What is a Digipak?
A digipak is an exclusive version of a CD or DVD. They generally consist of a gatefold (book style) case which has a CD, DVD or both inside. They often offer exclusive content about the band/artist which could be anything from videos to lyrics and bonus tracks. Sometimes unsigned artists give away digipaks to promote their music.
Ed Sheeran - Live At The Bedford
This 3 spread Digipak is a live performance DVD which includes a bonus CD with a few tracks from the concert. The artwork on this digipak was created by Ed Sheeran himself, this gives the digipak a personalised nature. This is something that would appeal to his fans and make them feel as though when purchasing this album they are not only purchasing his music but also purchasing something personal to him. I think this makes this digipak really unique as not many artists would think incorporate their own artwork or illustration on their digipak.
Orange seems to be an ongoing colour scheme on this digipak (illustrations, text, photos and clothing) this is because the artist has red hair so it's a way for him to create his own star iconography. This also allows the target audience to identify his albums easily as the colour scheme and house style is his own iconic composition. Ed Sheerans iconic paw print is recognisable to the loyal fans that the digipak is targeted at, this paw print is used on every single one of his albums which makes them all instantly distinguishable and unique.The plain and simple album artwork reflects not only the artist himself but also his genre of music. This approach to visuals therefore reflects the laid back, easy listening feel of the music itself
On the inside of this digipak there is a photo of the artist again, written thank yous and credits, this is a key convention of a digipak as it allows the artist to highlight the other important people who have helped with anything from song writing to the photographs taken for the digipak. The use of the 6 panel format for this digipak has allowed more of the essential text (e.g. copyright info) to be positioned on the inside so that the images on the outside are more effective. The use of the Sans Serif font within the track listings and writing on the inside of the digipak symbolises the simplicity of not only the artist himself but also the music he produces.
Intertextuality
The use of intertextuality is an important feature in creating an artist identity e.g. adverts and merchandise. These certain factors make artists recognisable and appealing to their target audience.
Artist Identity
The digipak has an important role to play in establishing the artist as a recognisable brand and creating familiarity with its audience. This means that fans who own one album will subconsciously be drawn to an advert for a new album or single release. Every one of his albums or singles includes one of his iconic logos; the paw print or '+'. This allows us to easily identify his music. The majority of his album/single covers centre around the the colour orange, this is something that again contributes to Ed Sheerans identity as an artist. Each cover is simple but has an artistic quality which reflects the artists ‘no frills’ image, which is conventional of the acoustic genre, as it focuses on the relaxing melodies and the lyrics. The short, uncomplicated album titles fit with the easy-going image of the artist.
Jason Mraz - Love is a four letter word
The album title "Love is a four letter word" is symbolized through coloured shapes spelling out the word "LOVE" this automatically makes this word stand out against the rest of the album title and gives us a general idea that the theme of the songs on the album are going to be about different forms of love. Although he has used shapes instead of letters we can still read the title clearly as we know what letters they represent, this reflects his artistic and simplistic style and his deeper meaning in his music. The colours of the shapes that make up LOVE could represent the different emotions that you go through when you love someone e.g. Yellow- Happiness
Red- Anger
Green- Jealousy
Blue- Sadness
It's open for the audiences interpretation.
The plain white background is simple and easy to look at which mirrors the mellow, easy listening tone of his music. The fact that there is no picture of the artist himself on the digipak emphasises that the focus is on his music and not on his image. This is a common aspect that the acoustic genre tend incorporate on their album covers, as it indicates the simplicity of their music. The other two front panels are the artists thank yous and the track list. The thank yous take up a whole panel on the front, the significance of having this on the front is that he wants everyone to read it.
The inside of this digipak is as simplistic as the outside. On two panels the artist has inserted all of the song names and who helped write, produce etc. At either end of the digipak there is a sleeve (left) info booklet (right) CD. On the far right panel there is what looks like a house made up of the shapes that were used for the front cover, this could symbolize that a home has people living in it that all love each other or as I said before the artist might want to leave it open for interpretation for his audience.
Intertextuality
All of these items of merchandise use the same image as the front of the digipak which makes them all instantly recognisable and appealing to anyone who has purchased the digipak. This is aimed at the more hardcore fans who are willing to pay for all of the merchandise.
Artist Identity
All the Jason Mraz Album covers have a certain artistic quality that seem quite personal to the artist himself, this is extremely unique which allows us to identify his work as he has an iconic visual style. The simplicity of his album covers display how his main focus is the music he produces not his image as an artist, this is conventional of the acoustic genre to do.
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
The sticker on the front shows that this is a "Special Edition" digipak. This appeals to the devoted fans of the artist, as it is a "Special Edition", it holds a more personal relationship with the artist than it would if it was digitally downloaded. The insertion of "Special UK Edition Album" and "Bonus Tracks" gives the listener a sense of exclusivity, as it's extra content is not internationally available.
The use of sans
serif font signify the easy listening image of the artist, reflecting the pure quality of acoustic music. It is also recognisable to the loyal fans, as the same font is used on almost all his other
albums. The silhouette of the artist with his guitar on the cover of the digipak illustrates that the focus is on his music not on his commercial image, a similar style was also used on one of his earlier albums "On and On". This is a common element that the acoustic genre incorporate on their album covers, as it indicates the basic melody that their music consists of. The yellow and dark brown/black colour scheme also reflects the two basic colours of an acoustic guitar which again indicates that this is an acoustic album.
The absence of text inside the digipak (all information such as lyrics, basic information are included in a separate booklet) reflects the easy listening aspect of his music. The colours on inside of the digipak are again neutral and once again the colours of an acoustic guitar, which is associated with this genre of music. The image
used on the left is of the artist holding his guitar in front of him, with part
of his face covered. This again shows the importance of the artist's music
over his image as he is symbolically putting his music before himself.
Intertextuality
The guitar book uses the same image as the front of the digipak, this links these two products together and makes it immediately recognisable and enticing to people who have bought the album. It also appeals to his target audience who given might be aspiring acoustic artists themselves.
This t-shirt also uses the same image as the front of the digipak, this once again links these two products and make it instantly recognisable. This piece of merchandise would more than likely of been sold on his tour after this album had been released. This is aimed at the more hardcore fans who are willing to pay for not just the album but all things associated to it e.g. t-shirts, posters, bag and bottles.
Artist Identity
All the Jack Johnson covers shown here all use a similar sans serif font for the title of the album. They all incorporate pale and faded colours to mirror the easy listening sound of the music. The simplicity of each image also reflects the artists ‘no frills’ image, which is conventional of the acoustic genre, as it focuses on the relaxing music and the meaningful lyrics. The short, straightforward album titles fit with the easy-going image of the artist.
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