Textual Analysis; Digipak Design for The Kooks, Inside In Inside Out

This is the front cover of the digipak for The Kooks first album, 'Inside In Inside Out'. Their first album was meet with huge success in the UK and was the beginning of the a new British pop band within the UK music industry.

The simplicity of the album cover is reflect by the use of black and white and use of framing within the shot. The bands motif can be seen in the shot, the use of acoustic guitars and amplifiers shows their passion for their music and how they are one of the few bands who still write and play their own music. We like the use of mirror on the far wall, as it adds a interesting dimension to the photo, you are also able to view more than would be have been originally seen. The name of the album stands out among the image because of the bold colour and because it is top, central of the album. The colour red also creates a serious element to the photo and creates a dramatic feel among band members.
This is the reverse side of the CD. The back of the CD usually holds information about the playlist and song order, the record label and copy right legalities. The photo is similar to the front of the album, purposefully like a mirror image. Although it is a different image, the members are slightly rearranged and out of focus to that you can focus on the information. The blurry effect merges the colours and creates a realistic, almost armature approach to taking the photo. The writing font is simple, bulky and all in capitals. This adds emphasie on the text and reflects the all male band. The layout is easy to understand and as most of the area is covered by an image, the blank areas must contain the information which needs to be easily read. The area which the songs are is also the primary optical area so the buyer is immediately drawn to that area, where as the information about copy right and record labels is located in a 'dead zome' because it is viewed as less important.

Over all the house style between the front and back CD covers is strong and reflects the band and their image well. We will be creating a larger digipak of 6 shots, similar to the insert of the CD, which will include a mix of shot length and variety, use of colour, different effects and similar to something that The Kooks would be associated with.

This image is from the insert of the CD, the general idea is that it is a college of images create one over all picture. The images include behind the scenes shots and what the band get up to in their own time. This shows the buyer another side to the band, almost a day in the life of. The images are a mixture of colour and black and white, other effects are used such as colour fade and white wash, so that the images blend and merge together. Across the centure of the fold out digipak there are the lyrics to all the songs, the words are small and quite difficult to read but then the font and size of the lyrics doesn't detract from the images. The idea for the fold out would primarly be to further entertain the buyer, give more value for money and show the band and their lifestyle in more detail.