Analysis of R&B digipaks

Prince - 3121 (2006)

Image: Prince, the artist, has his back facing away from the camera and has a hand against a wall, conveying mystery.  Orange-yellow, black and white have been used to form the main colour scheme of this digipak - they connote joy, warmth, darkness, sophistication, light, peace and purity, giving the audience an insight regarding the artist's nature and who he is as a person.

The inside images fold outwards to show the album title in a different font, a pair of double doors and the CD, which zooms into the silhouette of Prince's face. Above those doors, a symbol located in between the numbers '31' and '21', which, when put together, create '3121', the full title of the album - this introduces audiences to the album and 'invites' them to listen to the music. Likewise, the booklet shows images of his home, including a lounge, a bedroom and the steps to what looks like a social area; Prince can be seen to have used these images to 'invite' us into his home and introduce us to his lifestyle, one which only he and his closest friends live.

Copy: the album title is written in a white font, which looks as if it is painted - this creates a stylised, arty tone that also gives audiences an insight into Prince and his musical style.

Genre: R&B albums are often titled with words, rather than numbers, which is where Prince challenges convention - the title '3121' was claimed to reference the Bible Verse Psalm 31:21, which reads 'Blessed be Jehovah,  For he has rendered wonderful loving-kindness to me in a city under stress.',  while another theory states that he named it after his residence in Los Angeles - I believe the latter is more clearly reflected as images of his home are shown in the panels and the accompanying booklet. This image choice challenges convention as the artist's face and body are often used.

Image: The inside of the digipak folds out to reveal black and white images of Beyoncé wearing three different outfits: a black and white dress (left panel), what looks like a sleeveless black costume (centre panel) and a short shiny dress (right panel). This can be seen to communicate the different eras of Beyoncé's solo career, particularly the latter black and shiny costumes, which reflect her 'Single Ladies' music video and the her 'Dangerously In Love' album, respectively.

It can be noted that the left panel of the digipak also features covers of three of her previous albums ('Dangerously in Love', 'B'Day' and 'I Am...Sasha Fierce') in colour, the first two of which provide a contrast to the monochrome colour scheme of the main packaging, along with the orange-yellow text on the panel and the discs, which direct the audience to the music and the accompanying information.

Copy: 

Genre: This album is Beyoncé's greatest hits compilation, which has been done amongst R&B artists such as Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson and Joe. This type of album would be expected to contain popular songs from her first three albums, such as 'Crazy in Love', 'Deja Vu', 'Halo' and  'If I were a Boy'.

Rihanna - Loud (2010)

Image: The digipak for 'Loud' folds out to reveal four images of Rihanna, three of which feature her smoking what looks like a cigarette (extra panel), wearing a lace dress and a wooden bead necklace while surrounded by white sheets (back cover) and a close-up of her face (front cover). The fourth image, which shows her wearing a light pink dress and lying amongst red roses, is made up of three panels that form when the digipak is unfolded. This motif of roses also appears on the CD, creating a theme of love and romance which is also communicated through the use of the colours red and pink - they are used not just for the roses, but for Rihanna's hair and clothes, enabling the audience to associate the romantic theme with Rihanna and subsequently, the music on this album. 

Genre: The title  'Loud' communicates to the audience that the music on the album will be vibrant, energetic and uplifting, which is common in R&B music.

Lauren Mills - Lauren Mills

Image: This digipak features the artist on the front cover and her name at the top, which, like her face, has shades of black on one side and white on the other. These two colours have opposite connotations; while white is associated with purity, peace and innocence, the colour black is associated with formality, darkness and elegance, showing both her light and dark side - this is further explored in the rest of the pack, where Hills can be seen wearing a black lace dress and heels, while sitting in front of a creamy white background. 

The three pictures at the top of the album can be seen to depict the artist's shoes against a wall, her knees & the middle of her dress, and her head & upper part of her dress - when put together, they create an image of her leaning back, her head tipped upwards. This can be seen to promote the artist in a mature and objectified way, appealing to teenagers and young adult females who would want to be like her, as well as boys of the same age group, who would look at her from a voyeuristic perspective - this is a common convention of R&B promotional material such as digipaks.

Copy: A traditional style typeface has been used for the artist's name (which is also the title) - it starts off as black against the white background before transitioning to grey and then to white against the black background. This is likely to signify that the music will be typical/classic R&B.

Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi (2005)

Image: Black and gold is the main colour scheme of this digipak, which features Mariah Carey dressed in gold and in dance poses, with her hair blowing - the atmosphere created is that of love, courage and wisdom, linking to the title 'The Emancipation of Mimi' which are connoted through the gold clothes and hues and along with black, connotes formality and elegance.

Copy: On the disc, Mariah's name has no spaces in it and is styled in a larger typeface than that of the album title, which may have been done to emphasise her image and brand over her music, appealing to the audience, while on the front cover and the poster, it is spaced out and has gold lettering - this creates a connection between the font and Mariah, the artist, as they are both being presented as sophisticated and elegant.