Key changes/Development of Digipaks in the New Wave genre

Albums in the 1970s were sold as LP vinyl records. The label in the middle included the record label logo located at the top, above everything. This position gives the record company significance over the name of the artist and the title of the album.

Late 70s

Most of the album covers in the late 70s consist of a variety of bright colours, specifically yellow, representing the quirky style of music of this genre and attracting the audience by making it eye catching. Also, a cartoon/drawing theme seem to have been popular, giving a sense of style and artwork.

The internal panes most commonly consisted of lyrics, for the convenience of the audience who want to learn the song.
On these inside covers, individual photos of the members of the band are in between the text, and below/above each photo there is information on what role they have in producing the music (what instruments they play and whether they are part of the vocals).

80s
Female artists start to become sexualised. On this front cover, there is a photo of the three members of the group, each of them looking directly into the camera, making eye contact with the audience, with a seductive expression on their faces. They are all holding bare chested men in their arms, showing us their intimacy and closeness. Their use of red lipstick and the red background connotes the idea of seduction, romance, passion and love.

The primary image on this album cover is a lady, laying across a car. This woman is the only object that is in colour, so the audience are drawn to her straight away and ensuring that their focus stays on her. The woman has barely any clothing on; she is wearing a see-through leotard, which shows her body in detail and clearly.. This album may be targeting at males, using the womans nudity to attract their attention, supporting Laura Mulveys Male Gaze theory. The woman is wearing black heels, the black connoting sophistication. The heels also heighten her attractiveness. Her head is thrown back, with her hand across her forehead and her eyes closed. This body language tells the audience that she is in desire.? Her red nail varnish suggests passion and lust, reflecting how the woman is feeling.

The way of listening to albums has evolved, and with the 80s came the introduction to CDs. This means we can now have internal panes, thus giving the audience more information (u + g theory).

Along with this change, the importance of the record label had decreased, as the companys logo started to be located at the bottom, with the name of the artist and the title of the album at the top of the CD.

90s
Colour seems to be of much less significance than it was previously, and is replaced with a black and white effect. This gives a more sophisticated look, but is however more dull and less eye catching than the contrasting colours that were associated with the new wave genre before.

00s
Again, there seems to be less focus on the colours of the front covers of digipaks in the 2000s. They mainly consist of the modernised colours of black, white and silver, in contrast to the bright and quirky colours that were associated with the genre previously.

00s
There is more information within the digipak for the audience to use (giving them a choice to use it for different reasons (U and G theory). The lyrics of the songs on the album are available on the internal panes (information and entertainment u and g). The individual photos of the band are also included within the album ( for entertainment and for fans to be able to identify with the members of the band individually u and g).