digipak analysis
kendrick lamar-to pimp a butterfly
In Kendrick Lamar's still-young reign as one of hip-hop's leading voices, he's tackled institutionalised racism, black self-love, addiction and the evils of materialism.
To Pimp A Butterfly is bold, and it fits with everything Lamar has shared from the album, an affliction of political and social criticism.The album's cover seems to a be an illustration of the hypocrisy Lamar is drawing attention to.
Its quiet ironic that it’s a group of predominantly young black boys posed in front of the White House building. I denote that the boys are posed in a group, which connotes the stereotypical assumption that ‘black boys are associates of gangs’. However, it could demonstrate them as a community though the positioning of hugging each other and all touching in some way, presenting them as family-like. I think that his choice to make the image all black and white could be reminiscent of history and how long these stereotypes of black people have been going on for. The baggy costume connotes perhaps a rap genre, reflecting the flow of the lyrics being loose and long in the same way their clothes are hanging a baggy.
rihanna-loud
The composition of the image is cropped just below Rihanna’s chin, which brings extreme focus toward her beauty, in other words a beauty shot. Her red lips and red hair are very striking colours and are bold on the album cover bringing a sense of confidence to her persona. Alternatively, it could also be interpreted that she is displaying her femininity and vanity to the public around her, flaunting her beauty and perfection. This could be representative of her persona in the media being a huge influence and respected female artist; therefore, the album name ‘LOUD’ could me mirroring her personality. Connoting through her facial expression she looks very passionate, which could depict how she feels about her album.
Through the inside cover picture Rihanna could be seen as a seductive character through her laying in a field of red roses. The colour red is associated with, passion lust and romance. This reminiscent of the colour red could interpret Rhianna’s plead for love and comfort. However, her pose and positioning on the rose bush looks almost fragile and like she is there unwillingly, coveys her character also seem weak.
I denote flowers to be a key symbol in this digipak. They are present in the album back cover, on the inside image and on the CD itself, which could represent the femininity of this album and Rhianna’s style of songs being very girl associated. Roses can mean various things: love, honour faith, beauty, wisdom. This theme of lover romance and femininity could be representative of the songs in her album. However, roses with thorns can be representative of danger. The creamy cover of the CD roses infers innocence and beauty, implying that not only the image is beautiful but the music too.
Both typography of the album name ‘LOUD’ and the artists’ name ‘RIHANNA’ is used in a very subtle way due to its colour. It creates a direct contrast with the meaning of loud and the colour of the font being white- white associated with pureness and innocence and romance, which could perhaps link to the femininity of the album cover. I feel as though this was done on purpose to avoid any distractions from the boldness of the image. The typography is at the bottom of the frame, below her chin and at the top of the frame across her forehead, which could again be to not divert the audiences’ attention.
TINIE TEMPAH-Discovery
In the main image the artist is demonstrated as a supernatural being. I denote this through the glow around his body and the stars shimmering in the background. He almost mirrors the way an alien will emerge from a spaceship with the beam of the light facing downwards on them. However, it could be interpreted that he is God-like through this celestial image. I denote this through the image of the building composed within the clasp of his hands. He mirrors the image of God, who is known to have the world at hand, connoting that he is superior and very powerful as an artist. Perhaps he is the God of R&B and POP? This idea is reinforced through his posture in this image, the way his hands are clasped together, intertwined, like the tough of his body lights up the world. His is positioned as the central image, and his body is cropped at the middle. This illustrates his Godly image looking down at the world below him and presents him as an assertive being. In addition, it highlights him as the most important image. Tinie Tempah, sticking to this cocky attitude through his dominance, replicates the stereotype of a rapper, wearing jewellery on both wrists, portraying him as ‘flashy’ and wealthy. Linking to the album name, ‘Discovery’, Tinie Tempah holds in his hands, what looks like a city; this could therefore suggest that he himself has discovered this new city or perhaps be representative of him discovering a new turn for music.
I denote the colour purple, which is used throughout the digipak. This symbolises a spiritual influence, perhaps one that he creates himself or receives for protection, adding to his superhuman effects, such as the celestial glow.
The font used is Tinie Tempah’s signature font, therefore, fans who purchase this album will particularly find it amazing and exciting as they will already know where the font is from.
They have followed the tradition convention of including the album information, including songs and barcode at the back of the digipak.
The overall theme of this digipak seems to be very girly and young aged, which I denote through the recurring motif of sweets and the colour pink.-reflecting Katy Perry’s idyllic ‘Teenage Dreams’ denoted through the title. Similarly to Rihanna, Katy Perry is very seductive in her album cover image. This is one of the first things we notice, the artist being the key focus. Katy Perry lays on a bed of candyfloss, nude. This connoted her associating with the objectification of women and the male gaze as she is portrayed as sexualised. The bright colours, ink, blues and whites attract her target audience of young girls, however, also reflects her star persona of a pop artist, who is usually fun and funky. It also links to the genre of pop music being very, crazy and exciting. The text looks very playful and fun. It’s like a bubbly written text. Perhaps this is to appeal to the target audience even more and sticking to its fun and funky nature. The digipak itself sticks to the tradition convention of presenting it song list on the back cover, with identical text as to the front. the album title, 'TEENAGE DREAMS' could be reflecting the types of songs included in this album, reminding her target audience of how fun it is to be a teen.
katy perry-teenage dreams
nicki minaj-pink friday
Nicki Minaj is normally associated with the colour pink which reflects her star persona of being 'barbie' like; therefore, her album digipak and name 'PINK' echoes her as a person. There is obviously a long shot image of Nicki, which fits her star persona character of being self indulged and confident within herself. The dominant colour pink which is present mostly in this digipak, connotes a very girl feminine approach; however, the genre of music that she sings is rap, whcih is mostly associated around the male perspective. Nicki's posture in the main image is very barbie like and expression imitates a doll. This depicts her as a 'perfect flawless' model. this idea links to females in this society who want to have the 'perfect' look, what they believe is perfect. Her posture seems to be very seductive as her torso is raised and her legs are spread out. this confroms to the general representation of females being sexualised. through her appearance of a pink wig and extravagant costumes I am able to depict the clear convention of pop genre within this album too.
The back cover of her album conforms to what a digipak would include: song listing, barcode. Also the text colour of white, I feel goes well with the background colour of pink as it easily read but still not too eye catching that it grabs all your attention.
