Digipak Analysis
Twenty One pilots are a duo whose music features many genres and focus on government satire. This is the Twenty One Pilots ablum called "Blurry Face" as noticeably seen on the front cover. the idea of what Blurry Face means to the artist and the fans is this whole long descriptions of "who he is" the character, a guy that represents all the things as Tyler as an individual but also everyone around him are insecure about, as everyone is insure about certain things. Thinking about insecurities, Tyler's insecurities get the best of him, the feelings he thinks of is the feeling of suffocation and also the things he creates with his hands , and what he creates . So Tyler's hands and his neck are representing who this blurry face is in this record which is then manifested on stage and in music videos by having a black greasy look on the hands and neck on Tyler, Tyler made this idea for him to help get into character.
The colour schemed used is the representation of the band members, Josh and Tyler, the red representation is josh and the Black & white is the representation of Tyler. The illustrations and layout is simple with repetitive colours of black, red, white and grey. Josh dun (the drummer) has red hair and often has red make up on when performing live and in music videos. whereas Tyler Joseph (singer) frequently has his neck and hands blacked out well performing. they have said this is what represents their conditions. and they have related their personality and traits in the album cover to show the audience their inner appearance then then showing their outer appearance like a lot of other artist do. This is so they can make a personal connection with the bands fans and audience, therefore they can open up to them and by performing. The colour scheme coincides with their latest music video and appearance, where they only wear these colours. this makes the album easily identifiable and it also enhances their brand identity.
The singer of the duo suffers from mental illness and the drummer suffers with confidence issues. Hence the idea behind no pictures of themselves on the album. which is what you see other artist do with their album covers, its normally an airbrushed image of the artist. Making Twenty - One Pilots stand out from other artist with their album design. Also the band prefers for their audience and fans to obsess over the lyrics rather than themselves. which is why they have applied nine circles to replace themselves. At the top is the band’s title, “Twenty One Pilots.” which is a simple and basic design that doesn't draw to much attention to itself as the main focus is the nine circles with a different design in each. Each circle stands for a different song on the album-a song that means something especially important to the journey through the album. Tyler said "I can’t find where again) that the album was a comprehensive whole, in which all of the songs belong together as a unit".Each of the audio videos contains the sound of the song and a black-and-white picture of a pattern. And the patterns match the patterns in the circle on the Album. Thus, from left to right and up to down.
The creation of the artwork and branding for Twenty One Pilots‘ sophomore album Blurryface was an in-depth, honest, and layered observation of the concepts behind the record, as well as an overall representation of the band, and how they are perceived.
Their design on the disk is just Twenty One Pilots logo "|-/" this is to keep the design basic and simplistic and to the point. their audiences don't care how pretty the CD looks they care about their music. hence the simplicity on the design. They Just need their logo so the audience can easily recognise the disk from its others. The design is more so practically thought about then creatively thought about. As they have already creatively thought about the design of the actual logo. which is a Roman numeral two ( II ) with a Roman numeral one ( I ) turned sideways accross it to make the number 21, and it resembles a gauge inside an airplane, or a propellor, or a broken or malformed airplane or biplane to represent pilots.
Tyler Joseph explaining the band's logo. "It means Twenty One Pilots, the logo does. Why it means Twenty One Pilots, is it really goes along with one of our songs called "Kitchen Sink". The whole concept of that song is that I feel that humans are always struggling all the time when it comes to purpose, trying to figure out their purpose is, what purpose even is, what's the point, justifying your own existence. A lot of kids and people my age struggle with "what's the point," and with the logo, what it really means is it's an encouragement. When someone asks me what the logo means to me, the logo means something to me because I made it mean something to me. That's the point. The point is that I created something that only I understand and whether or not I decide to disclose the meaning of it, that's the beginning of purpose for me. The meaning of purpose for me, is by creating something, if it be by writing lyrics, painting a picture, by expressing yourself through art if it's photography or music or theater, or whatever it is. It doesn't have to be artistic, but if you create something and only you know the meaning of it, that's the beginning of purpose for you. When you're in the room by yourself trying to decide whether to stay alive, you can tell yourself "I should probably stay alive because I'm the only one who knows the meaning of that thing," so the logo is an encouragement for people to create. That's what it means."
