Digipak Analysis - Miss Miller

The purpose of a digipak is to present CD singles or special editions. Digipaks typically consist of a grate fold, like a book style, which has the texture of paper boards/ cardboards with some outer binding. They normally have high quality images, and usually contain a letter or note from the artist themselves, which makes it seem more personal for the fans of the artist making them want to buy it. Can also include bonus tracks where all information is easily accessible, and that can make it seem more appealing and longer lasting. They grew in popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000's. For my digipak, I have decided to analyse the artist Duffy due to her similarities with my chosen music video artist of Amy Winehouse. They both specialise in the same genre of soul. This will be effective research for me as I will be able to see generic conventions used for the soul genre, which made her album successful and effective.

Here is evidence towards Duffy's digipak from a soul music artist.  The representation of the music artist is shown to be very important, due to the positioning of the character being shown in the centre within two pictures of the presentation. The pictures of her are shown to be depressing due to her facial expressions of her looking down etc. There is no evidence of Dyers theory of voyeuristic representation of the female body. Instead, she looks to be very much covered, wearing the costume of a coat. This can lead into a interpretation that during that time, it is winter. This then gives a very cold atmosphere towards the digitak and emphasises the colours black and white, as there is no warmth towards the presentation like summer would present. This then instantly shows the audience that her work of music inside is going to be very cold, sad, slow etc. Her facial expressions show that she is in deep in thought about something, and that something is constantly on her mind towards the extent that she can't even walk around in the neighbourhood without feeling upset. This then leads to the audience buying the digipak as they are intrigued towards why she is in this situation, resulting to the audience feeling eager to purchase the digipak. The type of camera shot of close up is effective as you are able to see clear facial expressions of the artist, type of costumes included and also some dark background of buildings. This is a very effective physical representation towards what she is trying to pursue emotionally through her musical representation. The representation of the artist has a lot of purpose towards it as it is allowing the audience to become more familiar with the persona of the artist. They are able to learn more about her and what her characteristics and personality traits are like. The audience are then able to build a relationship with the artist, as it is almost like a real life friendship, as the audience are on a friendly basis of knowing what the artist is like in particular situations, in this case; it was a very negative situation shown by her sad facial expressions and little body language.

There is little colours used within the digipak, varying in black and white throughout. This can show a clear, simple meaning that it is a dark time for the artist. This is conventional towards genre of soul as it gives a meaning of sadness the character is experiencing. All the covers are mainly black background, which is contrasted with white writing or white edited characters/scenery (unable to see warmth in skin tone, colour of lipstick, hair colour etc.) This then shows a sense of mystery, which can attract audiences to purchase this digipak in order to find out more information upon this sad topic. The contrast between the two colours can also leave the audience confused, as black is seen as mysterious and dangerous, however the colour white is seen as innocent. These two colours juxtapose and contradict each other which can show two different personalities, maybe how she use to be and what she is now due to a recent event such as a tragic break-up, and this can only be found out if you order the digipak, almost like teasing the audience in a subtle and oblivious way. Black and white is a successful use of conventions within the soul genre as it can portray distress, heartbreak, depression and so many more negative things. The two colours are an effective use of colour editing as it can show towards the audience a very clear meaning, specifying in her predicament at that particular time. This is also conventional towards the genre of soul as these colours together can be represented as very sad, which is a popular emotion presented within the genre of soul. Colours within this digipak had a lot of purpose towards it as it portrayed the artists emotions in a obvious way. This allowed the audience to understand this is a sad time for her and that she is feeling very down and vulnerable.

The design\layout is very simplistic, such as little use of colours and not much writing involved within the whole digipak. This is to show the bluntness upon the sad emotion and that is is easy to spot. The black colour and overall monochrome tone is easy to understand a sad time upon the artist, Duffy's life. The little use of writing is to allow the audience to feel intrigued to purchase the album, as all emotion and experiences will be revealed in more thorough detail. Some writing which is included within the digipak is song titles from the album, the artists name, album name and an avenue sign of 'Rockferry.' The style of language has a very bold font with all words having capital letters. This is purposely used so that all of the words are easily able to stand out and grab the audiences attention. Different parts of the digipak have larger or smaller font so that the audience are able to acknowledge and remember more easily. Larger fonts which were used so that the audience are more likely to remember is the artists name 'Duffy' and the album name 'Rockferry.' The design and layout has a lot of purpose towards a digipak as it allows the audience to understand what the whole point of the album is about. The audience are able to understand what genre, rough scenario and feelings which are involved by using things such as particular colours and particular fonts. Another purpose is to grab the audiences attention by using bigger fonts for things such as the artists name and album name, and also showing pictures of the artist herself in various places so the audience can have a brief understanding towards what the album is about. The audience are able to see what the artist physically looks like, which helped to build a relationship as they are creating a bond from all this information they are receiving about her from the album. They are able to put a face to the vulnerability and sensitivity of her singing.

