Deconstruction of Digipak: Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü

Front Panel

The front panel of the album, Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü, is similar to the 'Mind' music video. The background of the front panel consists of several pictures of the artists involved in the making of the album, likewise the music video consists of several shots of the different artists. These media products both share a 'busy' presentation which could reflect the artists' lives during the making of the album.

The album cover employs traditional conventions, firstly, the duo's logo is presented as the focal image of the front panel. Their logo is the letter 'Ü' which is used for the purpose of it looking like a smiling face. The artists' motive is to spread positivity through their music and their logo helps to reinforce this idea. This concept is suitable for the dance genre as it is upbeat and people generally listen to this genre to uplift their mood. Furthermore, the artists' individual record labels are displayed at the top: Skrillex is the founder of OWSLA  and Diplo is the founder of Mad Decent. Lastly, the Parent Advisory label is included at the bottom left which alerts parents that the material is potentially unsuitable for younger children. This doesn't have a large impact on their target audience as their audience consists of people within the age range of 16-24 years old.

However, it is important to note that the album cover also subverts other conventions, specifically the title of the album and the name of the artist. Due to the distracting background, perhaps the designer of the digipak has chosen to not include text as it would be hard for the audience to read it. It is arguable that these are the key information of an album but it is possible that the artists solely consider their music as the importance and they are not focused on communicating their name or the title of the album as most artists would.


Inside Panel

The design of the C.D. is also as simplistic as the other disks which were previously deconstructed. The design consists of a plain yellow background and the duo's logo in black. The colour of the background connotes happiness and this is relevant to the artists' motive of creating positivity through their music.

The C.D. similarly doesn't include many conventional features: the album title, album track list, record label logo and copyright information. This could be due to how the artists are acknowledged for their ways of avoiding the norms which is evident in their music where they have explored a unique sound of dance/electronic music. 

Back Panel

The back panel of the album uses the same background as the front panel, however, the  brightness of the image has been reduced in order for the text to be easily read. The album track list uses the same font as the artists' logo for continuity and the featuring artists are distinguished in a yellow font. The use of black and yellow colours throughout the media product is relevant to the artists' logo and further reinforces their brand recognition.

In addition, the back panel features more traditional conventions: copyright information,  record label logos and a barcode. Looking at several digipaks, it is clear what the conventional features are which will be incorporated into my production of a digipak.


Focus Group

"Immediately, I was able to recognise who this album belongs to as their logo is largely shown on the front cover of the album. But I've never been sure of what this album is called and it would be useful to have it on the digipak."

"I think the album cover is overall eye grabbing, especially because of the bright logo. I also like the idea of using pictures of the artists because DJ's aren't usually recognised for their image."

"Honestly, I wouldn't be able to guess that this album is from the dance genre because it doesn't involve special effects like most of them do."

"I think the collage of the artists is quite funky but it would look even better if they had a special effect to it like florescent colours to suit the EDM genre more."


Lessons to be Learnt

• It is important not to include text on top of colourful images as it makes it hard for the audience to read but a way around this is decreasing the brightness of the pictures

• The colour yellow specifically is effective at attracting the eye and conveying happiness and positivity

• Traditional conventions are important to include in order to communicate with the audience clearly