relevance. Albarn has said that the album is meant to be a depiction of a journey through the night in which each track represents a confrontation with a personal 'demon’. Therefore, each song has its own visual representation of these demons that are part of the concept. Some of the illustrations are in different art styles but all of them consistently have some cartoons drawn by Jamie Hewlett on them. This will appeal to fans of Gorillaz in general and fans of Hewlett’s other works such as the comic Tank Girl.

Back Cover:

The back cover of the digipack is fairly tame with the track listing placement in top left hand corner in a standard black font against a pure white background. Opposite sits yet more artwork of the fictional band members. This time, Japanese guitarist Noodle Sits in the foreground holding a guitar accompanied by the recurring character of 'The Monkey’. The remaining members of the band are placed in the background in the shadows, this almost highlighting noodle as the creative influence for the album, that the spotlight is on her. This continual reinforcement of this characters is interesting as it forces viewers and listeners to invest into the idea that these characters are real, that they are the ones who created the album. It also helps people understand the members from the front cover image more of a contextual situation, how they relate to each other. The back also shows what is on the exclusive DVD that comes with the digipak. The back also reveals that the digipak allows you special access to a part of their website to download wallpapers and a screensaver as well as a special bonus track.

Poster:

The poster promoting Demon Days is very simple and is just the album cover extended to show the title of the album in much larger text so people can see the name from a farther distance. The bottom of the poster also shows the release date in bold text and the editions of the album available to buy. The poster advertises the very popular single “Feel Good Inc.” to show people that that song was on the album to make them buy it.

Conclusion:



Overall the Digipack for Gorillaz second album is a visual feast, one that incorporates a continuity for the characters created for their first album and gives them a coherently central placement within the record, there presence as characters and the motifs of the album are the core of the pack with every image bearing them as stimulus for the viewer.

Digipak Analysis: Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface

Front Cover:

This is Twenty One Pilots’ album cover for their latest album Blurry Face. The front cover shows patterns with colours of red, white, grey and black. These colours are easily recognisable as they are colours that the duo use and wear frequently (Josh dun had red hair and wears red eye-shadow when he performs). Therefore, the colours are associated with the duo. There are also no images of the band, as they want to be recognised by the colour theme as only their true fans will be able to identify them. 

The band has always been very close to their oldest and most loyal fans as they have thanked them many times in interviews for promoting them and they said that they are grateful to them as their hard work promoting them has led to their success. The layout of the album cover features a black background with abstract patterns and fonts and some reddish-orange accents to accompany it. It has a basic 3 x 3 circle design with patterns embedded within each circle to give that abstract look. The reddish-orange accent gives a neon electro look to the digipak, which in turn makes it look unique. Additionally, it is used to also reflect the outgoing and uplifting spirit within the songs of the album.

The abstract patterns are used to stylise the cover but also it can be said that it is to bring that subtle tone to the cover as having a solid colour for each circle may look too aggressive. Tyler Joseph (The lead singer of ‘Twenty One Pilots’) stated in an interview that each pattern represents a song on the album and that these patterns add a deeper layer of meaning to the art as each pattern has a special meaning to him and the drummer of the band Josh dun. The black and white layout of the cover mimics that of the websites layout and thus strengthening the connection within their brand. So, there are two direct links between the digipak and the website, creating a sense of continuity. The stylized fonts of the text also brings that modernised style to the overall looks of the album as the straight font with minimal style mimics that of many electro music covers.

The colours used on this digipak can be linked to the idea of rebellion and fighting back against the norm. This comes across in the bands music as well, as Tyler's lyrics speak of how they have had to fight for their place in the music industry.

The typeface that has been used is very simplistic much like the the typeface on New Politics album cover, the font is clear with bigger spaces making it easy to read. The black, white and red colour scheme is very similar to other bands within the same genre, alternative. Bands such as New Politics and Panic! At The Disco, this may be because alternative is not as popular genre in the eyes of the music industry so these bands have had to work hard to get their music noticed and to not conform to the standards of the music industry.

The digipak also includes the band’s logo at the top of the cover. This makes the digipak to be easily recognisable as a part of the ‘Twenty One Pilots’ Brand. This brand identity is reinforced through the use of the typography of the album’s title, it uses the same font as the band’s logo, hence strengthening the sense of continuity throughout the product.

Back Cover:

The track list is a convention of back covers as it informs the audience what songs are on the album. From this they can identify popular singles which may have been released. All of the tracks are in chronological order so the audience can skip tracks if they want to find and listen to their favourite song. The titles of the tracks stand out as they are bold, and written in a larger typography than the other information. A barcode is used to identify a sale, and is read universally. It is conventional to include barcodes on the back cover of albums. It is usually placed in one of the corners to ensure it doesn't distract attention from other elements on the back cover. Copyright and legal information is usually discretely written in small font at the bottom of back covers.

