3. U2 - The Joshua Tree Front cover Back cover As a rock band they show their star image by having photos of themselves throughout their artwork. They also follow the theme of the desert and use similar pictures/motifs throughout. To add extra incentive to buy the record they have a pull out poster as well – which would add to the publicity for the album. Vinyl sticker Pull out poster Centre
4. John Lennon - Shaved Fish Front Record Sleeve Back This was a compilation album of Lennon’s singles. The cover artwork is divided into 12 boxes and each separate image is dedicated to the 11 singles on the record. The artwork is quite effective and clever the way it links to each of the singles. The Japanese theme runs through the album artwork, with the fonts, Japanese flag and title, and is a reference to Yoko Ono who helped produce the singles. On the back the Apple Records motif can be seen at the bottom along with other copyright information. Having the singles shown on the front would attract the audience and encourage them to buy the compilation even if they had other records with the singles on because it shows they are all together on the one record.
5. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper Front This is possible one of the most famous album artwork. It was designed by Peter Blake, the British pop artist. On the front there is a collage of over 70 famous people from different countries and time periods. The Beatles appear twice on in collage, the Beatles on the left are as they were in the early years of the band and in the middle they are dressed up as Sgt. Pepper’s band in brightly coloured suits. This is to show how they have changed over the years and shows that this album is a new direction for them and a different style to what had came before. On the back there is the lyrics to the songs and another picture of them. The centre is a mid-shot of the band members in their “Sgt Pepper” outfits and McCartney and Harrison’s MBE medals can be seen clearly. This was a very successful album and is the second best-selling album in the UK charts. Back The album artwork alone would have appealed to the audience because its a piece of art in itself. It also had to stand out because it was a new style of music for the band so they want to encourage their existing fans to buy it, as well as appealing to new audience . Inside
7. An Airplane Carried Me To Bed - Sky Sailing This is Adam Young’s second album after the success of his debut album Ocean Eyes under the project name Owl City. This project, Sky Sailing is a collection of his early recordings. He prefers the focus to be on his music rather than a star image which is why he creates project names rather than titles the music under his name. The artistic style of artwork runs throughout the digipak and photographs of Adam do not feature at all. The maths grid paper pattern, paper aeroplanes and swirling fonts are a link to childhood fantasies and add to the dreamy, sentimental concept of the artwork and album. I really like the calm, pastel colours used in this artwork , also the faint blotchy clouds create an effective and interesting background. The sepia tones also add to the nostalgic feel. I really like how the fleet of paper aeroplanes seem to fly through the album and I think it is really effective how they feature on the CD as well.
8. Only By The Night - Kings of Leon I really like how the theme follows through this digipak. The dark colours and neon green contrast well and link to the title “Only By The Night”. There is also a theme of hunting/ shooting through the target squares and eagle. The cut mix matched photograph on the front cover is really effective and interesting – there is also an opaque layered effect with the eagle head just visible. Inside the folding pull-out the band are introduced with a page each and the lyrics are on the back. The text is a computerised style with underscores between each word for the song titles and band name. I really like the long folding style of pull-out booklet as it makes the audience read the front and back. It also shows a contentious theme better than the booklets with two pages at a time and the audience can see it all at once if they want to.
9. Tonight - Franz Ferdinand This is a really simple yet effective style of digipak. There is a simple three colour palette; black, white and orange. The same style font is used throughout and all the text is in capital letters. In the pullout the photographs are of the band practising and recording. The location of the photographs is were the album was recorded. The simple, casual nature of the photographs reflect the genre of the band which is quite alternative. These style of photos would appeal to the audience because it shows the band are uninterested in a rock-star image. The photographs are quite dark and show use the mise-en-scene of the house that they recorded in. The photographs have been edited and most of them are in black and white to make the shots more artistic and interesting. The shots are quite candid and serious also the fact they are shown working gives the audience an idea of an indie do-it-yourself style which would appeal to their audience. I really like the simple nature of the pullout other than the pictures there is only the lyrics to each of the songs that feature on the album.
10. Science & Faith - The Script This was their second album following the success of their debut album We Cry. It is almost a concept album with the idea of science and faith coming together despite the contradiction that the two do not go together. The theme follows through the effective use of hand photography, other images and lyrics. The idea is shown on through the male and female hands linked together in an arm wrestle pose. However this can also be seen as a symbol of the two working together. The Science and Faith symbol is used on the wrists of the two hands which shows the difference of ideas. There is also a slight difference in skin tone which implies a difference between the two. It also links to the earthy sepia colour that is used throughout the artwork. There are three photographs of the band in the pullout There is also other images; the genes and science symbol used throughout the digipak to add to the concept of Science and Faith. Most of the pullout is pages of lyrics that are condensed together of all the songs on the album.
11. Things to consider for our digipak: A continuous theme and style throughout Various use of fonts different for band name/ song title/ less important information Use of similar styles of photography and editing effects Colour schemes to fit in with the theme Central layout and easy to read writing Eye-catching image for the front cover