Analysis of a digipack from the punk rock genre

This is a digipack for a CD album by the band 'My Chemical Romance.' Considering they are from the same genre as our chosen artist, it's interesting to see what stereotypical elements they've incorporated as a way of appealing to their target audience. For example, what's first noticeable about this is the distinct lack of colour, with the contrast of the white and black shading conveying a sense of detachment. This may be referring to the band having a lack of emotional attachment, becoming a stereotypical representation of the male gender being more masculine and less obviously open about their emotions. 

 

The band's name on the front of the digipack is the most eye-catching piece of text, with it being in the centre of the frame and also having the biggest font size. The font itself has connotations of aggression and violence, linking to themes that are usually associated with the punk rock genre, and implying that these same themes are covered in the songs within the album. By contrast, the name of the digipack album is significantly smaller and more subtle in its font type. This suggests that they want the band to be the main focus of this product because it is more likely to attract consumers, with a mainstream band or artist being able to sell a lot more copies if their name is physically attached to the product.



















Typically, the back of the digipack contains a barcode in the corner and a list of the album's songs. What's striking about this is that the layout of the songs resembles that of a historical Texan wanted poster. This choice in font therefore connotes quite a rebellious nature, relating back to the stereotypically masculine representation of the band as well as suggesting that they live by their own rules and therefore possibly defy the conventions of the punk rock genre, thus making their music more original.

 

 

The picture on the front of the album is quite abstract, however it seems that it's an establishing shot of a crowd looking at a stage in an ecstatic manner. This is another way in which the product is implicating that the band is somewhat mainstream in the music industry and conveys them as having a large fan base. Below the bands name is drops of some kind of liquid and, because the digipack lacks colour, we can deduce that they could be blood drops, creating links to the Gothic lifestyle as well as establishing a darker, more adult tone, and therefore narrowing down their target audience. Similarly, in the corner there is a bold piece of text which states 'parental advisement explicit content.' This is evidence of their more grown up target audience, while also relating back to the concept of rebelling.



















 

 

Looking at this digipack has helped us to think about the kind of mood and tone we want to establish with our digipack and how that will link into our target audience. It has also made us consider how we make our digipack distinctive and stand out amongst others trying to accomplish the same task: selling their product.