DigiPak Research

DigiPak



DigiPak #1

Rihanna's 'Loud' Digipak only features one character - the artist herself. The image used is a close up of the artist with bold red hair and lipstick to match. These striking colours relate well with the title of the album 'Loud'. She is shown to be looking down, not making eye contact with the camera which suggests shyness and innocence. It could also suggest that she has something to hide and may be telling what she is hiding in this album - which encourages people to buy it. 

The purity of this image is tainted by the visible tattoo on Rihanna's neck, which emphasises her as an RnB artist, relating the image to the genre of the CD. It also goes against stereotypuical conventions of an RnB artists CD which Rihanna has done in the past, as women of this genre in particular are usually portrayed in a 'sexy' style within minimal clothing - ultimately showing themselves as an object to desire. 

There also seems to be a narrative being explained within this DigiPak as the inside album artwork suggests a fairy-tale like setting, showing that the CD may be a story about love. This is because the roses used are symbolic of love and innocence. However, when listening to some of the tracks and lyrics, not all the songs featured on the CD are 'innoncent' as suggested by the digipak artwork. 

Roses are iconically used within this digipak, featuring on the inside artwork as well as on the CD art. The symbolism of the rose connotes love and innocence, and relates to the love theme of the CD tracks such as Only Girl. The danger connotation of the colour red is also used to link to the risky love themed songs such as S&M. In the song California King Bed, the artist creates love imagery using the lyrics 'inside of a rose', showing the connection between the flower and love. 

On the inside artwork, Rihanna is almost shown laying on a bed of roses. This gives off a fairytale atmosphere as she appears to be in a dreamlike state. The princess-like dress also shows Rihanna as innocent as if in a fairy-tale, with the roses showing love in the females life. This goes against the CD's RnB genre as it is more stereotypical of an indie genre. The main imagery used on the front of the artwork is shown to be taken within a studio, using high-key lighting to capture the artists facial features in the best way in order to make her look more appealing. This use of high-key lighting creates strong shadows around the artists face, which emphasises the focus on the artists made-up features. 

There is a strong use of the colour red within this digipak which is an extremely emotional colour connoting love and possibly danger. This could be relating to the emotional songs enlisted on the album. The artist is shown in a white dress, connoting innocence which relates well to a fairy-tale theme. The vivid colours relate well to the title of the album 'Loud' as the boldness of the red is striking and eye-catching for an audience. The text on the front cover shows the letters rather spaced out in capital letters which suggests the loud aspect of the name.

 

DigiPak #2

The album artwork for Kanye West's album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' uses paintings created by artist George Congo. 5 alternative covers were created for this album. In this version, Kanye's severed head, crowned, being pierced with a sword. The character appears to be fearsome and powerful, with the facial expression and the portrayal of his eyes wide open, relating to the song 'Power' from this album. 

His assumed status is also conveyed through the crown that he wears, suggesting the artist believes he is dominant and higher than others. The CD art shows another one of the George Condo paintings, one which was banned by Apple and superstores for being too provocative, featuring a naked half woman half creature on top of a man that is drinking. The bizareness of the image suggests Kanye's desire to be different and willingness to break rules. It also further supports the suggestion of Kanye's powerful persona as he knew such a painting would cause controversy in the media and continued to use it anyway. 

As an album within the hip-hop genre, this digipak does not show the stereotypical features expected from it. Instead, the artists paintings are used for the front cover, suggesting a higher social class as opposed to the stereotypical street-raised rappers who emphasise their rough upbringings. Although, in the painting form, the character is still recognisable as Kanye West which could be classed as iconic as there is no artist name on the CD itself, just the image. This suggests that people already know who he is without having to be told. The use of folk-tale like characters for the album art show that Kanye West, as a hip hop artist is different and unique to the genre. 

The use of specially made intriguing imagery by George Condo for this CD entices the audience by being mysterious and creating a narrative enigma by forcing them to wonder what each of them mean. Once they listen to the tracks on the album, the paintings begin to make more sense. 

The album front cover painting appears to be set in a dream-like world, featuring clouds and vivid blue skies which convey an image of fantasy or a heaven-like setting. This relates instantly to the albums title 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'. The characters severed head appears to be on a podium display, further suggesting the artists power and supremacy thoughts about himself and also referring back to the track 'Power'. On the back cover, the albums tracks are written in a creative font. The type of font used suggests a similar quality to calligraphy - this font gives the album an almost regal sense, which again relations to power and royalty. 

The album art is all digital with no used photographs, only paintings and no cameras used. The use of colour red is frequent throughout the digipak, used on both the front cover, the back cover and the internal artwork. This colour connotes strength and power - a continuous theme of this digipak. Within the inside, typography of the artists name spreads across 4 pages. This creative design reflects the artists imaginative side, which could also refer back to the 'fantasy' setting/theme of the digipak.