BLACK SABBATH
This Digipak uses the image of a person standing alone in a field in autumn on it’s front cover. The back cover shows the same scene but this time focusing on a different area within the scene, showing a tree that is presumably positioned around the other side of the house in the first photograph. The image itself is quite sinister as the figure standing in the field is quite disturbing; she is dressed in all black (specifically she is wearing a cape or cloak) and appears to be wearing very dark, skeleton-like makeup, obscuring her eyes. Both sides of the outside of the album appear to be quite morbid, with themes of decay as they show a rotting tree and a house that looks as if it might crumble. On the inside of the cover there are two photographs, both showing the band. These are important because it introduces the audience to the people who are making the music.
The text on this Digipak remains similar throughout; the Black Sabbath logo is used on both the cover and one of the disks. The rest of the text used is a simple font that is easy to read. The text colours have been based on the background colour, with white text on a black background and black text on a white background. On the track listings the text telling the audience which disk is which is presented in a deep red colour, matching the leaves on the album cover. The text on the actual CD case is generally always at the top, whereas on the disks themselves it is positioned at the bottom. This is easier for the audience to read as they would generally tend to look at the top of the CD case first, to find the title. The acknowledgements are places in the bottom left hand corner on the back of the case which is where they would generally be found. The title text is always bigger on this CD case whereas the track listings and other text is generally smaller. This puts emphasis on the title and draws the audience’s attention to the band’s name.
The text and the images work together well because the dark morbid feel of the images used compliments the pointed fonts used in the track listing. The photograph also matches the font used in the band’s logo, which is quite gothic and old fashioned. The use of light and dark colours together is also useful because it allows the text to stand out against the background so that it is easier to read and draws the audience in. It also gives the album a more visually pleasing look overall.
The album has quite an iconic look overall and fits the heavy rock genre as gothic fonts have been used along with creepy visuals and quite dark or washed out colours. The logo used is iconic because it is Black Sabbath’s logo, which makes the album appear highly recognizable to the audience.
The most significant part of the advert would be the title as it is telling the audience who the band is and is also presented in the bands own font. It also stands out well against the background because it is quite bold and is printed in a dark black font.
The woman in the photograph is also quite significant because she is central in the photograph and is the only person present, with the rest of the image focusing on scenery. The audience is immediately drawn to the woman standing in the middle of the frame because she is wearing very dark clothes, which makes her stand out greatly against the dull white sky and building.
This album was Black Sabbath’s first and we can tell this because the cover and imagery is fairly simple without any intricate designs. Despite its simplicity, the visuals give the audience a feel of what type of music the band produces as it uses dark imagery and old-fashioned fonts, which produces a moody effect, typical of heavy rock music.
Due to the overall design of the Digipak we can safely assume that it is aimed at a more specialist audience – specifically fans of rock and metal music. The dark design of the album would be more suited to metal fans as it portrays the genre of music much better than a bright, pop cover would.
This was posted by Sophie Arnison
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