Digipak Research- Front and Back Cover

Digipak Research

Kate Nash- Made of Bricks

Album art work is very important as, almost always, it is the first impression we get of the artist and their branding.
The front cover of Kate Nash's first album is a very striking image. It depicts an artificial house with a garden which creates quite a fantasy theme. The artist is seen walking on the path towards the house, with her stance appearing very feminine and girly- the fact that she is dressed in red adds to this as it is associated with love and passion which is a theme that the artist consistently revolves her ideas around. The image looks like a studio shot as there is a block coloured backdrop as the background- this makes the image look very set up yet still effective and bold as there is full control over the lighting in a studio (as opposed to natural unpredictable light outside). The artist's name is considerably larger than the album name 'Made Of Bricks'- this is as the artist's name is more important to be promoted as they are the most significant feature of their music as a whole. The fact that the artist's logo (their name) is in the colour white against the bright blue background, I feel, makes her name stand out to the audience even further and possibly making them more intrigued. The type of font itself appears very playful which I believe matches the imagery as it is similar to a child's dollhouse. The fact that a house is on the album cover could foreshadow the fact that many of Kate's songs revolve around a mundane life. I do not think we should produce our own album front cover to look like this as I think that it has a less professional look to it which is not what we're striving for. Also I think we should take our shot of the artist outside and not in the studio so that it link more with our video (which is also all filmed in the outdoors)- this will therefore show more consistency within one album. I also believe that we should have more of a closeup shot of our artist and not a long shot- a reason for this is so that our artist's face is much more clear and recognisable so that the audience can begin to get familiar with it.

The back cover of Kate's album 'Made Of Bricks', I feel, is very successful. A reason for this is because the colour in the background of the front cover fades into the background of the back cover like a gradient- this therefore means that when the viewer proceeds to look at the track listing, it is consistent with the appearance of the front album artwork. I like that there is completely no imagery on the back cover as it does not distract the audience in any way and only naturally draws the eye to the most important information. The font is of a contrasting white colour which, again, makes it appear brighter and stand out further against the dark background. The type of font looks like handwriting which gives it a very casual and ordinary feel as it is the type of writing I read everyday- this can make the album seem less intimidating as looks like someone you know has written it with no huge production. A juxtaposing idea would suggest that the handwriting font makes the album look more unique as everyone's handwriting is different- this is successful as it means that no other existing album would look the same as this which is important in order to stand out. In terms of our own digipak, I think that this style is something we would consider ourselves- I really like the simplicity of just having one plain background colour as there is no distraction and we would then be able to work on a more interesting, unique font like Nash's. Saying this, we are undecided as to whether we would like to include our artist's face on the back cover in order to show more consistency from front to back- however this may look a bit too much for the viewer which is an idea that needs to be considered.

Lana Del Rey's 'Born To Die' album cover shows a mid shot of the artist standing in a sheer white blouse in an outdoor environment. She appears to have a very tight, strong yet neat uniformed stance with a straight face and her hair tucked behind her shoulders. This gives her quite a tough appearance like she is a powerful female in the music industry which is rather rare, breaking any gender stereotypes in society and the music business. Lana has direct eye contact with the camera which, to me, is the equivalent of direct eye contact with the audience. This makes the album cover appear more personal which creates a stronger connection between the viewer and the artist. The artist's logo 'Lana Del Rey' appears very bold and is a successful contrasting colour against the sky. Saying this, the white compliments the overall image as blue and white are associated with peace and tranquility which also match the style, musically, of her songs. The font is in complete capital letters which adds further emphasis on her name- this is important as the audience is straight away aware of her identity. The album title 'Born to Die' is in the same font, to show consistency, but in a much smaller size and placed at the bottom of the frame. This could be because it is less important than the artist's name however still significant. The colour of this particular title is in the same muted shade of blue as the sky in the background, this time overlaying her white blouse to create the same contrasting effect as the main title however this time in reverse. I feel that we could use the same type of style in terms of using two main colours that match the main photograph in the background as it shows greater continuity. Lana is standing in front of a fence, tree and what looks like a form of vehicle in an outdoor location- this is effective due to the fact it appears very casual and almost like it could be her own back garden- this could therefore be more relatable to an audience as it can represent everyday life, much like the symbolism in the lyrics to her songs.

I believe it would be a good idea to consider using outdoor locations on the front cover of our own digipak as it brings more colour and life to an image rather than a plain studio backdrop without much character.

