Digipaks Analysis

Dizzee Rascal - Tounge Cheek

Dizzee Rascal has come up originally in the grime genre, meaning he has always been a bit ‘out there’. This is reflected in his CD cover, it’s very bold and colourful, much like how he raps. It also gives off an energetic vibe as the cover has bubbly writing along with Dizzee sat on some drawn on rocks. You can also guess the sort of music genre that he’s involved with; rap. The style and layout of the cover clearly links with his bubbly target audience (roughly 13-20 year olds). Carrying on to the inside of the front cover, the list of songs also carries on the bubbly font from the cover showing no change. The colours used itself are very bright and simple, the whole CD cover only uses 4 colours which are mostly variations of blue and red. This could represent men and women and could be using simple colours to reach out to both genders at the same time.

Dizzee Rascal - Tounge Cheek

On the back of the CD cover, it’s the same story and there are no changes within the colour scheme. However, the list of songs take up more of the cover this time. It also features the common things you find on the back of a CD including a barcode, the record label and various other logos.

Connor Maynard - Contrast

Wither Connor Maynard, the booklet cover and back are similar like Dizzee Rascal's CD. Connor takes up the majority of the front cover and a significant amount on the back while sharing the space with the list of songs. He is a young and new artist so we can see his face quite clearly. The background is white, which could be indicating his 'pureness' and innocence. This would appeal to the target audience as it shows Connor in a good light and also keeps the focus on him. He is dressed like a typical 'trendy' teenager with a leather jacket in one and a shirt and tie with red shoes in the other. This shows he can be serious but can also be playful as he is only a teenager and still has time to mature. The addition of his name and album name on the front in a sort of black transparent banner makes the whole case look a bit stylish and modern. His name is in white while the word contrast is in yellow. This literally makes the word 'contrast' contrast against the main colour of the case; which is predominantly white.

Connor Maynard - Contrast

The CD design in plain terms is quite simple and bland. However the edge of the CD has a ring of different colours which makes the CD look classier. This goes well with the white background but the colours within the ring contrast wiith the predominantly white CD. Again there is a similar banner across the CD however this time it is only the word 'contrast' in a banner of a dark gray. The artist name is listed above the banner in a lighter gray. Typical of a CD, it also carries a logo and the relavent print of the credits and record label. However this is wrote in much smaller writing as to not take the credit away from the artists name and album name.
The back of the album runs with the same predominantly white theme. Again Connor takes up most of the space available but the list of tracks in the album are clearly shown in plain black. This works well against the white background. Connor is also wearing a white shirt with black trousers and a black tie, as if to subtly say contrast as black and white contrast against each other. On the bottom left of the CD, there is a typical barcode, credits and record label information but again like on the actual CD it is in much smaller writing as to not take attention from Connor himself.

Plan B - Strickland Banks

At a first glance, the first thing you see is that the whole CD booklet is in black. This helps in keeping the attention on Plan B and the title, which is in the style of an old movie theatre. On the left, there is a black and white picture which looks like it has been taken using a spot light in a dark room making him really stand out. This combined with his pose, in both pictures, makes it seem like the genre of the music will be along the lines of slow, sad songs. A slightly different in the pictures is that Plan B's face isn't very clear, however, they can get away with this as Plan B is an old, established band compared to Connor Maynard where his whole face is shown in every picture on his album 'Contrast'.  The main colour scheme, black and red, again works well with the poses of the artist so gives a definite vibe of an emotional artist.

Plan B - Strickland Banks

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Looking at the CD, it looks like an old vinyl record. Which stays with the classic theme, matching the old thatre in the booklet. This could also be an indicator that the target audience is slightly older than normal as there is a lot of old fashioned influence in and around the CD. All the typical information is located in the inner circle which is in a very simple black, which does not draw much attention to itself meaning that the main focus is the actual design of the CD.

Plan B - Strickland Banks

Again, moving on to the back of the booklet, it follows the theme of old fashioned, showing the names of the tracks in the style of old movie listingings in old theatres. It is again, in black and red with a white background for the main listings. As most CD's, the barcode and credentials and record label information are written in small writing on the bottom left and bottom right.

Ideas Gained

The main ideas that I have gained by analysing these digipaks and others is to keep the whole design consistent using the same fonts throughout the booklet with the same background colours. It also has to have a unique eye catching appeal such as bubble writing and unusual locations. Try to represent the genre of the artist while thinking about what colours and pictures to use. The last, to have the track list cover most if not all of the back part of the booklet with legal information written in very small writing in the corners so not to pull attention away from the main design.