Using, developing and challenging forms and conventions of a Digipak

When looking back at my own album cover it was clear to see that I used, developed and challenged the forms and conventions of a digipak, as well as an album cover from the pop/rock genre.

Used Conventions
The main similar characteristics I found within my own product included the use of a female artist's image. Not only does this attract a male gaze; as I found in my questionnaire male participants preferred the Lily Allen album cover of "Alright Still" where the female artist is the focus of the cover, but many albums of this genre include an image of their artist or band such as Pink's "I'm Not Dead" and Katy Perry's "One of the Boys". Also the fact that the artist makes eye contact with the audience was important and was a convention I applied as it creates a personal connection between the buyer and artist. The band's logo/name is graffited/graphic art which is similar to "Alright Still" maybe highlighting the fact that it creates a sense of freedom and rebellion amongst our young target audience. The Parental Advisory label conveys the conventions or traditional album covers, placed on the right hand side. It also states that content may not be suitable for a younger audience, a theme reflected in the genre of pop/rock e.g Lily Allen and Blink-182.

Developed Conventions
The constant ongoing use of musical notes was something I took from Paramore's "Riot" album cover where the word of the album is reinforced all over the cover. However I used the musical notes to highlight the band's love of music as well as it's importance to their image, with the word rhythm used in the bands name.

Challenged Conventions
In contrast, there are certain areas of my own album cover that did not conform to the conventions of traditional pop/rock album covers. Firstly, album covers such as Lily Allen's "Alright Still" seems very busy compared to my own, which is quite basic and simple. I find this a lot more effective as I believe simple designs are more likely to catch the eye of an audience because so little is happening. Secondly the image of the artist has a cartoon effect attached to it. Although other artists such as Pink have used "real" images for their album covers, I wanted to create synergy between my digipak and music video. The use of the colour purple seems very dark in mood when compared to the pop/rock genre that is usually aimed at a young female audience. Although artists like Pink use pink and other girly colour schemes, I wanted my band to be more mature in their outlook by using the dark purple. Dark colours were also a popular choice with my audience.