Digipak typically consist of a book-style paperboard or card type of pack, containing usually one or two plastic trays that will hold a CD/DVD inside. The early 2000's showed a rise in popularity between artists and their decisions to use digipaks. However, these type of digipaks often shown signs of wear easily. Manufacturers have tried to reduce environmental impact by trying to introduce recycled components into the plastic trays.
Firstly, I decided to research into digipaks from my artist herself. Christina Augilera is often notably seen as a very sexual icon in music and perceives a very sexual image the majority of the time. This reverts back to the theory of Laura Mulvey and her opinion that women are often used in an a sexual manor. As you can see the majority of the digipak is based on the artist herself, showing she is the key person involved. She is shown looking attractive using red lipstick to also ensure they stand out. However, a 'bionic' side of her is shown, showing her in a totally different aspect creating a different side to her, reflecting to the title. For example, by using exactly the same image on both sides there is a close up shot, just with this effect it creates an attraction to the viewer and promotes the title of the album because it reverts back to the 'bionic' title. The colours used also mean that the 'sexual' connotations are reverted back to again. For example, red often shows this. The colours used all stand out and are all bold colours possibly representing the attitude and kind of feel the album wants to create. Inside the digipak a sexual image has been used to relate back to the male attention as they see her as a sexual icon. Although, by using a hand-writing style of font this shows informality and tries to create a link between the fans and herself, as it feels personal. The rest of the fonts are quite solid potentially showing dominance from the artist.The smudged lipstick effect is also effective showing once more the sexual attitude from the pak. The type of people this digipak is aimed at is shown by the advisory sticker on the front proving it's aimed for a more mature audience.
Looking at a digipak from the artist herself has allowed me to see I want to totally go against the conventions that she has created. As I've stated before, I want to create a video/digipak that goes against the theory of Laura Mulvey and that all women are shown in a sexual manor or based on their sex. I want to show that women can match men and should not always be shown in this way. To do this, I will use different colours, although I want my digipak to stand out, I don't want it to be as sexually orientated. I would like to create a more solid message behind my video/digipak and this is why I will go against all this conventions as I feel this has little message and meaning behind it. However, something I will take from this digipak is the dominance that is created from her. For example, by using bold colours, fonts and pictures she creates a good presence and dominance, and this is what I want to recreate with my own digipak.
The next digipak I looked at showed more of an idea of what I wish to create myself. This is The Scripts digipak for their album. It has a far more simple approach than the complex one of Christina Augilera but still has powerful images to create the feel that they want to create. The pack is not sexually based at all but still creates this feel of unity and dominance without actually showing many pictures or colours whatsoever which I believe is very effective.
For example, the colours used are so simple in comparison. The browny faded effect works well, this could relate to the idea of the songs and lyrics as they are based on past experiences. However, the images are also dominant and stand out on this background. For example, the image of the two hands grasping together, possibly representing unity reflecting back to the album again. To me, this is a powerful image that's been created although it's so simple, I believe its more effective than the images used in the other digipak. Along with the hand at the back of the digipak. This could be down to the fact the band are males and aren't the type of band to portray themselves sexually and are the type of band to create a stronger message behind it with emotion. This is what I also want to create, I want it to be simple, yet so effective like this.
The black colour also stands out on the background and they have used their generic font they usually use for their band. On the front of their cover they have used an isolated rural area with a close up shot of themselves showing that it's their product. This relates back to the location I have chosen to film my video in, so, I aim to create the same sort of effect with my digipak and potentially use this type of idea when designing my own idea rather than the standard one that my artist would usually create, so I am going against the conventions.
Conventions of Digipaks
Conventional digipaks often contain a booklet inside, containing lyrics of the song and information about the artist along with pictures or possibly posters. Along with lyrics, some bands/artists explain the meanings behind the songs so that fans can relate to them. Digipaks used to be the prime way that people found out about their favourite bands and even though their is information in these packs, people are far likely to use other media forms for example the Internet.
So, therefore, more focus has been on the lyrics and 'Thank You's' in this booklet. Audience's and fans often want to know the lyrics so they can sing along to their favourite songs and although their available on the internet its far more personal in the booklet that is made. The Thank You pages also make the booklet more personal than on the internet as it's easy to recognise who the band are thankful too and who's helped them along their journey. Digipaks are rarely seen in comparison to past years and albums from artists as people are more likely to download them rather than buy physical forms. However, some people prefer to buy physical copies of albums and digipaks so they can collect them/keep them.
Digipaks also obviously include the track list on the back to make the audience aware of the names and orders of songs. They also show the record company and show who's released the album and got copyright of the album. Also on the back is the barcode obviously and often a scan code relating to either a website or another media text. This means individuals can scan the code from their phone and be automatically directed to the link thats encoded in the scan code, creating intertexuality and enabling links between different media texts. Having this code somewhere on the digipak would mean that fans can also access other elements to the artist on the web meaning that they will create a wider fan base.
Conventions of Digipaks
Conventional digipaks often contain a booklet inside, containing lyrics of the song and information about the artist along with pictures or possibly posters. Along with lyrics, some bands/artists explain the meanings behind the songs so that fans can relate to them. Digipaks used to be the prime way that people found out about their favourite bands and even though their is information in these packs, people are far likely to use other media forms for example the Internet.
So, therefore, more focus has been on the lyrics and 'Thank You's' in this booklet. Audience's and fans often want to know the lyrics so they can sing along to their favourite songs and although their available on the internet its far more personal in the booklet that is made. The Thank You pages also make the booklet more personal than on the internet as it's easy to recognise who the band are thankful too and who's helped them along their journey. Digipaks are rarely seen in comparison to past years and albums from artists as people are more likely to download them rather than buy physical forms. However, some people prefer to buy physical copies of albums and digipaks so they can collect them/keep them.
Digipaks also obviously include the track list on the back to make the audience aware of the names and orders of songs. They also show the record company and show who's released the album and got copyright of the album. Also on the back is the barcode obviously and often a scan code relating to either a website or another media text. This means individuals can scan the code from their phone and be automatically directed to the link thats encoded in the scan code, creating intertexuality and enabling links between different media texts. Having this code somewhere on the digipak would mean that fans can also access other elements to the artist on the web meaning that they will create a wider fan base.
Very thorough Sophie - glad to see you are considering Laura Mulvey in your analysis.
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