CD Album Cover (Digipack) Analysis: Simple Plan - Get Your Heart On

Front Cover

The front cover is slightly different to what a normal pop/rock artist would have. Instead of having the band on the front cover they have laid it out that a fan is looking at their new album in a magazine. This is unique and doesn't follow the conventions of this genre. They have reinforced their band through someone else, with them having posters of them also all over their room which is quite appealing as it shows their popular which will appeal to their target audience, this might connote that they like having a close relationship with their fans with it being featured upon them. This also links in with Goodwin's theory of having an intertexual reference to media which in this case is magazines and posters.

Their house style of the name of the band is used on the front cover so their target audience will automatically recognize them. Their font style is block style which is very simple and easy to read, this is a common convention in this genre. The font has been placed upon a white background so you can easily see it though the font size is small. The album title is used in a different colour which separates them both out from each other.

Theres a sticker on the front as part as a feature which is there to attract their target audience. It includes information about two popular songs of theirs which is in their album. They said 'To get your heart racing', this links in with the album title. This will be appealing to their audience as it persuades them to buy it in order to listen to that good song, with it having a bonus track.

 Inside

The left side of the inside is very unique, it is written in a handwritten font so it seems personal which would appeal to their target audience as it feels like its written by the band personally. The writing contains some of their songs for example their song called 'Gone to soon' with it having the lyrics of the song underneath it, this layout challenges the conventions of this genre but reinforces the band as it seems like they have gone the extra mile for their fans by having something personal which they would like.

The right side of the inside is again in handwritten font so it keeps that consistency of making it personal for their audience. Instead of having the song lyrics they have put all the songs on their with it having like credits underneath of who it was written by, who edited it, and published it etc. This is different and makes it more visually interesting to look at which would appeal to their audience.

Back Cover

The back cover features a long shot of the whole band on the front. This is a different layout than most artists would tend to do it where they would have the band featured on the front first so they are promoting their selves straight away linking with Andrew Goodwin's theory. However the characteristics of this whole album design seems to be personal and handwritten towards the fans which is why they have a fan on the front cover which is linking to their style as being the main attraction and the focus of the album.

The track list is kept in the handwritten font to keep the consistent style of the album. The font size is quite small so the main focus is the band which is used to promote them which is a common convention of what an album needs to include. The track list is still very vivid though as its got a good contrast with it being very visible against the background.

The bar code is placed on the right hand side at a 90 degrees angle which normally a CD tends to be placed at the bottom right, this makes you focus even more on the band itself with the bar code being out the way of their view. It also states the bands website and the record labels website so that the fan can access more information if they wish which would appeal to them if they want to know extra information about the band or maybe even their record label.