Digipak Analysis - 1989, Taylor Swift

Digipak Analysis - 1989, Taylor Swift

The album name is simply '1989', reflecting the year the artiste is born. This album name is short and easy to remember, not to mention that fact that marketing is made easier thanks to the basic design which makes it adaptable and more memorable. The name of the album is also personal to the artiste who, like most other artistes in the pop genre, values their image as a method of marketing and popularity. This personal aspect would be particularly attractive to fans, who are likely to know (and want to know) a lot about the artiste. 

The album cover is designed around the retro polaroid photograph, which were an extremely popular part of pop culture in the 1980s - and more relevantly 1989. This retro homemade theme can be seen throughout the front cover with the use of the faded and discoloured effect on the photograph, as well as the font itself which resembles the classic homemade personal labelling of the polaroid photographs. The artiste is also featured on the front of the album, which is common for pop artistes on their album covers in order to advertise their brand. The idea that her whole face cannot be seen draws more attention to the outfit that she is wearing. This is especially effective at enforcing the 'retro' theme, since it is reflective of the era focused on in the album design. 

The CD artwork, if you look closely, matches the jumper worn by the artiste on the front of the album. In this way, the theme is continued within the digipak. The name of the album in the same style and font is written across the centre of the disc, and font style allows the album name to be read despite the hole of the disc.   

The back of the digipak features the same theme of the rest of the digipak (polaroid photograph), making the whole thing consistent and therefore more aesthetically pleasing. The shape and design of the polaroid photo has been used creatively in order to fit in the standard information such as the barcode and record company information at the bottom. The artiste's face is not on the front, but it is shown on the back, which is unusual and connotes that personal image not the most important aspect of music-making for the artiste, unlike the traditional pop artiste. The handwritten style font of the track numbers and subheadings is consistent to the main font use on the front of the digipak. The layout of the song names and numbers is clear and simple to read. 

The use of the retro polaroid photograph for the pull-out booklet not only sustains the theme of the entire digipak, but also allows for an authentic-looking souvenir to be kept by the fans of Taylor Swift. This concept is taken even further with the mixture of bonus photos that come as an extra for the fans in the digipak, as well as a scrapbook-like designed information pack. Not only is this aspect quirky and unique, it could also be a marketing device. Since photographs of this kind are typically personal, the photos have been used as a way of connecting the artiste with her fans and help them feel like they have got to know her on a more personal level (which, one may argue, is the desire of most pop fans). 

To conclude, this digipak design is both fun and unique. When the album was released in 2014, 'retro' was (and continues to be) a quirky and popular trend which mainly younger people, and Taylor Swift's main demographic, chose to follow. This makes the design relevant to the time, ironically keeping it current for years to come too. The theming and the fonts are simple and consistent throughout the design and the bonus materials are exciting and an interesting approach to marketing the product. For these reasons, it is a successful and imaginative digipak in my opinion.