Digi pack and advert research

What is a digipack?
A digipack is a type of packaging for
CDS or DVDS, usually made from
cardboard, with a plastic holder for one
or more CDS.
What are the conventions of typical Indie
digipacks?
They tend not to feature the band or
artist, but alternatively abstract pictures
and colours which help the digipack stand out. If the digipack does feature the
artists on the cover, it tends to be in a cartoon style. Such as in Blurs album.
Some digipacks only feature the artists name and leave out the title. The text on
the digipack is usually in strange and unique styles so that it is visually capturing
and stands out.
What are the conventions of a typical Indie Folk digipack?
Often, the artist is made up as a smaller element of the composition of the
photograph instead of using close ups which are sharp and bold in their nature.
This suits the conventions of Indie Folk as it is suggesting that the artist wants
you to focus on the artistic elements of their music and style as a pose to their
fame and star persona. Photography tends to be made up of natural colours and
natural lighting instead of bold and brash colours, again adding to the idea that
the music is the main element they want us to focus on instead of a perfected
and a conformist product. Most Indie Folk digipacks that do feature the artist on
the cover tend to be shot at eye-level, instead of from a high or low angle shot.
Many mainstream digipacks, such as Pop and Hip-Hop use low angle shots to
connote power to the artist, and to emphasise the idea of fame and glory. Indie
folk focuses on a much less arrogant level, by shooting these eye-line images
which suggest that the artist and audience are on the same level, helping to
create and understanding with their listeners.

The back of digipacks typical to the Indie Folk

genre is conventionally plain, with dull and
quite uninteresting colours. It copies a
minimalistic style, keeping everything simple,
with the idea of nature recurring through the
digipacks. Nothing too artificial is included in
many Indie Folk digipacks, such as bold and
brash colours which deter the attention away
from the artistic element of music and draw
more attention to the graphical artistry. The
back also typically contains some artist
information, including their record label, and
usually has a barcode.
Examples of some Indie Folk Digipacks:

This first cover of a digipack belongs to

Indie Folk group-Of Monsters and Men.
This is conventional of the genre, as we
can see that it consists of very dull,
unsatured colours. It is in a black and white
style, and is not eye catching, nor visually
very interesting, which suggests the artists
want their audience to focus more on the
musical artistry. Furthermore, it also
contains natural photography, the inside of
the letters appear to show images of rocks,
and natural land formations. As I saw in my
research from Indie Digipacks, the cover
does not contain a title but simply the
initialised outlines of the groups name.

Gabrielle Aplin is the artist of the song that we

have chosen for our music video; therefore I
thought it would be wise to look at an example of
one of her digipacks. I find this one interesting,
from how there is a combination of black and white
effects with the pastel colours in certain overlay
This
digipack
is fromsuch
the Lumineers
album.
elements
of cover
the pictures
as the umbrella
and
The
recurring
theme
throughout
looking
at
these
the balloons. The setting in the background of the
covers
has
of dark
and scenery,
dull colours.
Again,
this
images
is been
all within
natural
such
as fields,
digipack
is based
and The
white
with thecover
sky and
cloudsaround
clearlyblack
in view.
colours.
The image
is very
quirky,
and
to be
monochrome
colours
suggest
that
theappears
artists aim
is
an image taken in the past or sometime in modern
history. The cover is kept minimalistic, possibly done
deliberately to keep the attention on the musical
artistry. As I discussed in my evaluation of Indie
Digipacks, only the bands name is written on the
cover, and the name of the album is left out,
therefore fitting with these conventions.
Furthermore, the photography looks more
spontaneous than staged which again is

Evaluation of Digipacks cont.:

This is the back cover of a digipack from fleet
foxes. The text on the back is very large and
the text resembles something that would have
been a recognizable font in the Tudor days.
The text runs over onto the next line
regardless of whether the song title has
finished being written fully. This represents the
alternative style of the music within the
album. Furthermore, the image from the front
of the digipack runs over onto the back, again
another of the quirky features that is
conventional for alternative genres. The back
is kept relatively minimalistic in its design as it

This is the back of Noah and the Whales

digipack. This is less minimalist than the
typical styles, as it I not just plain but features
an image. However this image is typical of the
Indie Folk genre, from the styling to the
scenery/setting. The colours used create a
stark contrast, with the colours at the bottom
being dark (black) and the colour at the top,
which is the sky, being white. The image has
also been edited with a vintage like effect,
which is becoming more conventional within
the Indie Folk genre. The barcode is
unconvnetially displayed at the top, with all
legal information such as record company,

The colours featured on the back of this

digipack are dull and vintage styled. The
writing is in white which allows it to stand out
above the sombre background. Again, the
theme within the picture is a natural setting.
The barcode is conventionally displayed at the
bottom of the digipack, with the signature
logo/band name displayed above the text of

Why have I chosen Spirits as the title of my album?