There are a range of choice of images within the digipak. Some of the covers show portrait pictures of the artist, close ups are used within the presentation to show artists emotions in clear detail. This is also a highly used convention within the genre of soul. This can allow the artist to explore in more understanding how the artist is feeling at that particular time.  Another picture of the artist used is a mid shot of her looking looking away from the camera. This is effective as the audience are also able to see parts of her body language and also can leave a sense of mystery and confusion, as it can seem she is looking for something or is lost in a certain way. Another interpretation towards the picture of her looking away, can also represent her wanting to be adventurous and experience new things, showing a subtle element of her going back to her usual self after being heart broken. This is effective as it shows different emotions throughout the digipak through the choice of images, rather than specifying into one type of feeling which could potentially seen as boring for the audience. Including this is successful as it leaves the audience to feel like she has lost an element of herself, which is not seen as a happy or positive thing. This loss can be from a variety of things; which is finalised by the audience interpretation before purchasing the digipak. This can then leave the audience eager to buy it in order to get the full length of the story. Pictures are extremely important as it can tell a quick story to  the audience of what the album is all about. The audience can then get a brief idea towards what is included within the album and can make a decision towards whether they think would want to buy it or not. 

There are different types of typography used within this presentation. One of which includes a signature type of writing from the artist. This is frequently used within digipaks as it allows a relationship between the audience and artists, showing a more personal level rather than it just being a particular type of merchandise. Using handwriting typography can make the audience feel like they actually have an intimate and real life bond with the artist, and then can make fans even more upset and then sympathetic for the artist when Duffy(the artist) is showing vulnerability when using her work success to portray a sad time of her life. Also, using a signature type of writing of her name, almost makes the audience feel more comfortable that it is an official thing. Sometimes audiences can be a bit spectacle towards purchasing things of artists merchandise, as it may not live up to expectations etc. By including a signature, almost gives a sense of authority and that the artist is pleased to put their name upon this type of presentation, so the fans put their trust into the artist and buy it. Typography is important to allow the audience to have more knowledge towards the album. Applying typography such as a hand-writing font can allow the audience build a relationship as it can feel more personal and make the audience think that the artist was more involved within the creation of the digipak rather than hire professionals to do it all for her. Typography's purpose to the digipak is extremely effective. Using handwriting font allows the audience to imagine it is the artists writing and they had more involvement than just having their face and name on the pages.

I think this digipak is successful in relation to promoting the artists album and artist themselves. This is shown by the all the relations which are conventional to the soul genre. The audience are immediately able to recognise the genre of this album due to such things like colours, facial expressions and having a sad female artist who has had their heart broken. Using a digipak is successful when relating towards promotion as it is a platform which a range of audiences are able to visually see. This then makes the artist and the new album more known as it is being acknowledged by more audiences and therefore, more likely for higher rates of album purchase.  After researching and analysing Duffys digipak, I have learnt a lot which will help me make my own effective one. I am considering using a range of things which inspired me from her presentation to inform within my planning of mine. There are lots of ideas I have taken on board to include for my artist. I think using Duffy was a successful choice as she has similar characteristics with my chosen artist of Amy Winehouse. Including 2 CD's is important as it allows the audience to feel like theres more involved when purchasing the album rather than just a normal album CD. This means for fans, more information and additional scenes/songs which they are able to 'fangirl' over and admire the extras which is involved. 

Choosing a digipak which related to soul was a very efficient idea and I was able to point out which was conventional towards the genre. I am positive to include within my digipak some sort of artist message, which will convey a very personal album which I think the audience would highly appreciate, as it is different, shows the artist cares, and is conventional towards digipaks in general and they usually include this. For at least one of the covers, I am thinking to include a close up of the artist to show her emotions, which is going to be very care free, rebellious, mysterious etc, which was inspired by Amy Winehouse herself as she was conveyed as a very alternative artist, and this type of representation of the artist could be a healthy difference towards the genre of soul. This research was beneficial as I am gaining more knowledge and understanding towards what a digipak is and what is successful to include. Specifying within the soul genre was extra beneficial for me as I was able to see certain conventions which would allow the audience to know what genre of the album is and how I can portray my artist in a successful manner. An example of some inspiration I have gained after analysing Duffy's digipak was involving the female artist in more than one page of the digipak. This is to show the importance of the artist towards the album, and also only using her also highlights her importance and can also show her singular emotion which is very negative such as depressed. Another element which I have gained inspiration from is facial expressions, the artist is shown to be very much deep in thought due to her little expression upon her face. You can also interpret her sadness as she is not smiling and never looking straight at the camera which can interpret, a confused mindset and having low confidence. The audience are then able to take a vague perception that she is feeling very negative because of a heart break, maybe the one that she loves no longer loves her back, which is why she is deep in thought towards what she lacks and not what she impacts. I will also take this on board within my magazine advert by having the artist looking down or away from the camera, to show a link and inspiration from research and to also have a link between magazine advert and digipak.