Research for Digipak

Conventions of a Digipak for an indie album is for have a strange design or pattern as the sound of music is very alternative. Indie bands would often show their different side by having a cartoon digipak or by only having the title old the album and not their band name on the front cover. Also, they include and different style of writing. For example, it might be italic or in fancy writing, the style of writing is a main factor in catching the audience's eye. In order to create our own Digipak I will analyse 3 female Indie Pop artists.







Below is an example of Melanie Martinez digipak who is an Indie Pop singer. On the front cover of the album like the example above she did not include her name on the front like some other indie bands. The colouring of the album represents what the album is about, a stereotypical colour for a new born baby girl is pink which links to the albums name 'Cry Baby' which is in the colour blue which would stereotypical relate to a boy. The images on the front cover of the album shows Melanie floating on the clouds and rain coming from the cloud onto the houses below. The houses appear to be  to on the edge of the green in the middle of being flooded. This links to the title of the album 'Cry Baby' because the represents her tears dropping down on peoples home. This also lets her audience know a bit of what the album is about. For example, broken homes or problems you may come across in your childhood. This album could also be a representation of her own life and by creating and designing this album she is expressing herself as a child and her experiences.

Her album layout is very different to any other albums. Instead, it looks as if the design is thick card and paper. As you can see in the bottom picture the disc slips into the case instead of it being placed in a plastic cover. The white pages appear to be like storybook, with writing about the album on them or could be a short story, which can be associated with children. The design on the pink pages are two different little girls with angry and upsetting faces, this can represent what the emotions and lyrics on the album are about. Further support to show the link between children and the album is on the actual CD with the title of the album in separate building blocks. The digipak as a whole can represent her expressing inner child inside her that she is sharing to her fans. 

Below is another example of a digipak from Lana Del Rey from her born to die album. The front of the album gives the audience an idea that she is not your typical pop artist. Normally, on a pop album the front cover has elements where it is computer-generated and has aspects of glow for the artist to shine like Kesha's album. However, Lana Del Rey has used a basic background setting for her front cover and has gone for a classy look. Her hair looks very sophisticated, her make-up is natural and has gone for a daring red lip colour, her look is completed with a white blouse which could symbolise her innocence. Although, this can be seen as a contradiction with the colour of her lips and the title of the album 'Born to Die'. Red is a fierce and dangerous colour which is completely the opposite to the colour white. 'Born to Die' can be seen as a very depressing and dark thought and shows this through her facial expressions because she is straight-faced and direct. 

Inside the album it looks as though she has gone for another vintage look like in the front of the album. The styling of her hair is similar by having the thick curls in her expect her parting is slightly to the left. This part looks much more colour than the front and can give the audience an impression of what the album is about. They have linked the colour of the inside, outside and the disc to be blue. This could represent heaven as the album is called 'Born to Die' the audience can recognise the association between the two through the colour scheme. This digipak is effective because it is simple style and represents exactly what her album is about, showing off her vintage 1950s / 60s voice.  

Below is Lorde digipak from her album 'Pure Heroine'. The front of the album fit into the convention of an Indie Pop album because of the contrast in colours. The black makes the album to appear to be mysterious in the eyes of audience and makes them think the material is quite dark taking in considering part of the album title which is 'Heroine'. The white lettering can represent the purity and innocence on the album or the innocence of her, as she is only young. The black and white theme continues throughout the entire album. Lorde has her own album label which is shown in the last picture, the use of this and with only the initial of her stage makes the album have it's alternative vibe. On a pop album the disc would normally have the album title written across it and more vibrant colours would be used, to show the pop and colourful element. The booklet for her album is her lyrics to her songs and again still has the black and white theme throughout to show continuity for the theme of her album.