Vampire Weekend, like Pvris, are a typical band from the indie/rock genre, so I have decided to look into the features of their digipak for their self- titled album.
From my previous digipak research it is clear that conventionally, the front cover of a digipak is usually titled with the band's name and the album/EP name in a font appropriate to the band's image, an image to represent the band and features such as a parental advisory label or a review of the band/star. However, Vampire Weekend have kept the front cover of their digipak very minimal, with only the name of the band and an image appropriate to their album. The font used is bold and in white so it stands out, however is still very simplistic, which fits with Vampire Weekend's anarchic image. To further this simplistic image, the band have chosen to subvert from the typical conventions of an indie/rock band's digipak, as they usually consist of dark colours and an image of the band or star, mostly in a rural location. However, they have chosen a coloured image with the mise en scene of a house party, again, purposefully presenting to their audience and playing up to their anarchic image. For my own digipak, inspired by Vampire Weekend, I want to keep the front cover minimalistic and use a bold font, but I also plan to keep the colours in black and white, to keep continuity between our music video for 'Static' and the digipak.
Vampire Weekend have also subverted from the features of the indie/rock genre with their CD, due to its bright colours. They have used the same bold font as on the front cover to print the band's name, however this time in a different colour and typical feature of a digipak of having the track list printed onto the CD is shown. For my own digipak I like the idea of having the track list printed on the CD, however I will keep the image or colour on the CD to ensure it conforms to the features of the indie/rock genre.
The middle of the digipak contains a credits
leaflet, which contains images and colours consistent with the front cover. This is something I can consider using for my digipak to fill the centre space next to the CD.
leaflet, which contains images and colours consistent with the front cover. This is something I can consider using for my digipak to fill the centre space next to the CD.
The back cover of the digipak is mostly conventional of a digipak of the indie/rock genre. For example, it displays the track list with the length of the songs listed beside each song, and has a barcode in the bottom right hand corner. The use of colour here is very basic, mostly black and white which is typical of the genre, and also has a touch of blue to keep the colours of the digipak consistent without. The back cover also has some writing in small print, which typically on the back of an album cover would list the production details. The spine displayed also shows the artists name which is also the name of the album cover. I want to use most of these conventions in my digipak, like the track list, the use of black and white for colours and the barcode in the bottom corner. However, I also want to add a parental advisory warning label, and number the track list in order without the length of the song listed next to it.
