Florence and the Machine

DIGIPAK ANALYSIS

I chose the artist Florence and the Machine to use for my three essays as I thought she was an artist that fits well in the genre of indie music. I thought that it was a good choice as it means

that the group will have a further insight into the indie genre so this means that we can make a more

effective final product through our research.

Florence and the Machines target audience are the younger generation of about 14-20 year olds. They say that they have targeted this age group because it is the age when you start to become aware of how the world works. I think this age group is targeted well through her music video as she talks about things which any person of an age younger than 14 may

not actually understand fully and also the concept of the video, the spiritual ritual, may not be fully understood either. This shows how

Florence is trying to challenge her audience and make them question certain things, which they may not have otherwise. However as it is quite a young target audience Florence and the Machine need to make sure that

their music is still interesting and engaging for the audience so that it appeals and attracts the audience which they want to appeal too. I think

they have done this well as they have used many different aspects to make their music video different such as the use of camera shots, mise-en-scene, props, costume, extras and so on. This ensures that any audience watching the video will find that they are constantly interacting with the

music video and be thinking about what is going on.

This album has used many typical conventions of a digipak including the artists name on the front cover, the album name on the front cover, it has an individual booklet inserted inside the digipak giving extra information and it has a track listing. The digipack does include one main picture of the main artist ‘Florence’ however it does not incorporate images of the other members of the band. This may be because they wanted to be independent and for their music to speak for itself. The colours

they have used on the front of the digipak are quite muted which is conventional of the indie music genre. They may have used more muted colours on the front cover of the digipak to sway the audience’s attention towards the lungs placed on Florence’s chest and this is effective as again it makes the

audience think of the album name therefore making it more memorable.

The name of Florence and the Machines digipak is ‘lungs’. On the front of the digipak they show reference to this as you can see a pair of lungs on the top of Florence’s chest and then on top of this are the words ‘LUNGS’ in bold white writing making it stand out. As the name of the album is incorporated so much on the front of the digipak this

makes it hard for the audience to forget the name of the album therefore making the product stand out more and therefore the text

anchors the image. The main artist, Florence is looking away from the audience, using indirect mode of address. This is quite typical of the

indie genre as they don’t want the artist to be the focus of the product unlike in the Pop genre. As well as this Florence is in quite a

shy pose, this seems to signify that the artist is letting the music speak for itself instead of the digipak being focused on the actual artists. Also clearly stated on the front of the digipak is the band’s

name, ‘Florence and the Machine’ this is good as it means that customers will easily be able to find what they are looking for and the

album is more easily accessible.

The theme used on the digipak is relatively simple yet effective and that is shown through the typeface used on the front of the digipak. The name of the album is all written in capital letters

which makes it stand out more to the audience. This also makes it clearer and easier for the audience to read. Unconventionally the typeface colour is white, and this could be a dangerous decision as the artist is wearing white resulting in the text not standing out. However the text is against the dark lungs on the artist’s chest making the font stand out even more and drawing the

audience’s attention towards the lungs again illustrating the name of the album. The typeface on the album is relatively old

fashioned and formal. This relates well to the video as it has quite a vintage feel because of the mise-en-scene with the vintage

costumes and filters. This creates strong brand identity between the digipak and the music video as the audience can see this link.

The back of the digipak is very bold and stands out well. It has a white picture of a pair of lungs on the back which is good as it

contrasts well to the black background of the digipak. It is good that the back of the digipak is consistent with the front as it also incorporates the lungs which again reinforces the brand identity of the album and illustrates the album name well. The back of the album is different to the front in its colour scheme as it is

much darker using only black and white, this could be because in the songs on the album the band have used quite dark lyrics

such as 'girl with one eye’, as a whole the album gives off a quite a dark, obscure and unnerving impression which relates to their songs. The image used is effective as it isn’t an image of the band or artist so it makes the audience think about what

they are looking at and why it has been chosen to be put there.

The artist has also chosen to use the annotations of the lungs as a track list for the music. This is a more

interactive and conceptual/interesting way of presenting the digipak so it is entertaining for the

audience. I think that the barcode in the right hand bottom corner of the album takes away from the

effectiveness of the album as it takes away from the colour scheme of having a black background and

makes the back of the album look a bit messy and unorganized which is inconsistent with the rest of the album. This is something that our group should think

about when making our digipak and making sure that it is effective.

Inside the album there is an extra insert to give the audience more information on the album. On one

side of the booklet there would be the song title with a few lyrics from each song and on the other side

there is an image of Florence, the lead singer of the band. The insert carries on the theme of innocence throughout Florence and the Machines album, and the lyrics printed on the cover of this insert fit with this theme. The image above the lyrics read ‘Here I

am/a rabbit hearted girl/frozen in the headlights’. Any other lyrics could have been chosen but these lyrics have to add to the effect of the album as a whole.

I think as a whole the Florence and the Machine album ‘Lungs’ is extremely effective and well laid out. It incorporates most conventions of a typical

digipak whilst still keeping the audience interested and giving them as much information as possible. Something else effective which they have done is keep a recurring theme throughout the album and make all of their images and text consistent so the

audience know what they are buying and know that it will be of consistent quality. This is

something that our group should consider when making our digipak.