Analysis of a Digipak

It is most commonly known that the majority of digipaks have six panels, and it is rarely seen that digipaks have any less than that, however I have possession of a digipak which happens to have only two panels consisting of the front cover and the back. I would have originally chosen to have made a thorough analysis of a digipak consisting of more however I am unable to access one at this moment in time. Evanescence is a Pop/Rock band which is the same genre to our chosen song despite the fact that this particular band has more of a Rock vibe to their music compared to mine.


Front Cover

- The image of the woman on this front cover is the most eye catching point of the digipak cover because it appears that everything in this image is evolving around her even though she is not situated directly in the centre of the composition of the album cover. Her image could possibly give away connotations as to the band members identities, such as the long white/cream dress suggesting connotations of innocence and maybe purity. This could be symbolic of the bands main female singer. Also her pose appears relatively vulnerable with the way in which she looks back over her shoulder. This could be to connotate, again, the lead female singer of the band and how she might possibly be in a vulnerable position as she is in the spotlight compared to the rest of the band because of her status. ( This could be classified as main convention on a CD front cover: an eye catching image that is representative of a band/band member.)

- The colour-scheme of the front cover is literally half black and half gold. The image of the female is of her looking over her shoulder into the darkness of the black side. Some people could perceive this as having some meaning behind it, or maybe even some kind of narrative. Nonetheless, linking this to genre of music, this could be symbolising the two faces of music this band has for example, the softer rock songs that this band sometimes produces compared to the heavier rock songs. Moreover, this black could depict the sense of mystery the band still wishes to hold from their audience.

- The female in the picture is very pale with dark eyes and is not smiling which could be seen as a somewhat ghoulist, dead feel towards this certain character. It could possibly go against the conventions of which the band is wishing to perceive, if this image of the woman was to smile? The image is definitely not stereotypical in terms of sex appeal in some peoples opinions which attracts a predominantly female audience.

- The font is very noticably printed in the colour of gold against the black background of the right side of the album cover. The font type is not stereotypically gothic, but in some ways considered to be because of the elongated ends of specific letters which are clear to see once viewed. The font type contradicts the colour it is printed in which could again, symbolise the two phases of rock the band goes through: soft to heavy. However, the pattern around the name of the band is "swirly", this could just be the bands logo as a way of helping to promote the name of their band by presenting it in a more eye catching way, instead of just having the band name written with nothing to compliment it.

- The low angle shot helps to make the long door look even more elongated than what it already is, this might help the audience relate to all the images in which this shot appears to emphasize and then it will help them again, relate this back to the gothic theme in which this band alot of the time in their music videos portray.

Inside Panels

- The left panel could be seen as proceeding on with the narrative. The image is of a moon, which could symbolise the other side of the door from the image of the front cover. By opening the front cover you could be classified as opening the door. The font is still consistent as on the front cover, again with the swirly pattern placed around the font. The colour-scheme is also similar however more gold is used to show that the inside is more angelic - again relating the bands dull image on the outside and how it is different to what it is on the inside. Moreover, the swirly pattern here is more dominant, this could be to show the bands individuality as it could be looked upon as something they created and generated into print - showing their unique style towards the audience.

CD Compartment

- The CD compartment is somewhat different as it consists of only a goldish colour-scheme which could represent that the CD is 'sacred' and the most important part of the digipak, which in fact it is. However the compartment which holds the CD is in jewel packaging which is very common in all digipaks as it is still lightweight and convenient for the environment. There is a pattern of swirls again underneath where the CD is placed which leaves remaining to the eye only the background of gold. This almost brings the main attention to the CD itself.

Back

- Again, the perspective of the back of the digipak is interesting as it reveals the bands creative point of views. The gold writing is superimposed on the black/brown background which tries to put across the fact that the song names are very important, however your eye view always seems to end up facing that of the picturesque view of the night sky on the right. This is a way of just trying to emphasize the narrative which goes throughout the digipak. Some may not even consider this to be a narrative but just simply different ways of viewing this particular scene which is taking place from different angles, which could relate back to the different audiences having different views towards this band.

- As it is the back of the digipak, it will obviously consist of the generic conventions of the back of an album cover for example: the bands website, the record producers, the record label, copywrite details and of course the bar code which is a main generic convention of the back of an album cover.

Overall, I do have a liking to this digipak, however I am not too fond which the amount of panels this consists of, therefore I would not necessarily choose to product a digipak consisting of only two panels. Generally, the colour-scheme of this digipak would not be something I would particularly choose use when in the creation of my own, however to gain some initial ideas as to what would be most suitable to include for my specific target audience, I would have to create a questionnaire and gain audience feedback before making any vast decisions.