One of the definitions I found on the internet for spirits is: the non-physical part
of a person which is the seat of emotions and character; the soul.
This album and our song choice is heavily based upon the emotions of the
character and is very reminiscent about the past, such as in our music video:
please dont say you love me which includes flashbacks to the artists memories
with her childhood best friend and soon to be lover. Spirits doesnt focus on
physical beings and therefore removes the superficial factors of human life and
strips things back to the spiritual side of life. Therefore, it is conventional for the
genre, which doesnt like focussing on the superficial factors of the music
production process, such as extravagant appearances, and publicity stunts, but
actually the words and overall, general messages that come from the songs
which are portrayed subtly in the music.

The main artistic feature of this advert is of the

central image of Lana, the artist. The image is
very symmetrical such as the pockets on her shirt
which create an aesthetically pleasing image. The
colours used link to the natural themes
throughout the digipacks I have analysed and the
general style conventions from the genre such as
a natural setting. These colours are white, blue
and greens, all natural colours which we can link
to the environment. The title of the artist is the
main centre of visual interest within the poster,
and is displayed in white which is striking above
the blue background. The vital information is
given on the poster such as the album release
date. I like the design of this poster as it is striking

This poster boasts a minimalistic design. It is kept

simple through its use of colours, such as a
relatively plain and naturalistic background with a
splash of colour in the umbrella, to make the image
visually stimulating and interesting. The font style
is complementary to Gabrielle Aplins persona and
musical attributes. The essential information is
displayed conventionally at the bottom of the
poster, such as the date of release and the songs
included on the album. The poster consists of
nothing too striking and therefore matches the
conventions of Indie Folk by keeping attention
focussed on the music and not the superficial,

The main artistic feature of this

poster is the large X symbol
which consists of an abstract
pattern. It is an unusual design,
therefore eye catching, whilst
still keeping the poster
minimalistic. The xx is displayed
on both posters which informs
those who are unaware of the
symbol and the band, as well as
important information on the 2nd
poster. Apart from the symbolic
X, the poster is kept blank and
therefore links to the indie folk
genre as it is keeping the
attention on the music by not
This poster by Haim uses a typical Indie Folk style
appearance. For example, the colours are mainly
dull and dark colours, with nothing too brash or
outstanding to the eye. For example, a black and
white image is used on the poster, which covers
half of the page. The title Haim is displayed in a
baby pink colour which perhaps represents the
female sex of the women in the band, instead of
keeping it boyish by using a blue or white colour
for the title. The essential information is displayed
below in a stylish and clear font, with the most
important text displayed slightly larger than some
of the rest. The image is conventional of the genre,
as the nature of it is quite abstract, we cant easily
infer what the image is of and what the artists are
meant to be doing in the image. Furthermore, the
poster is kept relatively minimalistic, with lots of
empty space surrounding the black background. It
incorporates a vintage style and feel by the editing
This Mumford and Sons poster incorporates an
interesting design into the poster. The colours
used such as the green are representative of the
idea of nature and the outdoors, conventional of
the Indie and Indie Folk genre in particular. The
text is visually capturing, as it is bold, and
displayed over a white background which is
separated off by a white bubble. This makes the
text stand out more than if it was presented
above the green background, therefore making
the poster more effective for its purpose. The
style of the poster makes it look like the poster is
strung up with pegs, giving more of an artistic
and alternative look to the poster than the others.
Only a small image is used, which is perhaps
significant when looking at the conventions of
Indie and Indie Folk music as the main aim of the

Analysis of the Language used within these pieces of media:

Of all the front covers of the digipacks that I have analysed, they all seem to contain relatively
minimal language, such as the Artists name/s and the title, some only consisting of one, often
creating a minimalistic design. The title of Of Monsters and Mens digipack album is my head is an
animal. This title is quite abstract, and uses figurative language (a metaphor) to connote an idea
from the title, without giving a literal meaning. The cover of the Lumineers digipack album doesnt
even feature a title and therefore keeps the text/language used sparse on the page. The back of the
digipack albums contain more language, such as legalise, conventionally displayed at the bottom of

The spine of this

CD contains the
name of the
artist, in a
different font
from the other
pieces of text
from the back
cover and the
same as the
signature artist
name on the
cover. The spine
also presents
some legal
information such
as logos of
corporations and
production
companies. This
is something
that I should
incorporate into

The design style of this

digipack is kept very
minimalistic. For
example, the song titles
are displayed in a neat
and convenient column.
Nothing flashy or edgy
is used to display the
text on this back page.
The colours used are
black and white, which
is practical as it makes
the text stand out
above the black
The barcode is conventionally background
displayed in The
the bottom right hand corner of
the page,
analysis
of the
occasionally presented with some
additional
language
of this
information, displayed at the bottom.
The
digipack is interesting
additional information provided
the bottom
asatI found
a recurring
of the page includes legalize and
offers
theme that intertwines
essential information such as the
the name
artisticofdesigns and
producers& recorders, as well the
as copyright
language used, the
laws policies and the year of release.
Some
of For
theme of
nature.
the language used includes terms
such as
example,
words such as
produced and recorded by, additional
flowers, sea, and
engineering and produced by. These are all