Digipak Analysis

Jack Johnson – In Between Dreams

The front cover of the Jack Johnson album, follows a theme commonly seen within the Indie genre. The artist is not featured on the front cover, instead artwork is used which connotes that the artist is not conforming to the mainstream style of packaging. The simple sans serif text, and image of a tree portray to the audience that the main focus of the album is on the music, rather than promoting the artist through extravagant imagery. It creates a simplistic vibe, with links to nature and the outside world, which may be of interest to the indie target audience.

By using yellow as the predominant colour for this album, it connotes a sense of happiness and relaxation. This portrays the style of music that is likely to be found on the album, which is common throughout the majority of Jack Johnson’s previous work. The blacked out image is a stark contrast to the yellow background, this makes the image stand out and be recognisable which is commonly used for advertising purposes.

On the back of the album, the same sans serif text is used, with nothing other than the song list on the cover. This again connotes the idea of simplicity in the album, and that the artist and the record label are not trying to promote anything other than the artists music with this album.

Once again, by using the stark yellow background, this promotes a sense of happiness from the album, but also enables the black text to contrast. This makes the album look very polished and professional.

A simplistic image of the tree stump carries on the theme from the main image on the front of the album, creating a sense of continuity and brand identity. This will often be demanded by record companies to ensure that their artist is recognisable by certain aspects of their album.

On the inside of the pack we see the only image of the artist. From what we can see the artist is wearing causal clothing, and is not wearing any form of stage make-up. He is slightly hidden, with the guitar being the forefront of the image. This continues the idea of the album being more about the music, than the artist. This will also be an appealing aspect to the indie genre, as they themselves are generally not interested in extravagant clothing or make-up, this form of style used for the album, reflects the relaxed, casual style of the target audience.

The colour scheme is very simplistic also, with neutral shades being used. This is commonly seen through indie genres, as nature makes an appearance regularly as this can be an interest for the target audience. By using a leaf as the main image for inside the pack this continues with the theme from the front of nature and simplicity.

Muse – The Resistance

On the front cover of this album, there is also no photographic images of the band. Instead illustrative images are used. The image is rather confusing to work out, and does not connote much at first glance. So therefore, it is perceived that the band is looking for listeners to look deeper into the meaning of the music. This along the same lines of Jack Johnson, the music is more important than promoting the image of the band in this case. This could also portray the fact that the band are so well established that they no longer need to promote their image as a band, they are able to use alternative ways to illustrate their album work.

The use of artwork on the front cover will be appealing to the indie target audience as the arts are often a common interest for them.

The back cover of the image shows a slightly blurred, greyscale image of the band. They are not dressed in extravagant show clothes, nor are they wearing any stage make-up. This connotes the common theme of the package not being centred around the artist’s appearance. The environment in which the band members are in on this photograph, does not represent high glamour as many artists do in other genres such as R&B.

By using the multi-coloured text for the track list, it immediately stands out, drawing the viewers attention straight to it. The sans serif font links in with the casual clothes that the band are wearing, and the atmosphere being given off from the images, creating continuity within the pack.

The theme from the back cover is continued through onto the middle of the digipak, by using the grey scale images of the band members in run down areas. At first glance it is not clear what the message is from these images, but the artistic angles of the shots, links in with the artistic vibe commonly promoted through the indie genre. The images do not conform to mainstream ideas. For many digipaks/albums artists have a photo shoot, with very staged make-up and outfits. However these images are snapshots of moments that the band have been through, which conforms to the common theme within the indie genre, of little/no extravagance within their work.