Deconstruction of Digipak: True Colors

Front Panel

The concept of the 'I Want You To Know' music video using special coloured effects is reflected in the front panel of the album, True Colors. It is evident that the album title has inspired a large use of colours in Zedd's media products. Not only do the colours make his work stand out but it makes his work recognisable to his audience. 

The focal image of the front panel is a tree made from a painted effect of different colours with a rainbow light beam coming from the centre of the tree. The image is developed in a way which signifies creativity, suggesting a lot of it has gone into the album itself. This vibrant image also reflects the progressive tempo of dance music.

The album cover also conveys traditional conventions. In this image, the roots of the tree direct towards the artist's logo and the name of the album. This is a creative approach to present that the artist is the 'root' of this album and that he has created this flamboyant work through his music. Although the artist's logo and album title are not largely displayed in the album cover, the simple background of faded colours is effective as the text is easily readable and the focal image stands out more. The use of a light blue gradient at the top of the album cover represents a clear blue sky. This connotes summer weather which is the season when dance music is generally listened to due to its upbeat tempo.

Inside Panel

The design of the C.D. is very simplistic and uses a tree ring effect to sustain the theme of the tree used in the front panel. The designer has chosen to not add conventional features such as the artist's logo, the album title and the album track list. This highlights the organic look of inside a tree. Tree rings in fact represent the growth of a tree and the several rings shown on the C.D. could represent the large growth the artist hopes to achieve from this album. 

The C.D. has included conventional features which are customary: the logo of the artist's record label, Interscope, and copyright information. These features are visible around the perimeter of the C.D.; the legal information is unobtrusive, so it does not detract from the main image on the C.D.


Back Panel

The back panel maintains the theme of colours and colourful composition. On the right side of the back cover, a painted effect of colours in rainbow order is displayed. Rainbows connote the gay pride flag, therefore, the purpose of this design could represent how the artist would like to create unity through his music. The digipak as a whole does not display a photograph of any sort but only visual compositions, giving the digipak a surreal element which is also depicted in its music videos. The use of many colours effectively makes the digipak stand out more, therefore, attracting more people to purchase it.

All of the conventional features of the back panel are included: the track list, the record label logo, copyright information and the barcode. An anti-piracy warning along with its logo has also been added to prevent people committing an illegal offence of reproducing this album and claiming it as theirs.


Side Panel

The side panel is typically minimalistic, consisting merely of the artist's logo, the title of the album and the record label's logo. It is important for the side panel not to be too 'busy' so that it does not obscure the key information.

Focus Group

"This album cover is simple yet effective, it is clear that the colourful tree is inspired by the title of the album."

"I like the overall idea of the digipak but I feel like the title of the album gives it more potential to be more eye grabbing rather than just a colourful tree."

"I like how the use of colours in the music video ties in with the digipak and album title. It makes the artist's work consistent and recognisable. I think the artist's logo and album title should be bigger on the album cover though."

"The design of the C.D. is irrelevant in my opinion, I think the theme of colours could have been applied to it as well. Also, more conventional features could have been added to it such as, the artist's logo, the album title and the track list would be useful too."

Lessons to be Learnt

• It is effective to carry out a theme within the three media products as it makes the artist’s work recognisable

• It is useful to have the album title as inspiration for the design of the digipak for relevancy

• Having a simple background makes the focal image and text stand out

• The side panel should be minimalistic so the key information is visible