Digipak Analysis - Miss Georgiou

The purpose of a digipak is to supply the fans with a more special edition of an ordinary jewel CD. A Jewel CD is a three-piece plastic case, which usually contains a CD along with the liner notes and back card. A CD is constructed into 4 sides which present most of the detailed information on the front and back covers, which are the parts of the CD that the public would see and is likely to influence them into buying the CD. CD's will also often contain the lyrics of the songs that are included in the album which allow the people who buy the album to learnt the songs making the meaning of the lyrics clearer for them and more understandable which consequently makes them relate to the artist more. Digipak's however, have a few differences to CD's - quality being one of the main ones. As a digipak is meant to be more special and deluxe, it is important that the aspects of it live up to expectations and that the extra money spent on the digipak rather than the CD doesn't go unnoticed. Digipak's contain higher quality images that reflect more meaning and in-depth connotations. As well as this, the audience get a more personal vibe from the way that the artist usually contains a direct note to fans inside which refers to the reader. Fans also get bonus features like bonus tracks that may not have been on the CD, which gives them an exclusive look at the artist's material that some fans may not be able to access. Instead of having 4 sides as a CD does, a digipak has 6, which allows for more information, visual imagery and content such as lyrics to be supplied. This is more likely to attract a potential buyer as it makes them seem as if they have bought something exclusive from the way that the digipak contains extra bonus features, which could also be seen as being a collectors item. The packaging of the digipak is more sustainable in the way that it is harder to break or damage. This is in contrast to the flimsy, plastic cases that hold the jewel CD's which are easily breakable and seems 'cheap'. Because all of the information and the features in the digipak are easily accessible, it makes it more appealing to the audience. I have chosen to analyse is Duffy's 'Rockferry' digipak. Adele did not have a digipak that was easily accessible and so, by analysing a digipak of Duffy's, it is similar in the way that both artists are from the same genre of soul and are generally similar in reference to their style of work. The digipak is shown below:

