Digi-pak analysisConventionsWe have noticed that there a lot of common conventions when it comes to bands digipaks. We have found that they mostly have a very dark colour scheme; using colours such as black, grey, and fiery colours. However, some white is also used to create juxtaposition and create binary oppositions of good and evil. The colour of the text always seems to contrast the colour of the background so that it stands out and is easier to read.

We have found that all of the digipaks have quite striking logos that stand out and influence whether the customer will buy the digipak or not. The logos also seem to have a connection to items/props used in the music videos. For example, there is a grenade on the front of the digipak and grenades in the music video for boulevard of broken dreams.

If there are any images in the pack they tend to be images of the band performing or behind the scenes shots. This will appeal to the target audience for rock music because they like to see how the music is made.

All of the digipaks have a booklet on the inside. This booklet is really important because it includes images and lyrics to the song; both things that will attract the target audience.

Lastly, all of the digipaks have a list of the songs in the pak printed on the back. The song list is also often printed on the front of the CD.

RepresentationThe first thing we noticed about representation was socio economic status. The digipaks seem to represent that the majority of the target audience is working/middle class. This is because the digipaks are priced at around 8 - 10 which could be too high for lower class incomes.

The design of the CDs, especially Green Days, show that they are aimed at a higher age group; late twenties early thirties. This is because the designs are quite violent; for example, there is a grenade on Green Days digipak. A couple of them also use the parental advisory logo.

At different points in each digipak there is a list of credits to the people that helped to make the music. This will attract the target audience because they like to see behind the scenes info on how the music is made.

There is no specific gender represented in any of the digipaks because the designers want it to appeal to the primary and secondary audiences. If they made it just for males then not many females would buy it, reducing the profit.

IconographyThere is a lot of iconography used in the digipaks. On Bon Jovis digipak there is an image of a knofe through the heart which represents the darker side of rock music. In Green Days digipak there is actually a narrative to the iconography used; on the front cover there is an image of a heart shaped grenade being held, on the CD there is an image of the pin being pulled and on the back there is an image of just the pin on the floor. This signifies how the person has been killed by the grenade.

On Enter Shikaris digipak there is an image of an upside down triangle. Being that a triangle is quite often used to represent a hierarchy the upside down triangle shows how the hierarchy has been flipped. Rock music, which is usually lower in the hierarchy, is now on the top.

Lastly, on the cover of 30 seconds to mars digipak there a lot of skulls. Skulls are very common in the rock genre of music because they represent death and violence.

Mise-en-sceneThere isnt as much mise-en-scene used in the digipaks compared to the videos. All of the costumes shown in the digipaks are dark/black which are very common in the rock genre; this is used to relate to the audience.

The only props used are the instruments shown in the pictures; this will appeal to the audience because they like to see how the music is made.

Lastly, whenever a band is shown in a picture they are usually positioned close together to create a sense of unity.

Enigma codesEnigma codes are used to make the audience question parts of the digipak. One example of this is the heart shaped grenade on Green Days front cover; this makes the audience wonder what it means whys is it shaped like a heart? Does it relate to the songs?

Another example is the upside down triangle used on Enter Shikaris digipak. What does the triangle represent? Why is it upside down?

IdeologiesAll of the ideologies shown in the digipaks are very explicit. The main ideology that goes along with these digipaks is violence. On 30 seconds to mars digipak skulls are used to represent the ideology of violence through death. On Green Days digipak the grenade is used to show violence and in Bon Jovis digipak violence is shown through the image of a dagger.

Ancillary textsIn most of the digipacks there is a high image to text ratio. This means that there are more images than text. This is done because the target audience prefer to see visuals than having to read about things. The only digipak this doesnt happen in is the Green Days.

We have noticed that there is little to no social media used. We dont know why this is done because we have seen on the websites that social media is used to keep the audience up to date with what is happening. The digipaks only give the audience members a link to said websites.

The typefaces used on the digipaks are very important. For example, on Green Days digipak the typeface of the title is very broken, making it look like it is linked to warfare. This tyoeface represents the violent nature of the music, appealing to customers. The typeface inside the booklet makes it look like it is a handwritten, original copy. This really helps to convey the emotions in the song. All of the typefaces are san-serif to show the informality of the music. The only digipak in which this isnt the case is Bon-Jovis; this could be because they want to present his music to a higher social class.

All of this really affects the star persona of the artists. For example, through the use of large, broken typefaces Green Day is shown to have very loud, violent music. However, Bon Jovi is shown to be appealing to an older higher classed audience.