Taylor Swift Digipak Analysis

1989 - Taylor Swift 

I think that some elements of this digipak make it clear to the audience what the genre of this album is, while other elements do not comply with the expectations of the genre. The font used appears to be handwritten, which gives the cover a personal, intimate and DIY feel. The cover image is in the style of a polaroid photography, which shows a possible influence from a past decade- the title of the album reinforces this. The artist's full name is not written on the album cover- it simply says her initials 'T.S'. As the artist is so well known and iconic, she needs no more than this. Only half of the artist's face is shown in the cover photo, which also supports this. Her red lips are clearly visible, showing iconography reminiscent of her predecessing studio album 'Red'. The neutral colours used for this album cover don't follow genre expectations- a pop album would typically use a bolder colour scheme for its cover in order to reflect the style of music. The artist is not presented sexually in the cover image, which is another thing that sets this album cover apart from the expectations of the pop genre.

Front Cover

The area behind where the disc would be placed shows consistency with the print on the artist's sweatshirt on the front cover. The image on the left continues the personal/DIY feel that this digipak has, and shows a continued use of polaroid style photographs. The photo shows the artist looking directly into the camera, which emphasies the intimate and personal style of the digipak. The neutral colour scheme is continued from the album cover. There is no legal or recording information shown.

Inside 

This disc is printed with the same pattern used on the inside of the digipak and on the artist's sweatshirt in the image on the front cover. The font is the same as the one used on the front cover of the album, but in white instead of black in order to better match the background colours. The pattern has an old photograph style tint/filter, similar to the one used on the front cover and inside images of the digipak. These qualities really tie together the digipak, showing consistency and a prominent theme.

Disk

The image used here contains the part of the artist's face that is not present on the front cover, emphasising continuity. The tracklisting shows handwritten numbers yet typed song titles- this makes them easier to read and gives the back cover a more professional appearance, while not eliminating the personal elements of the design. The record label's logo, executive producer credits and legal information are printed at the base of the cover. The executive producer credits are printed in a larger font than the legal information. This has most likely been done as the artist is one of the executive producers, and the artist/label wanted to highlight that.

Back Cover