Analysis

1. DigiPak Analysis
“Red” by Taylor Swift

2. The cover of the digipak and the entire album is so simply done;
the title is clear and the name of the artist shares the same font.
The recurring color of red on her lips reflects the theme of the
album, as Swift has said herself that all the songs on the album are
based on ‘red’ emotions such as love, lust, anger, danger etc. The
photo of the star covers the whole cover, promoting her image.

3. Page one depicts the star in the familiar setting of a bedroom. Her
target audience consists of teenage girls and here she’s striking a
familiar pose: twirling around, dancing in her bedroom. Again, the
color red is seen here, and she has used the same font as on the
front cover. The signature in the bottom right allows fans to feel
close to her, increasing the likeability factor of the star.

4. Taylor Swift’s music was originally totally country. Throughout Red,
she still had elements of country music in some of her songs and
this is visualized by the image of her in an outdoor setting holding a
guitar. The fact that she’s balancing it upside down shows some
element of fun. On the right hand side, a different image is
portrayed. The star is wearing sunglasses which gives us a cooler,
more urban image. The color red still recurs, but it is not the focus.

5. The tint of red on the image of the star behind the lyrics to I Knew You
Were Trouble is fairly self explanatory. The title of the song itself depicts
danger, heartbreak or anger and the red tint reiterates that, despite the
star being photographed in such a relaxed pose. However, on the left, the
star’s hair is windswept and rugged, possibly showing that she’s had a
rough time. The lyrics to Treacherous show a dangerous love story and
maybe the link between the image and the lyrics is her heartbreak.

6. For All Too Well, the red tint on the image shows her heartbreak,
as shown through the lyrics to the song such as ‘you call me up
again just to break me like a promise’. The expression on the
star’s face reflects this heartbreak; she’s looking down, her
mouth slightly open but clearly not smiling. On the other hand,
the red tint on the image for 22 is used to show her love for her
life at 22. Her dance-like pose shows that she is enjoying her
youth, reflecting the lyrics of the song.

7. The double image of the star on the left could show about how part of
her is battling to get over a relationship while the other half wants to
get back together. The lyrics of I Almost Do show this, as in “it takes
everything in me not to call you… and every time I don’t, I almost do”.
The image is similar to that of ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ and this could
show that these two songs are based on the same person; a
continuation of the story. On the other side, Taylor wears sunglasses
which makes her look cool and calm while the title of the song is We
Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. The italicized and underlined
‘never ever’ along with the cool image of the star in her sunglasses
shows that she is truly over this relationship.

8. The theme on this page is loneliness; the star is shown alone in
an eerie setting, shown by the mist. The song Stay Stay Stay
shows this theme as she is very nearly abandoned, and The Last
Time is the same as she’s leaving a relationship. The water she
stands in may represent how uncomfortable she feels with
loneliness, and this may depict the expression ‘like a fish out of
water’.

9. Holy Ground is a reminiscent song, and the image on the left is
appropriate to this theme as she’s alone, outdoors, and on TV or
in music videos we typically see people think about the past
when they’re alone. The three images of the star on the right
each represent one of the title adjectives: Sad Beautiful Tragic in
that order.

10. On the left, Taylor is dressed in a typical 60s fashion: shaped, bold
sunglasses, a sweater and colored trousers. This accords with the
lyrics in The Lucky One ‘so overnight you looked like a 60s queen’.
This is another example of how the images used should reflect
the song on the same page. On the right, the star is making direct
eye contact with the audience, while her expression remains
neutral so this creates quite a serious look. This could show that
she is serious that everything has in fact, changed.

11. The way in which the star looks back with a slight smile while she
runs in the leftmost image suggests that she’s running with
someone. Starlight is a song about a fun, loving relationship and
the way in which we seem to be running with her (shown by the
eye contact made) is also fun. On the right, Taylor is again
photographed with her guitar – Begin Again is probably the most
country song on the album and the photo backs this up.

12. The back cover consists of one image: the star is making clear eye
contact in a neutral pose. The copyright is all written on the back
cover too; something I’d consider doing on my digipak.