The document analyzes and compares the album artwork and packaging ("digi-packs") for albums by Rihanna, Lana Del Rey, and Taylor Swift. For Rihanna's album, the analysis suggests the artwork conveys themes of love, passion, and sexuality through imagery of the color red and provocative poses. Lana Del Rey's packaging is described as vintage-inspired with imagery of roses and simple makeup evoking a sense of dignity. Taylor Swift's packaging leaves some narrative elements ambiguous but seems to reference both heartbreak and happiness through images of the artist in red lipstick and a yellow shirt.

1. Rihanna - LOUD
Character:
The only character shown on this digi-pack example is the artist herself, Rhianna. The images of the
character help to represent how the music may be about relationships such as love/romance due to
connotations of red which is used in the artist's hair and makeup. Red represents love and passion but
could also suggest anger and danger, possibly suggesting that the artist's music could be towards a
possible break up or a form of anger. As well as the connotations of the colour red, the close up shot of
Rihanna's facial expression may also suggest that theres a form of love and passion in this music as on
the front cover, she is seen looking down with an expression that can be seen as being provokative and
seductive. This facial expression could be juxtaposed as how she is looking down may represent her
being upset or hurt; juxtaposing the idea of her being seductive. Another example of how Rihanna may
be suggesting that her music is sexual in this album is the photograph inside the digi-pack which shows
the character; Rihanna, being shown lying in a field of roses in a provokative manner.
Iconography:
The colour red is iconic as it can represent love and passion or danger and heartbreak. This iconography
is also supported with the roses on the CD and in the background one the photograph with Rihanna lay
down provokatively. Roses are symbollic to love and romance; which could also be represented when
looking more into the music on this album. For example songs such as 'California King Bed' are more
romantic and about love and relationships, whereas 'S & M' is about sex which could be another
example of what the colour red is symbolising.
Setting:
The only setting shown in this digipak is the photograph of Rihanna lying in a bed of roses. This gives the
viewer the sense of romance and love as roses are a connotation of this; as well as the way she is lying
shows how she is in a dream like state. Rihanna is wearing a dress which is similar to a wedding dress.
This gives us the idea that the music will be about love and romance, due to the connotations of the
wedding dress; however, the red may consider that the album is about anger and the wedding dress
may be suggesting the end of the relationship, for example a jilted bride.
Narrative Events:
In the digi-pack, a narrative can be shown in the artwork within the iconography of the roses and the
character physicality; suggesting that the music may be love storyline; also with the wedding dress. The
wedding dress represents a narrative enigma as your usual impression of wedding dresses would be
positive and make you think of love and romance. However, Rihanna is lay in a provocative manner
which removes the aspect of innocence and loyalty which were portrayed within the wedding dress, and
suggests that she is creating a sex appeal towards a male audience. This is also supported with the
raunchier songs in her album such as 'S & M.'

2. Technical and Audio Codes: The photographs which have been taken for this digi-pack would have been
taken in a studio as it gives the images a more crisp and professional look for the artist's album. The
lighting which has been used tends to be high key which helps to capture Rihanna's facial features and
helps to show the glow on her face, to make her appealing to the eye.
Lana Del Rey - Born to Die
Character:
The character which is represented in this digi-pack is Lana Del Rey herself. The artwork of this
photograph is very simplistic and just shows a medium shot which is quite low, considering a possibility
representation of empowerment. The way that the angle of the photography shows what Lana is
wearing helps to represent her vintage and unique style of herself and her music, giving them an insight
as to what type of music to hear in her album.
Iconography:
One example of the iconography represented in this digi-pack is on the CD of the roses. The roses can be
a symbol of love and romance which may suggest that her music may have an aspect of these themes.
Another example of the iconography used in this digi-pack is the main image of the artist where the
clothing used is iconic to her indie/vintage type genre. The American flag could be seen as being
represented due to the colour scheme of being predominately light blues and white; but also there's a
hint of red with the lipstick used as well as red roses on the CD. The make up and hair is iconic to the
vintage theme as it is so simplistic, however still appealing as it can suggest how she hasn't over done
her make up or set herself in a provocative position; which may oppose to the theme of vintage as it
could show how time has moved on and how she can be representing women equality and dignity.

