ANCILLARY TASK: Analysis of Existing Digipaks: Paramore - RIOT!

In order to create a successful digipak I will need to know the typical conventions which exist in digipaks already on the market. Therefore, I am going to analyse three existing digipaks. To keep things relevant I have decided to analyse digipaks from the same genre as the artist we have decided to focus on - Avril Lavigne, who belongs in the pop-rock/pop-punk genre.

Paramore - RIOT!

The font for this album has a doodle/scribble effect to it. The repetition of the name of the album “RIOT!” creates focus and emphasis ensuring that the purchaser is aware of the name of the album. The one “RIOT!” slightly slanted and in bright orange creates emphasis more so. The fact there is no image of the band on the front cover indicates that they are recognised as a band so they do not need an image for people to be aware that it is their music.

The sticker helps the promotional process. It includes the bands name, which is in different font which implies to the purchaser that this is the band’s “trademark” font, the black, white and orange theme continues with orange highlighting the important parts of the packaging, the fact it is “the new album” and possibly chart hits/recognisable songs “Misery Business, CrushCrushCrush & Hallelujah”, the doodle/scribble font again highlights the album name on the sticker while the colour black makes it bold and stand out amongst the other text on the white background. The website “WWW.PARAMORE.NET” also features on the sticker which almost proves that most stickers are used for promotional purposes as it is promoting the website which conventionally features on the back of the album not the front.

 The hinge of the album features the band’s name in their “trademark” font with a white and orange scribble coming off it against a black background, which reinforces the colour and font choices for the album.

The inside of the packaging sees the continuation of the doodle/scribble effect. This features the colour theme of black, white and orange. The name of the album, “RIOT!” features in an a large, central orange text again which creates focus and emphasis, information also in orange are websites of the band and the record label, also important credits such as the executive producer, photographer etc while the rest of the text features in black. All of this combined together draws the eye down to the image of the band that is in a sketch effect that relates to the text used on the rest of the packaging, The pose and composition of this image implies that Hayley Williams (the lead singer) is central to the band, as she is stood more forward than the other band members putting more emphasis on her. Emphasis on her is also created through the expression of the band. Hayley appears to be smiling where as the other band members have less of a smile about them that results in more focus towards her.

The appearance of the CD further reinforces the doodle/scribble effect and the orange of the “RIOT!” which is continually used through out the album artwork. I believe the album has a feeling of aggression and frustration, a feeling of expression which is emphasised through the names of the songs such as “Misery Business” and “That’s What You Get”, emotions commonly associated with the pop-rock/pop-punk genre. When touching the CD it has a rough texture to it, which I believe reinforces these emotions.

The back of the album sees another sketch effect image, which gives a feeling of continuity. The band members appear to be staring at the purchaser which gives central focus to the image which then draws the eye up to the tracking list in orange surrounded by multiple “RIOT!”`s. The composition of the image puts leader singer Hayley Williams central with her arm around band member Josh while other band members Zak and Jeremy also surround her. The close proximity of the band gives a sense that they are a close nit band, their similar facial expressions also emphasise this. However, due to the album artwork having a sense of aggression and frustration, the band said to be almost expressing these emotions towards each other, it could be said that this image could have been composed like this by the band’s record label to make the band appear close when actually they almost fell apart.

The whole style of the album is reflective of the pop-rock/pop-punk genre. The fonts and contrasting colours used give a sense of expression of angry, aggressive emotions, which the genre is commonly known for – expression of emotions through lyrics and image. Typical of any digipak the barcode and copyright information are also included on the back but integrated in to the “RIOT!” scribbles so focus is not taken away.