DIGIPAKAnalysis

DEFINITION AND BENEFITS

• A Digipak is a special edition C.D case. It is made of cardboard and folded into 2-6 sections containing information on the band, lyrics and songs.

• Digipaks benefit the Artists as they represent the bands image and advertises they’re brand. It gives the artists a chance to reach out to their audience and fans and give them something extra to keep them interested and advertise new ideas and products. It can also be a way to entice more people and maybe attract a larger audience.

THE ROLLING STONES The Main image is a common design for The Rolling Stones. The tongue represents Mick Jaggers sensuous lips and the bands rebellious attitude. It is one of the most recognizable symbols for rock which The Rolling Stones had designed for them and have used it as their logo since the 1970s . With the lips as part of the main image you can instantly deduct the band and genre. The image is unique designed to grab your attention but also as conformation of what you were looking for. The gorilla suggests the typical rock genre because The rolling stones are associated with the tongue it confirms it. The image of the gorilla suggests menace. The Text is the same handwritten type font that The Rolling Stones have used through out all their past Albums, Adverts, Posters etc. The type font and the Lips image together have become a kind of brand for The Rolling Stones making it easy to identify their products.

The brand and colour scheme are the same throughout the Digipak. On the Booklet is the same font and colour scheme as on the front cover. The black and white are simple colours designed not to attract attention, whereas the red contrasts the black and white and stand out among it. Also the colour red often stands for lust, passion and danger. These are things commonly used to describe ‘Rock n Roll’ Stereotypically this genre is associated with ‘sex, drugs and Rock n Roll’ The colour red screams danger and sex and the black suggests a dark side ‘Rock n Roll.

It is a simple design through the Digipak. It give little information and has no images other than the front cover. The image on the front cover could suggest menace and promiscuity as such an image can be associated with phrases such as ‘monkeying around’ also the tongue can be interpreted as sexual and the gorillas features are not unkind drawing in the idea of sex, menace and enticement. The only other significant images are those in the booklet. The Rolling Stones Digipak is a simple design that gives away little information before the booklet. The booklet has all the information you would expect to find such as old tours, lyrics, past band experiences and lots of images. The images however are from the past when they were young and attractive keeping up their image and brand as any recent photos may discourage their audience as they have aged and lost the looks and persona of the ‘Rock and Roll’ band.

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE My Chemical Romance is a rock band. This is clearly shown on the front cover of their greatest hits Digipak. The main image is of the band in an important positioning. Typically of most genres the lead singer is placed at the front and the rest of the band follows this portrays the importance of the lead singer. The Black and white image stands out against the red and gold. The red splashes could be interpreted as blood. Rock was originally associated with the Devil, hell, and evil. This is portrayed clearly through the main image which makes the band look dead associating them with death, and evil. As red is the colour of the devil and the image is being portrayed as dark and evil the association of blood is clearly revealed. The Gold writing is in a kind of scratched and untidy font often used by My Chemical Romance. This is an indication of Rock as it looks like it could be graffiti scratched onto a surface which can menacing and ambiguous.

Throughout the Digipak there is a house style. The type face is carried on to the C.D its self and the gold on red splashes is the main text. The pictures behind the C.D and the others within the Digipak are all the same kind of style as that of the front cover. The colours are carried through the Digipak. The red on the black, white and dull gold are rather dark and dull creating a gloomy and melancholy persona of the band and album.

The design is not unlike The Rolling Stones Digipak. It has more detail in the images but the colours and images can be read in the same way. Although they are black and white, against the red they stand out. They band are also looking directly into the camera and towards the audience appealing to the audience’s want to be included. There is no booklet here all the information is on the Digipak as well as other images. All the images seem to be in black and white with the same sort of positioning and make up this keeps up the dark persona and also reinforces the idea of the importance of the lead singer. The lead singer is usually used to draw in the audience using their looks. This is an idea that can be portrayed through this album. There are images of other albums throughout the Digipak. This is a way advertise their past albums and encourage their fans to buy them. On the album photos you can see the same kind of house style. Using dark and surreal images and colours, and the same kind of type face through some of them. It continues to symbolise The rock genre with the different designs but similar ideas and house style.

THE GORILLAZ The Gorillaz can be placed in a number of different genres such as alternative rock, alternative hip-hop, and indie rock. They were a musical and visual project that soon became popular and escalated to stardom. The Gorillaz have used animations designed by Jamie Hewlet. These are fictional characters that represent each band member. The animations are well known and often associated with The Gorillaz. The positioning of the band portrays my earlier points about the lead singer as once again he is positioned at the front with the rest of the band behind. This portrays his importance and leadership. The album design completely stands out. The bright colours and the crazy images drags the attention of any passer by. The animations are a kind of brand so for their fans the front cover instantly shows what artist and for those who may not recognise The Gorillaz will defiantly be enticed by the albums images and design.

The Gorillaz often use the same text through their albums and videos. The scribbly hand written type font looks like it could be a signature. The Gorillaz do not have much of a house style. There is little if not any evidence of a colour scheme. There is a lot of white space and some red but other than that The Gorillaz seem to use their animations and type font as the only way to identify them.

The only other images used throughout the Digipak are the bands animations. They are on all the sides and the C.D, and on one side their slogan ‘respect false icons’. The Digipak contains information on the history of the band and some of their achievements. It also has pictures of their past albums again I believe to attract their audience into purchasing them. The Gorillaz are considered to be a number of genres and their designs and layout are difficult to place into one specific genre. The text could e considered rock, where as the bright colour and loud images can be considered indie or hip-hop. They cannot be put into a context but are rather quite unique and portray this not just through their songs but also their products.