D i g i p a k A n a l y s i s

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The artist’s name andface is prominent onthe cover. This makesit very clear foraudiences who theartist is and what ison offer.

The colour palette is dark, but mixed with whites, greys and a pop ofgreen makes it is oddly contemporary. An old and new union couldalso be descriptive of her musical style.

The use of dark tonesadds a vintage andaged feel. The result isvery ‘classic’ for thegenre, especially afemale artist.

The black andwhite/sepia, agedlook could besuggesting that Adeleis a well establishedartist. It could also bea reflection of hermusic being capableof lasting for yearsafter its release. Or atleast this is hinted atthe audience.

21 being Adele’ssecond studio album,the digipak gives amore established feelthan the first. Bothalbums reflect an age,and so 21 could beconsidered as olderand wiser to itspredecessor.

A vinyl version of thealbum was alsoreleased alongsidethis CD version,appealing to amainstream and moreniche audience. Theaged look andsuggested longevityof the album is againinsinuated for theaudience.

F r o n t : The front cover is not busy; the simplicity creates a raw andfresh look can be related to the type of artist Adele isportrayed as and the songs that are on the album.

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The exposed eyelids draws attention to the heavy make-up, typical offemale artists. The whole look is very classic with clean lines and thewinged eyeliner adds a ‘vintage’ Hollywood feel.

Adele does not directly address theaudience, instead she looks down. Thisis fitting with the tracks on the album asthey are directly addressed to aparticular individual. The posing andbody language adds a sense of stardom.It could be described as sombre,reflective of the tracks. This is allconventional of the genre.

The costume is dark and no details can be picked out. This ensuresthat nothing else detracts from Adele herself as the main focal pointand selling point.

The posethat Adelestrikes wasspoofedmultipletimes,adding tothe ‘iconic’and ‘ageold’ feelthat thealbum istrying toportray.Furtherpublicitywas anadded plus.

2The modern and clean sansserif font contrasts theworn and vintage effectthat has been added to therest of the front cover.

The white makes the textstand out, even more so asit looks brighter than thelight grey tones found in theimage.

The green however is completelydifferent from the colour palette in theimage. It again stands out and adds acontemporary and lively feel, reflectingthe stereotype of the age 21.

The thing lines of the font add to thealready present simplicity of theartist’s and album’s name.

The large size of the font ensures that it is the first thing thataudiences notice, immediately informing them of the crucialinformation.

The same style is evident in Adele’s previousalbum cover, with the bold white name andcoloured title. This subconsciously connectsAdele’s work for audiences. 21 looks older,intentionally as it is the second album.

B a c k & S p i n e s :

The artist’sface alsofeatures onthe backcover, thistime notcentred as it isnot the mostsignificantinformation,upstaged bythe track list.

The less desirable but equally important information is delegated to the bottom ofthe cover, and is much smaller. It is similar to a credit block. All of this informationconforms to the colour scheme and does not incorporate the accent colour, makingit even more subtle.

The black andwhite/sepia,aged themecontinues tothe back andthe spines ofthe digipak.The continuescolour themeon the outersides gives afeeling ofcompleteness.

The spinesboth faceinwards,matching anyother digipaksusers mayhave on theirshelves.

The song titlessuggest whatmood thealbum is andthis isreflected inthe colourscheme of thealbum cover.

Thebackground islit centrally,drawing theeye to wheretheinformation is.

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The tracklist is the most important information on theback cover and a conventional use of the back panel.

The text is centred, creatinga cleaner look.

The colour scheme of theartist name and albumname from the front panelcontinues here, with thegreen accent colournumbering the tracks. Thecapitalisation of each letteris also part of that style.

The numbers are in asmaller font size asthey are not the mostsignificant piece ofinformation.

The song titles suggestwhat mood the albumis and this is reflectedin the colour schemeof the album cover.They also suggestmultiple meaningsabout Adele’s facialexpression which is tothe right of thistracklist.

The length in time of eachtrack is not listed, which isconventional of otherdigipaks. Perhaps this iselsewhere in the package.

The tracklist is sandwiched by two songs that werereleased as singles before the release of the fullalbum. This may be to create familiarity with audiencesand aid recognition of who the artist is and why theyshould buy the album.

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The logo of the label on which thealbum was released on is in thebottom left of the back cover. The logois small and discreet. ℗ = Sound recording copyright symbol.

© = Copyright symbol, for works other than sound

recordings.

The Label Code (LC) was introduced in 1977 in order to unmistakably identify the different record labels . Subsidiaries do not necessarily have their own codes and often use that of the parent company. This code is for XL Recordings.

The barcode is in the bottom left and positioned horizontally. It is conventional to be placed onthe back panel.

Both theartist’swebsite andthe recordlabel’s websiteis featured.

The artist’s name and album name arestyled in exactly the same way as theyare on the front cover. This continuitymakes the package feel whole.

The spines are completelyblack and not exposed tothe lighted backgrounds ofthe front and back covers.

The catalogue no. is the identificationno. a label assigns to a release. It is usedfor tracking purposes by both the labeland the distributor.

The spines are relatively empty, making it easier to pick the album out from a shelved storage position.

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Like the front cover Adele is alsopresent on the back., againconsolidating herself as the artist.

This photo looks like it is from thesame shoot as the previous shot ofAdele. Although, the make-up looksdifferent in the lighting and withAdele’s eyes open.

Adele does directly address theaudience, looking straight down thelens of the camera. Her expression ismore neutral. This could almost berewarding audiences who have pickedup the digipak and turned to the backcover to see the tracklist and/or theprice.

The costume in this photo is also darkand no details can be picked out. Thisensures that nothing else detractsfrom Adele herself as the main focalpoint and selling point.

D i s k :

The disk itself is very different tothe exterior of the digipak. It has avery contemporary feel, whereasthe cover tries to recreate a‘classic’ look.

The green colour was usedsparingly on the cover as anaccent, but here it is the appliedall over.

21 is prominent over the entireCD, as the font replicates a brushstroke or chalk. Again, juxtaposingthe exterior of the digipak.

The younger look if this diskreflects the age 21 and remindingthat Adele is still early in hercareer, however deceptive thecover may be.

The label’s logo along with thesame copyright information fromthe back cover appear again here.This is a conventional practice.