The back cover shows the track listing with lines cutting across the track list. These lines are associated with the duo as they use them in the branding frequently, for instance the lines can be seen in the logo of the band, so it acts as a signal to the consumer that this product is a part of the ‘Twenty One Pilots’ brand. The simplistic black and white colour scheme is used on the back to once again further the continuity throughout the product. The CD disk also has the colour and the line theme. The white straight line represents the drummer and the red line, the singer. They have used lines as their identities instead of themselves. This may be used to represent their mental illness.

Within The Digipak:

One of the inside designs is an abstract piece of art of all the patterns featured on the cover. The art on the inside design is blurry, abstract and unclear; this is a direct link to the title of the album ‘Blurryface’.

There is an image included within the digipak of Tyler Joseph (Lead singer of Twenty One Pilots) and there are the abstract patterns covering his face. It is a close up, however, the patterns are hiding his face, this reinforces the sense of insecurity that is explored throughout the songs on the album and strengthens the link between the concept art of the digipak and the content included on the CD. It can also be said that the patterns covering his face make it look blurry which links the concept art to the title of the album, once again reinforcing the continuity throughout the product.Additionally, the red that covers Tyler's face is a reference to his character on the album 'Blurryface'. 


Blurryface is the opposite of lead singer Tyler Joseph. Blurryface has been described not as an actual physical character but rather as a intangible character living inside of Tyler. Blurryface’s presence first became known on the track “Fairly Local.” The song, although very deep and dark, has a cheerful message in the beginning. Starting off with the chorus, Tyler sings “I’m fairly local, I’ve been around.” This indicates that he is still staying true to his roots and feels a connection to his true fans who have been with him from the beginning. The first verse, however, takes on a slightly darker mood as Tyler vents about how the media criticised the depressing themes on “Vessel,” the band’s debut album. The bridge, however, is the darkest part of the song as it is supposed to represent Blurryface. With lines such as “Yo, this song will never be on the radio,” it is clear that Blurryface wants Tyler to change the music style.

So, the reference to this character strengthens the narrative that is featured throughout the album. This in turn enhances the concept art of the digipak as it adds another layer of meaning to it.

Digipak Spine Research

Conventions of a Digipak Spine:

From my research I found that there are four main conventions of a digipak spine: The artist's name, The album name, The serial number and the Record label. However, there were some digipaks that included the distributor of the album on the spine, but it did not appear on most of them so I wouldn't consider it to be a convention.

Digipak Research

A Digipak is a patented style of optical disc packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI-Shorewood, an Atlas Holdings LLC company.

A Digipak is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. Typically, they consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer building, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD.

The term 'digipak' came to be used to describe all soft packaging. IMPAC Group, Inc. originally owned the Digipak trademark. That company was acquired by MeadWestvaco (MWV) in 2000 and folded into its AGI Media division. Following this acquisition, the Digipak name and designs were licensed to manufacturers around the world.

Digipak's will most likely embody a theme and a message about the album. They are known for emphasising the artists brand image and used as a promotional tool. For example, Kanye West's album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' was released using digipak format. The packaging matches the music. Kanye has always been obsessed with high-class art and fashion. He included five versions of different artwork with his digipak to transfer many different messages included in the content of the album using images.

Album Cover (Research)

An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10 in (25 cm) and 12 in (30 cm) 78-rpm records, single and sets of 12 in (30 cm) LPs, sets of 45 rpm records (either in several connected sleeves or a box), or the front-facing panel of a CD package, and, increasingly, the primary image accompanying a digital download of the album, or of its individual tracks. In the case of all types of tangible records, it also serves as part of the protective sleeve.

In 1938, Columbia Records hired Alex Steinweiss as its first art director. He is credited with inventing the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing the plain covers used before. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. By the late 1940s, record albums from major companies featured their own colour paper covers. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilised original designs.

Since the mid-1990s, the compact disc (CD) has become the most common form of physically distributed music products. Packaging formats vary, including the very common plastic jewel-case, and the cardboard and plastic combination commonly known as a Digipak. Typically, the album cover component of these packages is an approximately 4.75in (12.1cm) square.

Album covers became renowned for being a marketing tool and an expression of artistic talent. It became an important part of music culture and is still considered a vital part of the listening experience. Despite the less tangible nature of digital images, there are still many collectors trading cover art and music.

One digital solution is the iTunes LP format for interactive album artwork introduced by Apple in 2009. With the increasing popularity of digital music downloading, the prevalence of the album cover is evolving. Both MP3 and WMA music files can contain embedded digital album artworks in jpeg format. However, from my personal experience the back cover/track list is not as valued in this current day and age. Some artists have used internet technology to generate even more cover art.

Some album covers have been banned due to violence, nudity and other banned pictures. Guns N' Roses's 1987 album Appetite for Destruction's cover depicted a robot rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. Kanye West's 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy depicted West naked being straddled by a phoenix with her bare breasts and bare buttocks showing.