DigiPak - An Introduction

As part of the A2 media course, I am required to produce an ancillary product in the form of a Digipak.

What are they?
A Digipak is a type of packaging for CD's or DVD's, and is typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs. Typically, they tend to come as 4 panel gatefold (book-style) packs, or 6 panel packs, (although there are other options).
The front of the Digipak will feature iconography or imagery of the artist and will be in style with the predominant genre. As a whole, the Digipak will follow a theme - always relating to the music, music videos, and the artist in some way - as the use of theme helps with the branding and recognisability of the artist.
Digipak's are essentially a form of promotion, as they help to bring in awareness of the artist and as they encourage people to buy and listen to music.

Codes and Conventions of a Digipak

Front

• Main band/artist image
• Name of band/artist
• Title of album
• Logo

Back

• Track list
• Special features
• Another image (usually placed under the text)

Spine

• Name of artist
• Title of album
• Record label
• Reference number

Inserts/Inner sleeves

• Institutional information
• Song lyrics
• Photographs of artist
• Thank you's
• Post cards
• Promotional/merchandise information
• Website information

Additional Institutional Information

• Price
• Barcode
• Record label
• Year of publishing
• Copyright
• Composers/Producers, credit, etc. ... 

(This information is usually located in small print on the back cover, or else as part of the inner sleeves or inserts)

Digipak Analysis

1.) Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

Del Rey's 2012 Album "Born To Die" is one of which I am a personal fan. 

As an Alternative genre singer, Del Rey's style is typically quite cinematic, dealing in themes of tragic romance and melancholia, and more often than not it gives nods to 1950's and 1960's Americana pop culture; and "Born To Die" is no exception to this.

According to this source, the cover image was shot by Nicole Nodland, while Del Rey and David Bowden were in charge of the overall appearance of this Digipak. It features the typeface Steelfish, which Del Rey has since gone on to use on her more recent albums. She certainly follows a theme throughout all her Digipak's, with her name frequently placed in large across the top of the cover, a medium closeup shot of her (connecting with the audience by staring into the camera), the album title in a smaller print across the bottom, and a vintage styled colour scheme/photo's relating to a differing theme on each album (the theme being linked to the songs).

The album cover seen above is from the Deluxe edition (the standard edition is practically identical, save for the title being printed in a pale sky blue.) The typography - all in the Steelfish font - features a soft peachy colour for the title, which matches the colour of the track listings panel (the tracks are listed in white, except for the bonus tracks which are in black). 

In terms of the design elements, Del Rey sticks to her vintage/cinematic theme by covering the album in vintage style photographs and forgoing the use of graphics, (although there is the use of a blood splatter graphic effect on the lyric booklet insert - this links to the albums themes of pain, love and lust/passion, and links to the brooding lyrics of her songs, while the red colour matches the roses printed on the CD.)
The cover photograph is simplistic, following a bright blue/white toned colour scheme (with hints of red that bring to mind the American flag and create a sense of patriotism), while the careful positioning of Del Rey ensures that our attention is drawn to her. She's photographed outside in an unusual environment (a common feature seen in indie videos and artist branding), and is seen with vintage style hair, makeup, and clothing.
Overall the style is suggestive of the indie genre, but it definitely has its own distinctive vintage twist.

In conclusion, Del Rey brands herself with a simplistic, yet clear and distinctive style that holds nods to the mix of genres that influence her. This Digipak contains most of the common features of a Digipak, and successfully markets this artist.

2.) Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love

(These pictures are of my own copy of Sleater-Kinney's "No Cities To Love" - above is pictured the front (the dried flowers) and back covers, and the inside fold.)
The image of the female holding the paper displays the typed words of the first and second verses of the album's title song, "No Cities To Love".

(This is the inside spread of the Digipak - it's features the three band members, obscured in shadow to create enigma, and sets a serious tone for the album. Black and white photography of the band is a common feature in the punk rock genre.)

Sleater-Kinney returned in 2015 after a decade of silence with the an iconic collection of feminist punk rock in "No Cities To Love". 

Mike Mills was in charge of art direction, and worked with Thea Lorentzen on design. The front cover photograph was produced by Mills and Lorentzen, and the back cover photograph is a photograph called "Colour-Composite of the Sky Field with Several High-Redshift Galaxies" by Eso and has been edited to black and white (to match with the black and white photos of the band on the inside of this Digipak.) 

(Above: the unedited version of the image on the back cover)

While the choice to have the imagery of stars seems a little incongruous with the dried and faded arrangement of flowers on the album's cover, it does work, as the outer space themed cover art has been used by other rock bands, such as Pink Floyd and Def Leppard among others. The choice to make this image black and white also feels like a nod to the style of the 90's (which is when Sleater-Kinney started out). The space imagery also links to the modern/futuristic themes raised in this album's songs (such as the idea of the 'atomic tourist', in "No Cities To Love").

The flowers on the front cover give the album a more feminine touch, which is appropriate as this is after all a feminist, all-female band; the fact that the flowers are shrivelled does link to themes of death, dead romance, and the passage of time, and can in this way be linked to the punk/rock genre (although this cover does feel rather more indie.) 

The three inner panels of this digipak feature the three band members, obscured largely by shadow. While for newer and unestablished bands this may be done to create intrigue, Sleater-Kinney are a well established and prominent American rock band, and therefore don't need to create intrigue to gain popularity or build a fan base. Therefore the choice to do this is likely to be a way to ensure that their fans focus on the messages of their music, and not them. 

The font is in a simple and small sans-serif style - a fairly unusual choice for a rock band, as most tend to go for larger, grunge or graffiti style fonts - and is either black or white (as appropriate to being able to see it against the background.) 

Again, the simplicity of the overall packaging choices seems to be urging the audience to focus on the message of the music by eliminating all unnecessary distractions. 

In conclusion, while "No Cities To Love" contains all the necessary codes and conventions of a Digipak, the overall theme feels rather more indie than punk rock - but as an established band this is okay, especially as the theme's femininity relates to their feminism and girl power.

3.) Arctic Monkeys - AM

In 2013 the indie-rock band Arctic Monkeys released their AM album (the title 'AM' being inspired by the Velvet Underground's 1985 compilation album 'VU') - while neither the name of the band nor the album title appears on the front of the Digipak, appropriately, the album cover artwork is a graphic of an amplitude modulated (AM) signal. The simplicity of the design, and the bold choice of black and white make it eye catching and memorable to the audience, and create intrigue for those who are unfamiliar with the band. 

The inside cover follows features a shot black and white shot of the band looking serious and moody, (again, a common feature of the rock genre.) 

This Digipak is even more simplistic than most, with the only writing being the bare essentials (band name, track listings, legal jargon, barcode, and record label logo) on the back cover.

The band name (which doubles as their logo) appears in a large font above the track listings, which are indented from the left. The font for the bands name is distinctive - its part of their branding - and is likely based off of the font Futura ExtraBlack. The track listings seem to also be a variation of the futura font. While a sans-serif font such as this is generally uncommon of the genre, the Arctic Monkey's are unique in that they have made it part of their branding, so it's recognisable as being part of their style. 

Conclusions

In the digipak's I have analysed I can safely conclude that the codes and conventions I listed at the top of this post are accurate - all the Digipak's I looked at analysed included them, and all followed a theme relating to their artist/songs/genre. 

While every Digipak is unique to its artist, their is a general conformity to what's expected of its genre as this helps with branding. Of course, as with everything, there are always exceptions.