Looking at Digipaks in the Current Market

A more mainstream artist's album cover like Rihanna will generally just have her face as the main image. This image alone will work to sell her album, as her face is so instantly recognizable that people do not need to see anything else when deciding whether or not to buy her album. This is reflected through the fact that Rihanna's name is not even on the front of the album, purely the album name in a simple font. The vivid reds and purples in the photo also help the album jump out at people from the shop shelves.

I think that this album cover is very effective with its use of colours, which helps it stand out on a packed shelf. The background is very neutral and grey coloured, nothing of note is actually taking place there. Your eyes are instantly drawn to the 2 massive red and blue bits of cloth that are flying in the air. It is only once you look closer at the image that you realize they are actually huge capes that are being worn by 2 people. Although this image has absolutely nothing to do with the music it is representing, it helps to attract in potential buyers of the album through the stunning artwork on the digipak cover.

The Mumford & Sons album art is similar to the Biffy Clyro album art, in that it is not clear what relationship the image holds to the actual music of the band. As Mumford & Sons are an alternative band, it is clear that the album art is not going to be mainstream, like Rihanna's album cover image of just her face, as there is no single person that personifies the band for audiences.

I think that this album cover from an album by The XX is the most striking of the 4 that I have looked at, as the designers have been very brave and simply put a huge white X on a plain black background. However simple the cover seems it would actually be very effective at drawing people's eye to it on a packed shop shelf as I have never seen an album cover like it before. The X would almost instantly tell fans of the band who's album it is, and would interest others into picking up the album to find out.

I think that I would like to incorporate aspects from the last 3 albums that I have looked at:

- A striking photo on the front panel that instantly draws your eye to it

- Use only 1 or 2 bold colours in the images so that it does not look messy and cluttered