“UNDERTOW”

Digipak Analysis

Drenge are an alternative British rock band who are relatively new within the music industry alike our chosen artist Royal Blood. I have chosen to analyse their 2nd studio album as I felt that it has an interesting and contemporary design with aspects that I would consider using within our own and for the fact that it is

a 4 panel digipak.

Front Cover Rear Cover

The cover artwork for this album is firstly very striking, it draws the audience in for further detail which works effectively but it does differ from genre conventions as there is no clear indication of whose album it is if you had no prior knowledge, but perhaps this was intended so that potential buyers will pick up the album. The rear cover does however fit genre conventions and those of a digipak in general, with a numbered song list, record label logo, barcode and copyright notices. The digipak itself represents the mysterious and ‘wild’ song names which relate to the forest shown throughout the digipak. Overall these two panels are both contemporary, which aids the band’s ‘indie’ image within the alternative rock genre, and they are well-designed to draw the customer in.

Inner Double Panel

Within the album the general theme is continued, with the crashed car from the cover artwork being shown in a closer and more detailed shot, which adds to the overall sinister vibe of the artwork and photography within. The image spreads across both panels which is uncommon but it adds a ‘wow’ effect to the image, and the colours continue the scheme from the first two panels. The CD and lyric booklet slot into either side of the panels allowing them to be discreetly hidden, which creates a focus on the central image. The them of the woods is clearly continued throughout this image, and overall the continuity of this digipak's design is very effectively done.

CD Page of lyric booklet

Finally I decided to look at the design of the cd and one of the pages from the lyric booklet. Both continue the ever-present theme of the wild, with the water effect on the disc label and the forested background of the lyric page. The lyrics are in the same font as the rest of the album, which provides an ongoing theme and ensure that it doesn't look out of place. The dark theme is still in place and continues to flow throughout the album.