'Good Kid Maad City' is Kendrick Lamar's second studio album released in 2012.
The front of the digipak is very simplistic with minimal yet satisfactory information and imagery. The front panel of Kendrick's digipak contains a Polaroid image of a family van going down a street. The image has a slight fish eye effect on the van in the middle, creating the allusion that the van is bigger than it is, with the surrounding settings smaller and less important.
The colouring of the image is distilled and even has visible cracks as if the image has been crumpled in someones pocket and picked out later in the day. Around the image is an off white frame, one that closely resembles the surrounding frame used in Polaroid cameras. These techniques all make the front look authentic and could even be associated with the rapping/hip hop genre Kendrick fits into - Not much put into the imagery of the digipak as it is all about the music.
On the framed part of the front cover, there is the album and artist name, both written clearly in handwriting from the artist. The purpose of placing this information on the frame of the image further suggests and reinforces the Polaroid effect as this is something that is commonly done on the frame of Polaroid pictures.
There is also the parental advisory sticker placed clearly on the front that emphasises to the audience this album is not suitable for younger ears, as it could contain swearing, as well as subjects such as sex, drugs, and violence.
There is no imagery on the front or back of Kendrick's album, however there is the mention of his name. The absence of the artist could suggest that the audience know who the artist is just by the name, and the artists face is not needed to sell the album.
The back panel of Kendrick's digipak is also simplistic. It doesn't take that same Polaroid effect as the front, however does take the same image of the van. This time however the image is blackened out and covered with text. The image is still visual, and adds more creativity to the back of the digipak instead of it being a block black background.
On the left side of the back panel is the tracklist for the album. The tracks are written in serif font and are readable, they are clearly the most important part of the back, as they are placed first, and all other information is placed further down the panel.
The tracklist also includes artists that are featured on each single song, this information, although being important, is not as important as the actual track songs, therefore are written in brackets and in a smaller text size, as well as capitalised and san serif. The tracks are also numbered. This is a feature included for the audiences ease, as if they want to listen to a particular track, it is clear and easy to find it as the number is provided.
Towards the bottom of the back panel, there is other information that is important but not important enough to dominate the entire back cover. This includes the record labels Kendrick is signed to, as well as information for their location and address.
Underneath this there is a number of official websites for both the artist and the labels associated with the artist. This helps audiences who want more from the artist, such as tours and extra tracks, access to all other information by visiting these websites.
On this digipak, there is a warning by the FBI about pirating the album, this information clearly says that copying is punishable under federal law, next to this is a logo with the same information in it. This information is clearly important, and tells audiences that the album is against copyrighting.
There is also a barcode on the back of the digipak, allowing people to buy the album, the purpose of a barcode could also show that the album is real and not a fake. The barcode is not the most important aspect of the digipak, hence why it is on the back cover and relatively small.
The inside of the digipak takes the same creative approach as the outside.
Firstly, the inside cover holds the same Polaroid aspect as the front cover, even including the same handwritten text and parental advisory sticker. The actual image used is different. Instead of the van, there is an image of a family, evidently people from Kendrick's childhood. The picture is even washed out to a small degree, reinforcing the fact it is an old picture. The eyes of the members have been crossed through with a black pen, all but one - a small child that is Kendrick as a child. This somehow makes the album more personal, as throughout the album Kendrick's home town Compton is mentioned, and an image of him as a child with his family in Compton adds to the overall theme of the album. Even the name adds to the Compton aspect, 'Good Kid Maad City' could be a direct link to Kendrick's life himself. All of this together draw the audience in as they will want to know Kendrick on a personal level and his life in Compton.
The CD again hold the same information as the front and back of the digipak. The album name and artist are written the exact same on the top of the CD, as well as the record label signs. The colouring of the CD is a black shade with an image of Kendrick blended in on the left side.
The artist is visible on the actual CD and covers the entire left side, dressed in all black with boots on. The image of Kendrick is cleverly edited so that the image is both on the CD and the casing that the CD is in.
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