The digipak of Duffy's is demonstrated as being typically conventional to the genre of soul. The artist is represented as being insecure in the digipak from the distinct aspects that are included within. In-particular, this is from the way that she is not looking at the camera in all the pictures that are featured - especially the front cover where she is clearly looking down. This shows a lack of confidence from her inability to look directly into the camera which you would think would be the only way to connect with the audience, however, by doing this the audience feel sympathetic towards her and makes her relatable, therefore, still managing to create a connection. In another light, she is also represented as being creative and experienced as the artist was 24 years old when the digipak was released which means she would have written the content of the digipak (the songs) before reaching this age. The majority of the songs are based on love in reference to experience with one or more lovers. This is shown distinctively through the song names such as, 'Breaking My Own Heart', 'Oh Boy' and 'Enough Love', which also reflects her experience from a young age meaning that she can relate to older audiences as well as audiences of her age who would have likely gone through the same or a similar situation. There are many connotations of the digipak that reflect particular emotions or hidden meanings. For example, on the front cover, Duffy is shown wearing her cold but also holding it with her hands which would denote as her just being cold. However, the connotation of this would portray her as being quite reserved, restricting and held back and additionally, not feeling confident to be open about feelings though, her feelings are expressed through her music. This makes her more appealing as it demonstrates passion and commitment to something she loves. The general colour of black that is visibly a prominent feature throughout all sides of the digipak connotes depression and sadness. This reflects the content of the songs and the meaning behind them, which gives the audience an idea of what to expect from the songs on the album. The colours black and white illustrate the past and reflects the artist looking back and making reference to her past. The monotone nature of these colours mean that the past may not be referenced by the artist in a positive way - mirrored in some of the neutral and simple-sounding song names such as 'Stop'. The use of the black and white also make certain aspects of the digipak 'stand out' for example, the song names on the back of the digipak are highlighted and noticeable due to the contrast of the black background with the white writing. The design/layout shows the artist positioned roughly central on screen on the front cover. This ensures that all attention of the audience's is drawn to her and that she is the main focus, which is important from the way that this is on the front cover which would be the initial image that the audience would see. Therefore, by having her central, it also allows the audience to immediately recognise who the artist is and enables the name of the artist to be shown clearly in the top left hand corner. When reading something whether that be a magazine or CD cover, naturally we start by looking from left to right. Having the artist's name means that it can be clearly seen by the audience member, but also, doesn't distract attention away from the image as it doesn't interfere with the focus on the image at all (the artist) such as overlapping. Having the name of the album in the bottom left hand corner displays it being secondary information after the name of the artist but still illustrates relevance of being on the front page from the boldness of the writing. The CD's included in the digipak show the artist's name on on the left side and other information on the right side. This demonstrates the importance and identity of the artist and also, if the digipak owner happened to loose the digipak and only had the CD's, they would be able to clearly distinguish who's CD it was. The choice of images used in the digipak all display the artist looking away from the camera and all coloured in black and white. This is appealing and satisfying for the audience as it ensures that all the images in the digpak have a clear link and that the sombre tone is matched consistently throughout. Having the front cover image being a shallow focus of the artist, it emphasises her presence and authority over the digipak. It also enhances the detail of the artist, making the image appear more high quality and special. Even though the artist is looking down, the image still revealed the look of the artist and displays the aspects of her clearly. In one of the other images of the digipak, (top left hand picture) there is some sort of station sign remarking 'Rockferry'. This is the name of the album and so, shows relevance and a particular importance as to why choosing this particular image. By including this image, the sign helps the audience understand what the meaning of the word and the album is, also demonstrating the significance it has on the artist and their life. This appeals to the audience on a more personal level through the way it creates an effect of making the audience feel as if the artist is opening up to them. The typography within the digipak is very effective and conventional, demonstrating different ideas and representations of the artist. The way that the name of the artist is in a handwritten-like font makes her original and creates her own identity. It shows her individual identity as well, which makes her distinct from other artists in the industry. The typography font being handwritten in style, could emphasise the way that she writes her own songs which makes the audience appeal to the artist more as they feel that the content is more personal and relatable. It also makes her seem more open and reflects her personality as being quite creative and stylish from the sophisticated nature of the font displayed. This is conventional to the genre of soul as soul artist's tend to be represented in a way that makes then unique and distinct from others. Having this font only used for the artist's name reinforces the identity of the artist and illustrates a clear difference between the album name, songs and name of artist. The album name being bold could be mirrored in the content, suggesting that the songs are quite 'out there' in the way that they express a lot of raw emotion from the artist and their experiences. This representation of the artist is conventional to the genre of soul from the way that it helps to demonstrate the emotions based on the personal experience of the artist. The style of language within the digipak is very conventional as it complies with the simplicity demonstrated through the promotions of the soul artist. The song names are simple but make clear reference to love, which infers that how the artist could think that love illustrates simplicity. However, by having a simple title for the songs for example, 'Please Stay' , it means that the artist can elaborate on the feelings that the title suggests. Therefore, the audience appeal to the artist from the way that they don't get much from the title, though, just enough to get a glimpse and inference as to what the song is going to express. This is conventional to the soul genre as it illustrates emotion and expresses the first hand experience and elaborated emotions that the artist feels. By having the simplicity of the album name makes it memorable, as more audience members are likely to remember its one word name rather than if it had a longer more elaborated name. As it is not a familiar name, it shows creativity and a clear meaning and relevance to the artist and a glimpse into the life and feelings of them. The digipak promotes the soul genre as being based around and references love - negatively. This is displayed clearly through the song names and also the inferences that can be made from the images used of the artist and the body language of the artist, for example, the way in which the artist is looking down shows insecurity which has been caused or affected by love. The fairly neutral look of emotions demonstrated through her facial expressions are conventional and promotes the genre as demonstrating deeper meaning beneath the initial idea that is illustrated. It therefore, demonstrates the genre of soul as being sombre in tone, negative in reference to love and as having deeper and effective meanings. The digipak promotes the artist as being insecure from the distinct features and aspects of the digipak - the closed body language and lack of eye contact into the camera. The song titled 'I'm Scared' could infer this also from the way in which the artist is obviously feeling restricted from something and from reading the lyrics, it portrays how the artist is scared to live without their love interest. Therefore, this demonstrates a lack of confidence and a further hint of insecurity, as well as being dependant on someone. This is further emphasised through the including of the black and white filter used throughout the digipak. From this, love is illustrated in a negative light as it is suggested that love has caused her to feel in this particular way. However, from the flamboyancy of the typography in the artist's name, it promotes the artist as being creative and innovative, with a unique and distinct identity of their own - this representation is conventional to the soul genre. The digipak attracts the audience from the bonus features that is included within it. For example, there are two CD's in the digipak, rather than one - a normal CD and a deluxe edition. This makes the purchase that the audience has made more exclusive and special to them, giving it also a personal touch. The numerous images included in the digipak also attracts the audience to it, as they are able to see the artist in different ways and angles, making them familiarise themselves more with the artist.

This research has been very helpful when having in mind the type of aspects that we want to include in our digipak and for particular reasons. This research has outlined what needs to be included for different reasons and what would work well in attracting the audience, but also when sticking to the conventionality of  the genre of soul. I think the black and white filter is really effective in the way it influences the mood of the digipak as a whole, demonstrating its relevance and importance of its feature. As well as this, this research has highlighted how important the choice of image is within the digipak. This is the aspect that will initially attract the audience to looking at the digipak, making a decision if they are to purchase it or not. The image can help represent the artist in a particular way that allows the audience to have a glimpse of what the artist may be like and a hint into the content of the digipak. Therefore, we will highly consider what images we choose to use in the digipak carefully, in order to achieve success and create the representation of the artist of which we intend. We want to show our soul artist in a conventional way and so will comply with these particular aspects that are demonstrated in Duffy's digipak in order to do this.