Digipak Research

Introduction:

Digipaks come in various formats and are generally to showcase the artists artwork and express how each  individual  artist wants to stand out and portray themselves. How artists look (their appearances) or their background are what are used in digipaks to determine the artwork. Digipaks are also used describe what the product includes (i.e track lists, artwork and music videos).

Digipaks are important because they help maintain an artists reputation and how they appear in a visual form. If an artists artwork and music video are poorly made and presented, this could have impact on the popularity of the artist in extreme cases.

FRIENDLY FIRES:

The front cover ties in with the back cover because there is almost a symmetrical element to this digipak. The back cover is technically the inverted version of the front cover with its black and white shapes switching roles, to make it have a bit more diversity and variation.

It is a simple design yet very effective, I prefer a minimal approach and then have a focal point which sums up the album. In this case it was their breakthrough album, and I think this directly correlates with the front cover and the smashing mirror. 

There are obvious elements included such as the track list, bar code, record label and date of release (as labelled in the back cover).

FOO FIGHTERS:

The front cover is meant to be very patriotic, as an America band they are using a lot of objects that come from American history, like the buffalo and eagle. It does really follow a theme as a digipak because the front cover and disk do not really relate to the back cover, it is randomised, it looks like a typical attic and has no relevance to the patriotic American theme. 

This album is a Foo Fighters 'Greatest Hits' album and Foo Fighters have recorded under many labels, therefore, the block of white writing at the bottom of the page is a list of lots of records labels and companies that have collaborated together to create this album. There are also obvious elements to the back and front cover like the bar code and copyright logo.

Kings of Leon:

This Kings of Leon album artwork works together well, it is very much the same theme throughout, not at all random or disjunctive in relation. The album is based on their roots and their  past as they were growing up together, they lived in Southern America before they made it big in the UK. The album cover is quite self descriptive if you know their history, the sunburst effect is a picture of some of the lead guitarists sunburst guitars which are popular around the sountern area, it's also the home of 'Gibson' guitars. Within Southern America you get stunning sunsets which is what the back cover portrays. A year book effect has been added through photoshop to bring relation to the Sunburst and Sunset.

This album has a few more components then the others reviewed  on the back,  such as advertisement, distributor and websites.  This gives a small amount of exposure to each item displayed on their album.