3. Setting:
The setting which has been chosen for the main image is quite simple, showing just a light blue sky and
part of an old car. This may have been chosen so that the character, being the artist, stands out so that
the album is more eye catching and fans would notice her instantly. The colour of the sky has been
continued within the colour scheme due to the text on the back cover being this colour as well as the
title 'Born to Die.'
Narrative Events:
This digi-pack doesn't tell much of a narrative, however whilst looking at the main image, you get the
impression that Lana Del Rey's music genre has a vintage theme within it due to her hair, make up and
clothing used. The way that Lana is positioned gives the impression that she's different to the average
pop artist you would see as she is not provokative and she is shown as quite strong and confident. This
can represent a narrative of how times have changed in terms of women, and how she is representing
that pop artists do not need to be provocative to be attractive.
Technical and Audio Codes:
The lighting which is used is high key to make the artist appear youthful and attractive. The text which
has been used tends to be quite bold and simple sans serif captial font, making the text clear to read.
'Lana Del Rey' appears to be in large, white text and due to the gutenberg principle, the viewer will read
that first thing. This helps to capture the target audiences attention as both the name and main image of
the artist are the largest and most eyecatching part of the digi-pack. The rest of the text continues with
the American flag like, sky blue colour scheme.

4. Taylor Swift - Red
Character: The only character shown in this digi-pack is Taylor Swift, the artist herself; shown both on
the front and back cover. The front cover shows a close up of the artist looking sound from a side angle.
This doesn't look like she is trying to come across as innocent but provokative like the Rihanna digi-pack,
it seems more as though she is thinking about something or someone. It shows her having a hat one,
although you can't see the hat, the shadow casts over the top half of her face, creating quite a
mysterious look. From what we can see, Taylor has red lipstick on which matches the bold, red text on
the front cover of the album name, which is also 'Red.' The colour red usually is symbollic for love and
romance, however it could also be anger and break up, therefore the colour red may be to represent the
themes in her songs. On the back cover, the photograph of Taylor is in the right hand corner instead of
taking up the whole page like the front cover. The photograph is taken from a low angle showing more
of the artist's body, wearing a yellow tshirt, sunglasses and looking into the distance. The sunglasses, like
the shadow over her face on the front cover, may be to contribute to the hidden identity/mysterious
look. The physicality of Taylor Swift comes across as quite happy as though she is dancing. The low angle
may be to suggest that she is higher up/dominant. This could be to relate to her music as she might be
saying that she is better than this heart break, or she's moved on.
Iconography: One thing which is iconic in this digi-pack is the colour red, as already stated, which could
be iconic of the themes love and passion, or the opposite and could be heart break and anger. Another
thing which is iconic is the yellow shirt which the artist is wearing. The colour yellow could have been
chosen in order to create iconography of happiness, maybe to suggest that the music on this album is
happy, or that she is now happy after she has got ridden of an old lover.
Setting: No obvious setting is shown in this digipak, however the front cover photograph gives me the
impression that the artist is walking down the street, looking down at the floor and thinking. This setting
may have been used to create a casual approach, so that fans of this music could possibly relate more to
the situations that the songs may be explaining.
Narrative Events: There is a form of narrative enigma in this digi-pack in terms of the setting as it
doesn't quite clearly show what the artist is doing in the two images used. The back cover image shows
a narrative enigma as you're not sure whether Taylor Swift is dancing, walking, or just looking into the
distance. This makes the viewer wonder what is happening in this photograph and whether it links to
the music on the album or not. The front cover image is the same, it gives me the impression that she is
walking down the street thinking about things; however the image doesn't actually give that away, the
viewer has to look at it in their own perspective.
Technical and Audio Codes: The main image on the front cover uses high key lighting, however the
photography also manages to capture the shadow over the artist's face creating a mysterious look but
maintaining the iconic pop style look. Red is one of Taylor Swift's first pop album as she began mainly as
a country artist. This could be the reason for the high key lighting on one half and the darker type of
light on the other, representing the pop genre and her style of genre showing that her whole style of
music is changing. On both the CD and the back cover, 5 red stripes have been used to create a simple

5. pattern which makes the digi-pack more appealing and interesting for the viewer; also, again, to refer to
the symbollic meaning of love and to the name of the album. The font overall is bold, sans serif and
capitals and the only colours used for this font is red and white. This could be a reference to good/bad,
devil/angel, or possibly red to relate to anger and white to be referred to as pure and innocence.

6. pattern which makes the digi-pack more appealing and interesting for the viewer; also, again, to refer to
the symbollic meaning of love and to the name of the album. The font overall is bold, sans serif and
capitals and the only colours used for this font is red and white. This could be a reference to good/bad,
devil/angel, or possibly red to relate to anger and white to be referred to as pure and innocence.