Analysing Digipaks

Christina Aguilera is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. Her genre is pop, dance and soul. This album is Bionic released on June 4th 2010.

She is placed at the center of the album cover which allows the audience to direct their focus solely on her. There is also lots of images of her this conforms to popular conventions like star representation.

The digipak consists of an front cover, a CD, a song list and a back cover. In the middle image she is undressed slightly, and is wearing barely any clothes. She is also wearing red lipstick and heavy makeup which makes her appear very feminine and also connotes seductiveness. Again this conforms to aspects of  Godwin’s theory such as the male gaze, also it means that Christina Aguilera’s music and videos may not be intended so much for younger audiences. The intended audience is older, most likely 25+. The heavy makeup and feminity allow her to attract both male and female audiences. 

The album has a plain background and Christina Aguilera is represented as half female, half-robot which depicts that she  sees herself as “robotic” beyond the surface.

It may also connote that her audience may not truly understand the real her. 

The artist is The Weeknd, a Canadian singer, songwriter and producer. His music focuses on R&B and Pop. His album “Starboy” was released on the 26th November 2016.

The front cover is the Weeknd with his hands on his head looking directly into the camera. Dark colours are used combined with bright typography and low lighting, which makes the artist stand out which conforms to the idea of star representation. His neutral facial expression connotes themes of death, sorrow and hope, 

The convention of the artist promotes youth culture which is our target audience.

The Weeknd’s body language on the cover connotes he is distressed, troubled and displeased which may mean that during this period of his life or whilst recording he may have had some personal difficulties. His direct stare into the camera makes the audience feel closer to him which may allow them to empathize with him.

 

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Am... Sasha Fierce is the third studio album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on November 12, 2008.

This cover is constructed of two images. One is dark and shows Beyoncé with bare makeup with her hand on her head and a black outfit. The other side has a white background, she is wearing a gold metallic outfit and is had more heavy makeup, voluminous hair

A close up shot of the artist is used to catch the audience’s attention. It also

follows Goodwin’s theory as close ups create a relationship between the

viewer and artist. The viewer also looks for features that attract them. The

contrast between her tanned skin tone and red lips and hair create a perfect

eye-catching effect. The red lips, hair and blushed cheeks effectively follow

Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze theory’, as does the bare shoulders connoting

seductiveness. The striking colours relate well to the title ‘Loud’.

Rihanna is shown looking down, not making direst address with the audience

suggesting shyness and innocence. Her lips are seductively slightly open, but

also the key signifier of the image because by using the rule of thirds we are

attracted to them, because they are bold, large and central. This also gives the

viewer a guide of how to view the cover, because we initially drawn to

Rihanna’s lips but because they are facing down, as are her eyes, we

automatically look down which is where the title is placed allowing us to be

drawn to it by the main image. The purity of the image is challenged by the

visible tattoo shown on her neck which emphasises her as an R&B artist,

relating the image to the genre of her music. It juxtaposes the stereotypical

conventions of an R&B artists CD which Rihanna has done in the past as

women associated with R&B are usually portrayed as ‘sensual’, with minimal

clothing showing themselves as an object of desire. Even though Rihanna is

associated with R&B, she goes against these conventions to create a purer

image that reflects the more innocent side of the love theme than the usual

sexual objectifying of the female artist.