Digipak Analysis - (Coldplay) Viva La Vida

FRONT:

The front cover of the Digipak for Coldplays album Viva La Vida is made up of an image adapted by the band themselves. The main image is a 1830's painting by Eugene Delacroix 'Liberty Leading the People'. The phrase 'Viva la vida' translates 'live the life' and I think that the Spanish title played some part in the creation of the album artwork. Also, lyrically there are references to love, life, death and war which the painting quite clearly reflects. The band then adapted the image by painting the album title in the centre of the image, creating paint splatters that are clear across the image. The use of white for the title makes it stand out from the background, with the use of paint linking to the use of a famous painting for the background. The title has been painted on quite roughly and some of the letters overlap although they are still clear to read, and I think that this helps to reflect the chaos of the painting in the background. Even though the title is quite large and has been painted over the centre, the background image is still clear.

 

INSIDE (Left):

This side has four square action shots in black and white (one of each band member), allowing the consumer to see that they are a playing band. The use of black and white images follows the colour scheme throughout the digipak. This side is also a wallet that contains a booklet, showing images of 9 abstract paintings that the band created which have been influenced by the tracks on this album. This creates a visual for most of the tracks and portrays the song lyrics. The action shots have been taken at various angles making them more eye catching and interesting to look at.

INSIDE (Right):

This side is very plain with the band name and album title written on it, almost like its an introduction to the CD. The Serif font used is old looking and reflects the time period of the painting 'Liberty Leading the People'. The font size is fairly small but the gold colour makes it stand out from the background. The writing is central to the page and therefore looks neat and clear, and is written all in capitals although the first letter of every word is bigger and this again is used as a way to catch peoples eye. This side is also a wallet which holds the CD.

BACK:

The back is very similar to the inside right wallet. The same font, size and colour has been used for the track listing to tie the digipak together and keep the continuity. Directly below the track listing there is the tag line which state the record label and copyright details as well as the release year and the bands website. Again all this information is central on the back which also has a black background. At the bottom the Parlophone record label logo is positioned central just above the bar code, and is extremely small in size. However the logo also appear on the spine along with the band name and album title in the same gold font.