AD: Digipak Deconstruction

I have decided to look at the Japanese version of Lorde's Pure Heroine (2013), as it is more conventional towards the female artist image, and contains more interesting elements to talk about than the original cover. Both covers are shown below.

Original (Left) and Japanese cover (Right)

Genre

• Though there is usually a lack of conventions in music videos, the digipak tells us otherwise. The digipak, the conventional front cover acts as a direct link to the pop genre. This is mostly due to the fact that it is incredibly similar to many other pop artist covers, as shown below:

All artists stare out towards the consumer

• In this essence, the genre becomes apparent for the consumer, as it is clearly denoted on the front. 

Media Language

The main elements of the cover:

• The mise-en-scene is used to establish a connection between audience and Lorde:
• This is achieved through costume - the plain grey jumper acts as a way of portraying Lorde as being as normal as the audience.
• It is also achieved through the way in which the front cover acts as a meat shot of Lorde.
• However, the element that makes Lorde seem more eccentric and appealing to the notion of the star image is through the colour of the image.
• The golden colour of the digipak connects to the semi-mythological meaning of the common qualities found in pop artists, in this case youthfulness and high consumption. However, this could also be interpreted as an ironic pastiche for Lorde, and thus appeals to her loyal fans, who interpret it in this manner.
• Another interesting element is the typography, specifically the size of the font, which seems to dominate a large part of the digipak's front.
• This could have several connotations.
• Pure Heroine: Lorde is a heroine, a kind of saviour of the teenage image - the songs featured on her album a testament to this.
• This factor also acts as a way of deconstructing the myth of the teenager and challenging stereotypes.
• Pure Heroine: Her music gives the consumer the same sense of satisfaction as the drug, heroin. This diminishes somewhat the aforementioned connotation, but could also be a form of self-irony.
• Both of these two connotations could potentially be linked to the semic code, as the meaning behind the two interpretations could be hints to the themes that are featured in the album.
• The font is also featured on the lower line on the rule of thirds, shown below. This creates a sense of harmony to the image.
• Similar to what is pointed out in Institutions and Audience, there is an element of intertextuality on the front cover to the music video of Royals.
• The lack of white/negative space around Lorde makes the cover very intense. The first thing the consumer will most likely notice is her face and long, dark hair
• This is due to the fact that her face is placed to the left rule of third, and her hair on the right, as shown below.

Rule of thirds, highlighted

Representation

• Lorde is represented as a completely ordinary young woman. However, through the colour and the bold text on the front cover, her position as an ordinary character is dimmed, and thus creates intrigue in the consumer to investigate the meta-narrative of Lorde. In this manner, the consumer is more likely to buy the album.
• This latter part could also be connected to the notion of voyeurism.

Institutions and Audience

Left: Digipak, Right: Music Video (Royals)

• This digipak could be consumed due to its connection to the music video for Royals(2013). Lorde breaks the fourth wall by staring out towards the audience, as she does on the digipak. This connects with the way in which the digipak has been composed, the music video linking directly to the album cover.