Analysis of Digipaks Relating to Dubstep

By Vanessa Maselino

Unlike the digipaks we have analysed in class, this back cover has the copyright information and barcode in the top right corner, rather than in the bottom middle. This is then followed by the record label logos.

The font used is the same across all their media products and although one of the more plain fonts, the yellow colour used is quite eye-catching.The information on the spine is on both

sides.

The black background accentuates the font.

The font is a signature of the artists.

The dog gives an urban feel to the front cover of the digipak, this is because dogs have very much become a large part of youth culture. However, their association with young people and teenagers is one that is seen through a negative perspective. Thus, the dog could be a symbol of aggression and violence, which is also an association made with some forms of dubstep music.

The signature font, and colour is continued to provide the artists name on the front cover.

The name of the artist is a lot larger than the name of the album. This is to promote the artist as much as possible.

Again the black and white theme is continued and enhances the name of the artist, which is the most important feature.

It is interesting to note that the artists’ faces are not featured once throughout this digipak, despite this being their debut album.

The yellow font is continued as synergy on the CD

The Independent record label is the biggest icon on the CD, possibly showing their favouritism towards the independent companies that fund dubstep and that most of the money for this album came from this company. The logo matches the dog on the front cover.

Again the convention of the album name being smaller than the artist’s name, however both are present on the CD.

Continued black background

Copyright information around the edge.

How does this relate to dubstep and audience?

The imagery used reflects a youth generation, which relates to dubstep’s young target audience. Although a plain black background colour is used, the bright yellow font is used, which is also quite playful and reflective of a young audience. One might also say that the hue of yellow used is quite harsh and abrasive, which coincides with insinuations of violence.

This digipak differs from the first digipak greatly. This is because it uses many contrasting bright colours. However, this imagery still relates to the young dubstep target audience, because the 80s were all about teenage fashion and extravertism,. This ideology is still true of teenagers today, and the 80s fashion has made a massive comeback amongst young people in this modern day, especially with teenagers being influenced more so today by social networking sites. I speak of fashion, because the first image we are confronted with, is this image of the 80s woman.

Referring back to the colours, the bright colours are also very childish and fun, and much like the Chase and Status digipak, this digipak uses the colour yellow for the font.

This is a digipak for a combination of 80s songs that have been remade with dubstep beats.

This digipak also relates to older audiences because it uses images of iconic 80s games. However, as they are games, they do not exclude the younger audience

Synergy is achieved through the use of the same colours throughout each element of the digipak. It is very eye-catching and mimics the colours you would see from the lights in clubbing districts, which is where you would expect to find the target audience for dubstep.

A blue saturation has been used over this image to make it look quite cold, this is then reinforced by the image of Katy B standing alone. This gives a sense of being isolated, a feeling which is both a common feeling amongst teenagers and also one that is glorified by them. Particularly in terms of music, dubstep is celebrated for being underground and isolated from mainstream music, and this imagery encapsulates that.

Having Katy stand alone is also promotion of her.

This front cover does not include the name of the album, but instead promotes the artist to full extent, by having her name in large print through the middle to make a statement.

Although not bright, the colour scheme is still quite bold.

The colour scheme is continued onto the CD itself.

The colour looks very vibrant, but overall the CD is quite plain, perhaps to carry on the theme of desertion and alone-ness.

The blue colour scheme is continued on the back of the album, as well as the white font. This creates synergy between the pieces.

The album name is on the back of the digipak rather than the front. However it does make a statement, much like the name on the front.All the icons are

either at the top or bottom of the cover, almost as though they have cleared a space for the album name.

Conclusions? All three pieces relate to dubstep, because they make a

statement, whether that be through the theme they create or the way vibrant colours are used. They also all relate to teenagers and young people because they are very playful or include imagery that relates to an aspect of teenage or young culture. The conventions I can take from this analysis and use for my planning is:

Dubstep digipaks can be plain, or colourful, as long as they make a statement!

It needs to have a theme or concept expressed through imagery that can be interpreted as a symbolism of something relating to young culture or stereotypes.