Digipak analysis - Miss Miller

A digipak typically consists of a gatefold (book style)paperboard or cardboard outer binding, with one or more plastic trays for the CD. Digipak style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. Digipaks grew more popular during the early 2000s. It is different to a CD case as a CD jewel case is a three-piece plastic case which contains a CD along with the liner notes and a back card. I will be analysing the 1975 digipak, the reason why I'm analysing this digipak is because I could not find a digipak made for my chosen artist (Ed Sheeran). And the 1975 are very similar to Ed as they are in the same genre and produce a similar style of music.

The 1975 digipak deluxe edition was released on February 9th 2013, the digipak contains two discs with a total of 33 songs. 

Colours

Black, grey and white are the three main colours used for the digipak. The album follows a simple grayscale theme, which displays the digipak as grungey and plain. The grungey look of the album portrays the band as cool, which appears to be simplistic and effortless. This is conventional to the indie genre as they tend to look quite simple and edgy. The black and white colours contrast the background and font, putting more emphasis on the text. The grayscale theme also displays the album as dramatic and artistic, as it has more impact than something more colourful. 

The overall colour theme is also commonly used in the 1975 music videos, this shows synergy. Also it is very unique/different to use black and white  on an album, relating to their genre which is also very unique.

(Most of their music videos are grayscale/black and white)

Representation of album/artist

The album is represented as eye-catching and in your face. There is an illuminating square and logo, the square is part of the 1975 brand image, used in the 1975 performance sets as well as being feautured in some music videos. This will allow the fans to feel dedicated when they identify the square, as they know it's part of the bands brand image. 
 The logo and images of the artist put a lot of attention on them. This is to identify them as the makers of the album/music, it also draws attention to them by their fans, so they will purchase their album. The attention drawn to them is self-effacing as you can see that none of the band members are directly looking at the camera, so they don't look very reserved, not wanting to draw too much attention to themselves and that they're not in it for the fame. This portrays the 1975 as a very genuine band, real and not conceited. This is great, as it will portray them as relatable to their fans. This album is represented as bold but self effacing and simplistic/genuine, summarising the bands image. 

Choice of images

On the front cover of the dijipak, shows a box which has neon lighting, this suggests the nightlife such as clubbing. This could suggest a younger audience, as this is an activity which they are likely to partake in. This goes against the connotations of the genre which the album is a part of (Alternative/Indie Rock).

The image of the band looking away from the camera shows no direct mode of address to the audience. There is no connection with the audience, which suggessts solitude and an attitude which may appeal to a teenage audience, as they can probably relate to those feelings and behaviours shown by the positioning and eye contact of the band member. The band memeber looks disinterested and does not seem to care about the camera being on him. This could also suggest that the artist doesn't care about media attention or the fame.
 The costume shown are dark clothing, hoodies, alternative/edgy style. The black hoody may have been used to target its audience as they may be able to relate to the artist. Furthermore, for the older generation this item of clothing may appear intimidating and associated with anti-social behaviour and rebellious youth sub-cultures. This may show the 1975 as being a band that does not care about what people think of them, but do as they please. This would be attractive to a young audience as it displays the bands edginess and individuality. The plain and inexpensive looking clothing, could also mean that they are targeting their album to people who dont have much interest in fashion or fashion role models/icons and a lack of care about their appearance.

 This point also links with the picture above of one of the members graffiting on a plain wall. This can be identified as vandalism, which is a criminal act. This again portrays them as artists that do as they please, in order to express their creativity. The sign graffitied on the wall also acts like a stamp for the band as alot of focus is put on that sign rather than the band member (as we can see his back is turned towards the camera. Which again shows that this band is self-effacing, not wanting much attention of themselves.


Connotations of the digipak

The digipak also has record label logos at the back, this attracts fans to other music put out by this label. It can also suggest to the audience that the digipak is worth buying as the record labels have backed it, also shows a sense of professionalism for the 1975.

Black and white is conventional to the heavy metal genre.  

Design/layout

The design of the digipak is plain, not only because of the basic colour scheme. But also because of the lack of graphics, the only graphics being the logo, which is essential anyway. All the images look quite vintage and amateurish, in a natural looking setting. Rather than like a studio/professional photoshoot which most artists tend to use. But the 1975 stuck to conventions by using non-artificial images for their digipak.

The digipak opens up like a book, with two CDs either side. This is great for the fans, as it feels as though they are being allowed to find out more, bonus information about the band. The layout of the images are quite cool as it shows a three different shows put together to look like one. Which allows the artist to be percieved as different and edgy. Typography

The logo of the 1975 band is partly written backwards and distorted. However, fans can still identify clearly who the artist is, and associate the font with them. This font represents their music genre as unique and edgy, as the font is different and distinctive. But still quite simple and vintage, this contrasts well with the modern instruments and music style as jazz is often incorporated into the 1975s synthesised sound, the font also appears to look quite jazzy and quirky. 
 The same logo is used on the CD design, it just keeps the image of the logo in the viewers mind. And reinforces their tag (logo) to make it memorable to the audience whenever they see the 1975 design. It's great for their marketing and branding, reinforcing the audience who they are just through a font design. 

Most of the text is written in capitals and is bold. This again puts more focus on what is important which is the fact that the album is the 'deluxe edition' and all the songs on the album. This shows the audience what is so special about this album and why the price is probably relatively higher than a jewel case album. It shows all the songs and displays that the album is deluxe, giving it a high quality image which allows the artist to add more value to the album. In one picture, we can identify the text being reflected on the ground, it displays the text/songs as very important and powerful. Convicting the audience to go and buy the digipak and listen to all the songs and bonus tracks. 

The logo gives an identity to the artist, which is edgy, cool and quirky. The text on the digipak is bold, putting more focus on the lyrics and music rather than the artist, showing that the music is more important not their look/appearance. 

Style of language

From the track list, we can identify that the titles show disc one, disc two etc. There is a use of the hash key before these titles '//' this connects with the 1975 social media communications such as twitter, as they tend to use // before they tweet some type of information to their fans. This appeals to a media conscious audience, which is typically young people and teenagers, this shows that they are targeting their audience effectively. As young people and teenagers would likely recognise the use of the // as they are more likely to spend more time on social networks. 

The language of the song titles are very simple for example, 'chocolate' and 'sex' it seems like a lot of thought was not incorporated into the song names. Portraying the band as very laid-back and original, not putting thought into their music title.