GENERIC CONVENTIONS OF

DIGIPAKS AND MAGAZINE ADVERTS -

INDIE

BASTILLE – BAD BLOODThe font used within both the cd cover and magazine advert is quite bold and stands out. While one font is black and the other is white, they both work well as their contrast to the colour of the background. The ∆’s in B∆STILLE stands out and is his own brand image which could capture the eyes of fans, as it is his own logo. The album name and artist are both placed above centrally framed images and bellow, this is so the public can recognise the album. The “copyright” text is placed at the bottom of the frame in very small font. The font of the advert is quite similar although it is black instead of white, which fits the image used as it has a white, bright background and the font contrasts with it.

The colours used, are a grainy kind of brown colour, with white font. The dull brown colour suits the conventional colours for an indie pop digipak. There are headlights aimed directly at the man running on the road, this shows he is trying to escape danger but is unable to and the surrounding darkness shows he is very alone and is in a desolate area. The man running away is dressed in white which can connote innocence.

The colours used in the advert are the opposite, there is a white background and a black car, which could be seen as bad as opposed to the man dressed in white on the album cover.

The man being chased by the car, is placed framed centrally on the cover which brings immediate focus on to him. The artist name is framed directly above which could mean it is the artist running from something. This could have meaning to the fans. The album name is located underneath the imagery and is not hard to see as it is quite bold.

TWENTY ONE PILOTS – BLURRYFACE

This album’s image consists of 9 small pieces of art which is the art of each of the songs within the album. The font used is quite small, with the artist name at the top and album name at the bottom, although it is small, they can be easily read. The colour of the album is mainly black which suits the convention of darker colours being used. The other colours used is white and red, the white contrasts well with the black and the red also. This album does not have any images of the artists, this might be because they were quite small when this album was released and so they wouldn’t be well recognised among the audience. This album cover suits the genre as it is interesting to look at and is limited to colours and art.

THE XX - COEXIST

The artwork for this album is very simple and basic which can suit the indie pop genre as it is original and different which reflects the band. The cover does not feature the artist name or album name, only the main image which goes against the typical conventions of a digipak. The back of the album is very plain, just white with the track list and some copyright information and barcode. This can stand out to their target audience as it shows they care a lot about their songs rather than any art to try and sell their album. The colour of the album is white which makes the centrally framed X stand out on the front of the cover. The reflective X stands out as it shows the spectrum of colours which depends on what angle you look at it which is very creative.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, the album covers of indie pop are really creative and a lot of thought will go into them. They aren’t like typical mainstream albums which usually feature the artist, as the artist is usually the main selling point of albums. A lot of thought should go into my digipak just like most indie pop albums will. I will try and express creativity with my digipak and poster.