Wednesday, 9 October 2013

CD Digipack Analysis 2 Written by Heidi Nockels- Chase and Status: No More Idols

Chase and Status are a British electronic music production duo formed in 2003, made up of Saul Milton and Will Kennard. Their music falls under the 'Drum and Bass' / Dubstep category and has taken off with huge success. They have collaborated with a mix famous artists such as, Rihanna, Dizzie Rascal, Maverick Sabre, Tinie Tempah, Cee-Lo-Green and many others. As a result of this, their music and collaborations have hit the charts and have become a well known music duo within the drum and bass genre.
Throughout the drum and bass/ electronic genre, it is common to use a symbolic image to represent a band or collaboration rather than featuring the artists themselves on album covers and advertising etc. The effect of this is that it makes it more about the music rather than the fame for the artists. The symbolic image of the British Bulldog is that it represents the genre as being hard and rough as it is mostly a popular genre for the lower classes. The aggression of the animal is shown throughout the genre as being hard hitting. Chase and Status often produce songs that follow a tragic story, for example wife abuse as a result of this, the music comes across as aggressive and passionate. The bulldog itself represents the traditional English culture as well as symbolising how the duo Saul Milton and Will Kennard met and came together in London.  The effect of making the image black and white is that it allows the minimal writing to stand out and make a statement. This also helps give the image a more professional and sinister feel. The only other feature other than the symbolic bulldog is the basic writing. The simplicity of this makes it more striking and eye catching, as it gets straight to point by being hard hitting. Both the block font and colour connote ideas of caution unlike other album covers in the charts which put forward a glamourous lifestyle. This is what separates Chase and Status to other artists, in that it focuses on the toughness of the lower classes, rather than showing an unrealistic idea of fame.       
Often within a digipack it follows the same style throughout. This is true for Chase and Status' 'No More Idols' album. It keeps a consistent style by using the same font and colour scheme throughout. The striking combination of black and neon yellow presents a dramatic and powerful statement. Often neon colours are found in nightclubs and parties, which is where electronic/ drum and bass music is frequently found. Not only does Chase and Status keep a continuous style throughout their digipacks, but they also keep with the same theme on other media levels, for example, advertising and other promotions. This then makes their style iconic to their band and becomes instantly recognisable to readers and listeners.

As expected, the back cover of this album follows the same style to keep it professional. Having no image featured on the back cover makes it purely about the songs and what each of them stands for. Throughout this digipack it is clear that it is focused towards the male gender. This is true for many other electronic albums/ artists as it is a male dominated genre. The block capital font used for each song titles suggests that every song is important and edgy. Its boldness then draws in attention. The use of the capitalisation allows for every song to be made powerful and hard hitting.

When looking at this digipack it is clear that simplicity makes the biggest impact and striking effects. This is something I am hoping to follow through on throughout my own work when I come to creating my own digipack.

Heidi Nockels   

No comments:

Post a Comment