Digipak Research

Alt-JAn Awesome Wave

25th May 2012

‘An Awesome Wave’ by At J has an abstract image on the front that sets it apart from other digipaks. This image allows the audience to make their own assumptions as to why there is a creative image on the front also it stimulates interest as it is different from most. Similar to AM, An Awesome Wave does not feature the bands name on the front cover which intrigues a wider audience to look at the album, this is a convention of albums from the indie genre. The minimalistic concept is also a convention of the indie genre and is used on this album. As the band have also chosen not to have themselves on the front of the album this also reflects the genre that they belong to as they may feel they want the audience to buy the album simply for the music not for who the band are, subverting Dyer’s ‘Star Image’ theory. The back cover traditionally has the track names on, these are in bold and their colour scheme is also brought into the text. It has a barcode which is a convention of any album no matter the genre, as well as the music production company’s logo. I think the back cover is interesting as it is different from most as the tracks are not lined up and centered like most also the boldness of each track name differs. Although this is interesting I find the titles slightly harder to read than most albums and it looks a bit busy and not very clear.

The CD disc for ‘An Awesome Wave’ follows the minimalistic theme and matches the back cover as it has the same colour scheme. The track list follows the edge of the CD which emphasises the track list to the audience.

How has this helped?This has helped me to discover how indie bands take risks and experiment with their digipaks, they also use artistic, innovative designs to make them stand out from other albums. It also showed me that the band’s image is not necessary for the digipak.