Christina Aguilera

Xtina CD Analysis

Ke$ha Album Cover

On the left is the orginal CD album cover from Ke$ha's second album 'Cannibal'. The image conforms to the stereotypical conventions of pop artist CD covers as it shows the artist. However, it appears to not be as colourful and glamourus as other female pop artist CD covers.

The other image on the right is the CD cover that has gievn me inspiration for my own CD cover/digipack. Ke$ha has combined the image from her first and second album (Animal + Cannibal). The left side appears to be more glamorous, wild and colourful. I could use this idea when creating my own CD cover as our video is about a boy who has two seperate identities has he dresses up as a transexual. Therefore, we could use the artist to represent the theme/idea in the video, by having her face split down the middle.

CD Artwork Research

These are just a few more examples of CD covers, tracklists and CD artwork that I found inspirational for my own CD Digipack.

Both the Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys albums only show half of the artists face which is a possibility of how I want to photography and show out artist. By showing half to the artists face it links into the concept for our video as we are trying to portray the two separate lives that the transsexual boy has. Therefore, the artist can be showing this through having either two separate parts of her face or by hiding one half.

Here is the original CD album cover from the artist Katy Perry and is the album that out track is featured on. The front cover is very simple but catches out attention as it is unusual. Although it features the artist there is no album name, or artist name displayed on the front cover.

CD Digipack Research

CD Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card or other heavy paper materials. Digipacks are designed to flip open like a book and the panels can be increased from 4 to 6, or 8 or more.

Material - 300gsm card with matt or gloss varnish. Or lamination or embossing available.

Dimensions - (based on standard 4pp Digipack) 139.5mm x 6mm x 125.5mm.

Advantages of Digipacks:They are virtually shatter proof unlike the standard jewel case CD packs.Digipacks are more environmentally friendly as they can be recycled.

• Allows the artists to have more graphic displays.
• The artists can include more advertisements/booklets/competitions in the die-cut slots.

Disadvantages of Digipacks:

• They are more expensive than the traditional jewel cases.
• The paper/cardboard does tend to peel and rip eventually.
• There is not as much protection for the CD as the outer cover is only made of paper.

Examples of CD Digipacks:

Justin Timberlake - Greatest Hits

I like that he has used his previous CD covers/albums on this Digipack, also I really like the image on the right of him with the text outlining around his body.

Alicia Keys - Greatest Hits

On Alicia Keys Digipack I liked the old style CD records she used as well as the colourful pastel pattern underneath the CD on the far right hand side.

Phil Collins - Going Back

The Phil Collins Digipack has both the CD and a DVD in it, and I liked how the images links in with the album title. As it is called Going Back and the photo on the front is of Phil young and the final image on the back is Phil Collins of him now.

Initial Digipack Research

I liked the CD cover of Pinks - Funhouse album, its fun and interesting to look at. I thought that maybe as we are including a Pier/funfair element to our video that, I could recreate a similar sort of cover. I could use iconic fun fair rides, or games that we can photograph when we are on set.

Most of the CD covers that I have found have lots of photos of the actual artist on either the cover or CD itself. Therefore, I think that to make it look more professional that I could maybe do a mini photo shoot with Michaela so that I could use the images of her on the digipack.

As I was listening to this song on my iPod, I realised that this style could be really good for my own Digipack that i need to create. As I also take A-level art, I want to be really creative when designing my digipack, and I love this pop art style. I think that it creates a really vibrant cover and would really stand out.

The image on the top left could apply to our video concept or song as it is called ‘Teenage Dream’. Therefore the comic strip thinking/dreaming bubble could reflect the lyrics or video.