The back of the album cover has the same font as the front cover, sticking to both of the main two colours used throughout (blue and white)- this, again, shows greater consistency to a viewer and makes it appear like it belongs to the front cover, this shows that it is successful as it looks like one complete item. Lana has used a similar method to Kate Nash in the way that there isn't a background image. Instead, there is a plain white background with the font over this- this may be because the track list is then easier to read as there is a great contrast which causes it to stand out. Again, I think that this method of a plain background on the back over is something that we are swaying towards as it means that there is no distraction and the audience focuses on what is most important. Small numbers have been used next to each song title on the track list in contrast to the large font- this is significant as it shows that the song titles are most important and the viewer's eye is naturally drawn to it straight away. It is definitely not a traditional way of presenting a track list which I like and would take inspiration from for our own album cover as we are aiming for quite a contemporary feel which I believe this demonstrates. 

This is the album cover for Eliza Doolittle's 'In Your Hands'. Similarly to Lana Del Rey's debut album, it has a very simple look to it. There is plain bold font which has her name written in block capital letters- as there are only five letters it takes up a large amount of space across the front cover- they are in a striking pink colour which I feel is successful as it easily captures the audience's attention. This is something we will definitely consider for our own due to the fact that it makes the audience aware straight away about the artist's identity which is important (so that it is memorable). I like the fact that there are contrasting colours as it makes the title appear even more bold, therefore proving that it is the most significant thing on the cover. I believe that the simplicity of the album is something that will inspire our own as we either have this option or the choice to make more of an in depth album, unique cover.
I feel that the choice of font that she's used is very successful, especially as the font choice and colour could run the risk of looking slightly unprofessional- I believe that it appears very tasteful, with the bright pink colour possibly referring to her femininity, and individual as she has used her own handwriting for the album title. The fact that her own handwriting is used contributes to a more personal album, strengthening the connection between the audience and artist. 
One of the most effective things about this album cover, to me, is the fact that the image of her overlaps the title text. It makes her face stand out just as much as the album name which shows that they are both important and draws the viewer's eye to them both simultaneously. The fact that she is standing in front of the text could also show that her face has more significance as her branding and appearance can be deemed very important. I believe that we should consider using this technique as it has had quite a large impact on me as it was one of the first things that i noticed about the cover- which is also our main focal point (being the artist's face and the album title).
Eliza is wearing a low cut and rather suggestive dress, this can portray a sense of sex appeal in order to, stereotypically, draw in a male buyers which could increase the size of her target audience. As a whole, I feel that this album appears very mature and therefore professional which is something our group will definitely strive to achieve and take inspiration from. One negative about the front cover is that the 'handwritten' title font could be slightly tricky to read and is consequently not something you'd be able to read from the other side of a shop which isn't ideal, therefore I will take note that the fonts we choose need to be bold and clear.

The back cover appears to be just as successful as the front. One of the main reasons for this is because the colour scheme runs right through to the back, sticking to the black and white contrast with the bubblegum pink which means that it has a lot of consistency to it. I believe that our group should also stick to the same colours throughout as it makes the album come together as one, rather than it looking like two separate products. The font on the track list is the same 'handwritten' font as the title on the front, however it is in a white colour which is very similar to the background making it, again, quite difficult to read- this is something we want to avoid.  Eliza is positioned to the right hand side of the frame to make room for the track list along the left hand side. I think that this looks successful as there is a balanced composition in terms of significance- the artist being featured on the back shows that she has a high sense of importance whilst the list of songs next to her are usually what a viewer turns to the back cover for to look at. It is an interesting idea to have an image of the artist used on the back of the album as not many others I have looked at do this which creates a sense of individuality. I also believe that it creates more of a personal feel to the album which is something that we are really aiming for (hence planning a lot of direct eye contact and point of view shots for our video to put the audience in our artist's shoes). In the actual image of Eliza, again, it is a shot that portrays a lot of sex appeal, this time with her strap down on one arm and the outline of her underwear more visible than previously. I like that the two images used (on the front and back cover) are almost identical, just with a different stance as it shows a lot of consistency. I also think that the nature of the photo makes her album appear more mature than her other albums where she was previously known as 'Eliza Doolittle'. The image presents her hair swept over her face meaning that her body is an emphasised element of the back cover- I do not think that we will include any 'sex appeal' on our cover as it doesn't really match the branding of our artist (who is more innocent than Eliza herself).