Digipak Analysis - Digipaks I Own - Michael

King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath the Moon (2013)

When researching digipaks and the common conventions that they follow, I found King Krule's 2013 album, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, very interesting. This album goes against many conventions as neither the front cover or the middle two panels contain any text. The only text is down the spine of the package and on the back cover, where the track listings are placed. The middle panels are filled with one long connected image of doodle appearing drawings, graphics and photos of random objects, such as plants and broken speakers all placed next to one larger image, in the corner, of Archy Marshall, otherwise known as King Krule, the artist of this album.  He appears to b drawing in a book which makes it appear as that he has drawn the images on the middle two panels. 

I am intrigued by the graphic design on this cover and would be very interested in doing something very similar when creating my own digipak. I am also very fond of the colour scheme used on this album, as it is very simple and minimal.the majority of the 4 panel pack is black and white except the background faded blue on the middle panels. 

Cage the Elephant - Thank You, Happy Birthday (2011)

This digipak is one of my favorites that I own. The cover and inside panels are all graphic design and interest me greatly due to the abstract nature of the artwork included. The appearance of the font used and the drawings make the album seem as if they've been drawn on and annotated freehand. In contrast to the cover and the artwork the CD from the package is completely blank and stands out against the rest of the casing. I like the idea of the simplicity of this in comparison to the rest of the digipak.

I would like to incorporate certain features of this when creating my own digipak, such as the minimal CD in comparison to the rest of the chaotic cover and inlays. I would also like to incorporate certain types of graphic design in my own case as I feel that without it it may be lacking, I could use the drawings present on this album as inspiration.  Although there is not a huge amount of text or  variety in background colours, this digipak is not minimal due to the vivid and unusual drawings situated all over it.

Arctic Monkeys - Humbug (2009)

Another digipak I am very fond of is Humbug, by the Arctic Monkeys. Many of the covers and packs that I have looked at and took inspiration from have not included an image of the artist or band, however this cover appeals to me due to the nature of the photos used throughout the digipak. The initial cover photo appears not to be staged, but instead to natural. I like the idea of this as it goes against conventions and cliches of normal album covers. A photo that includes band members is also used on the inside covers and panels. An image of two band members climbing a hill is stretch across both of the inside panels. I really like this effect of a larger image being used to fill inside panels and will defiantly look at trying to use this when building my own digipak. Very little text is used throughout this digipak which inspires me to create a similarly minimal scheme as i find that minimal albums have a good effect on drawing in an audience. 

Although the main layout for this digipak appears minimal, the colour scheme is not. On both the back and the front covers the colours are dull, faded and give of a 'retro' feel. The inside panels, however, do not sick to this scheme and use way more vivid colours that make the audience question the location of the image. This sense of mystery and questioning is inspiring and makes me want to incorporate questions into the imagery I use.  

Drenge - Drenge (2013)

I have always been fond of Drenge album covers due to the fact that they rarely use text on the front covers of their albums or singles and because they use interesting photography or graphic design to style their albums. Their first debut album is my favorite. On the front and back covfers the same image of a graveyard is included. This image is interesting as it makes the audience think what thew image is representing. the colour scheme on the back and front is black and white, which seems grim and matches the "grungey" music that the band makes. This colour scheme doesn't continue to the inlays of the digipak. Unlike the outside of the package, the inside is bright and vivid and stands out due to three bright colours. this contrast is intriguing but I don't think I'll use this idea when creating my own digipak as I would prefer to keep a consistent layout.  

 Drenge are a English indie rock duo that are made up of two brothers. The graphic and image on the CD itself shows a photo of the brothers when they were younger. I find this idea equally as interesting and  would certainly consider using older photos of the band members in my fictitious band.