Digipak Analysis
Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
Coldplay's fifth album called 'Mylo Xyloto' was released in 2011 and fits in with the alternative rock genre. The front cover of the album contains a mix of colours and writing/graffiti. The idea of graffiti suggests that the band is alternative rock as this follows the conventions of not confining into the normal expectations within society and also being rebellious. The words are unclear and all the colours merge into one which again would help the audience to recognise its genre when spotting the album online or in-store. All of the colours used in the making of the album entice the audience which is a good marketing technique.
The spiral effect on the CD is quite unusual and it sets the band apart from other artists that people associate them with. By Coldplay's album artwork containing such a variety of colours, this also makes them different to everyone else and creates a unique selling point for the band, which would help to increase sales. The font on the front cover is in white, block writing but only outlined and the inside of the letters are the background colours/graffiti. This font is the same on the back when the song names are listed. The effect of this may be to make the colours stand out more than the name of the album or songs.
The use of Coldplay using the colour schemes they have with the font, effects and graffiti all suggest that they are an alternative rock band due to their artwork not following the mainstream and the thing that would be seen as being socially acceptable. Pop artists usually contain an image of the singer as the main focus point as do other similar genres as this attracts their fan bases. Alternative rock albums don't usually contain an image of the artists unless there are effects included that imply they are different and rebellious. Another aspect that represents Coldplay's album as confining to the conventions of their genre is the name of the album 'Mylo Xyloto'. This is an unusual phrase that most people would never have heard of before therefore, the band are once again rebelling and straying from what is seen as the norm.
Green Day - American Idiot
The main -and only- colours that are included in Green Day's 2004 album are red, white and black. This signifies both love/passion and danger/death due to the red being used. Peace and tranquillity is represented through the white whereas, black implies loneliness and also no emotions. However, an alternative interpretation to the use of the black is to make everything stand out. The font on the front of the CD also helps to make the title readable and clear as it is in big, bold, block capital letters.
The thing that would grasp people's attention with this CD is the white cartoon hand that is grasping a bleeding grenade in the shape of a heart. Contrastingly, a heart has positive connotations such as love and peace whereas, a grenade and blood have opposing negative connotations that include war and death. The reasoning behind this juxtaposition could be that the band are trying to represent love as being a weapon that could destroy someone. The font also suggests war as the letters are rough and parts are missing.
On the disc there is the band name and the name of the CD again which perhaps suggests that they want people to remember them and their album. Also on the disc there are the song names that are included on the album. The same white arm is hanging down holding the grenade pin, suggesting that it is has been pulled and exploded therefore, this sets the tone for the songs on the album.
Paramore - Riot
Paramore's album 'Riot' clearly fits in with the alternative rock genre, this is because the main colours are red, black and white. These all have connotations of being dark, dangerous and rebellious. the white is used to make the font stand out as well as the album stand out on the shelves. The font suggests that the words are all handwritten which would be similar to graffiti, this is an illegal act and therefore, follows the genres stereotype as it again implies that the band are rebellious and do not care about being different and breaking the rules.
Most alternative rock artists don't feature an image of the band on their CD cover however, some do. This may be to allow their target audience to identify them and help to build a bigger fanbase and become more widely recognised. The pictures of the band is in black and white and once again, looks like its drawn instead of being an actual image. Therefore, this again implies the idea of graffiti and not following the rules which is one of the main features of the genre; not conforming to the 'norm' and what's expected.
The name of the album 'Riot' is in big, red, handwritten font on the front cover and disc of Paramore's album which suggests danger as well as rebellion. Also, the title has continued to be included all over the background of the front cover, the back cover and the inside left of the album. This may make a link between listening to this genre of music and having mental health issues as everything is messy and hard to distinguish which may be similar to someone's head if they are suffering with a mental health problem.