The 1975 have gone for an even more so simplistic and basic outlook then twenty one pilots. The black board with the bands names on is lit up like a star's mirror in a dressing room or like lights from a stage. The lights create this aura around the black board therefore insinuation this board is the star and that its the main focus nothing else, metaphorically then meaning this is the band no image just music. The audiences should like them for them and their music not their image or branding.
The typography used on the 1975 logo is a retro style with a solid white neon effect, connoting that their image is a re-invented style, The font style is simple, yet modern to reflect their music which has a modern influence, the font also represents their music genre as it is edgy and distinctive, also quite simple and vintage. The illuminated rectangle is the most prominent feature on the cover, along with the illuminated lights and dark and bleak background, creating emphasis and a immediate focus on the biggest aspect e.g. the band name (logo). The logo establishes an identity to the band, which is edgy, cool and quirky, the text on the digipak is bold, focusing on the the lyrics and music rather than the artist. The logo of the 1975 band is partly written backwards and distorted, however this has been constructed as a mean to create a unique and distinctive brand that the audience can recognise, and associate the font with the band the1975. The typography use of grayscale colour scheme and luminous design of the logo is simplistic and recognisable, which enables the audience to be familiar with the bands promotional media text's and other media platforms, such as; poster, advertisements, websites and music videos. This has been done as a means to create a trademark image for the band and between the album (digipak), music videos and other promotional platforms, creating a brand identity for the band and audiences. This has deliberately been done as that the consumer will immediately recognise the distinctive logo as well as drawing the attention of those who may be familiar with the band.
The use of the simple black & white colour scheme and throughout the entire digipak colour scheme portrays the conventions of the alternative/indie rock music genre. Suggesting a sense of individuality, being edgy and being different. Which is what represents the nature of the genre to audiences. The contrasts between the black and white creates an easier observation therefore putting more emphasis on the text. Therefore grasping attention to audiences the key elements of the digipak e.g bands and logo. Furthermore the colour scheme suggest a greater importance of the music over the visual aesthetics from the digipak which is typically associated with alternative, indie genres.
Having a black and white colour scheme also displays the album as mature and artistic due to the lack of colour which would appeal to a more younger audience as something more brighter would catch their eyes, whereas a black and white image is seen as classy yet retro and mature, reaching out to older audiences. The degisn of the digipak is basic and simple due to the lack of busyness and graphic on the products. The only graphics, being the logo which is an essential on products for branding to succeed because it gives products brand identity. The design of the digipak cover panel and inner panels successfully exploit the bands image/brand identity well as the digipak cover portrays an underground aspect to it, all the images look vintage and amateurish, in a natural looking habitat/setting as if its been constructed by the band itself. This shows the independent rise of the band and the large scale of fame they have reached although still keeping to their roots. Which is key to indie alternative bands.
Rather then approaching the cover with an airbrushed photoshoot which promotes mainstream cultures as a result The 1975 conformed to conventions of the alternative indie genre by using non-artificial images for their digipak to represent an indie image. The mis-en-scene of the cover panel has been internationally constructed to fit the codes and conventions of the indie rock genre as this genre is often associated with urban setting and lower middle class background. Furthermore another convention incorporated within The 1975 digipak covers is that the artist or band are not usually features in the cover, which connotes the greater importance of the music over the materialistic aesthetics or persona of the artist rejecting the conventions of the pop genre emphasising the bands 'alternative' and indie image. This also anchors ideologies about those who create music indie - rock and how they want to present themselves, this appeals to alternative audiences and makes the band seem easier to relate to. The 1975 digipak artwork illustrates on the front panel that relate to the tracks of the album for; "The City" and "M.O.N.E.Y". following the giving conventions of the digipak. I believe both the digipak cover and the track list represent the nature of the alternative indie rock genre of the music and the image the band portray.
The 1975 digipak abides by the existing digipak codes and conventions by listing the pabulum track list on the back panel. The Track list is successfully brought to the forefront due to the illuminated typography and black background, therefore creating immediate focus on the track list and its importance. There hash keys before these tiles "//" creating synergy with the 1975 social media communications such as twitter, as they tend to use "//" before they communicate information to their fans. This appeals to to a media conscious audience, which is typically young people, showing they target their audience effectively. this is because young people would typically recognise and understand the digital synergy.
