Digipack Analysis - Dolly Parton

The digipak I have chosen to analyse is Dolly Parton's album 'Hungry Again.' The reason I have decided to choose a Dolly Parton digipak to analyse is because I have found that a lot of her digipak's conform to the 'Country' genre.

On the left is the front cover to Dolly's album 'Hungry Again.' As we can see, the front cover conforms to the typical 'country' genre in several different ways; the setting of the picture - with Dolly sat on a swing and the blurred backdrop of the countryside behind, the clothing that Dolly is wearing - denim dungarees with a black over-sized shirt underneath and brown leather boots on her feet, and her hair - the way in which it's platted reflects and conforms to the 'cowgirl' image. Despite the typical conformities of country pop in this picture, it is still very natural and bare, and it puts emphasis on Dolly herself. I believe that this picture portrays a sense of purpose and individuality, which is something that can be seen amongst a lot of country artists within the genre. 



The text on the front of the digipak writes Dolly's name in a feminine and angelic calligraphy font, that is easily lost in the background of the photo, drawing the audience's attention to Dolly even more. This is significant in reflecting Dolly's presence as a well-known Country performer, showing that she has her own style and isn't afraid to show it. The text for the album title is actually written in bold capitals, a complete contrast to how Dolly's name is written. Although the title font is like this, it does correspond to the title itself 'Hungry Again,' which is quite a deep and emotional phrase, something else that conforms with the country genre as many country songs were about personal and meaningful topics.

Dolly's clothing and hair in this picture reflect a stereo-typical 'cowgirl' image. Many people would not see this as 'normal' or 'casual' clothing to wear on a day-to-day basis, but in this case Dolly looks very comfortable and casual, really emphasising the individuality of her presence. Dolly's hair also reflects a typical 'farm girl' type image, with platted hair being a popular hairstyle amongst females that worked on farmyards and in stables.The clothing she has on in the picture is very typical of country and western music and similar fashion styles can be seen amongst other country musicians, modern and older artists alike. 

The back cover to the digipak shows a different layout to the one on the front. Overall, the back of the CD digipak is quite bland, not interesting to audience members and is very minimalistic in comparison to the front. However the section that says 'Dolly Parton Hungry Again,' which is written in the same font as Dolly's name is on the front, presents itself in such a way that it looks like it's been personally written by Dolly herself and conforms to the individuality that I previously mentioned. This gives the audience the feeling that they have a connection with Dolly through both her music and on a personal level. In the bottom left hand corner of the CD digipak cover you can see that under the 'Produced By' section it lists Dolly Parton as one of the producers of the album, this is a great way to show the audience that she is a serious musician and is involved with music as much as she can be. This also shows that she isn't someone who hides behind media and fame, and portrays an image that shows that there is no in-between - it is just her and the music. At the very bottom of the digipak cover there is a list of different legal terms that state the production company and other legal terms that relate to copyright of the music.

On the left is another photo of Dolly, this time it has a totally different aura to it. She is looking into the camera as opposed to away from it, and looks more fresh-faced than she did in the previous photo, but this is probably because it is a close-up of her. She is seen to be smiling into the camera, reflecting a positive and happy image and adding to the personal connection with the audience - making the audience feel as though she knows the audience on a personal level. The way she is sat in this picture, up against what looks like a wooden building or a barn, again conforms to the 'country' genre conventions and reflects upon the 'cowgirl' imagery that she seems to be portraying on this digipak cover. The way in which the photo has been edited also adds a slight glow to Dolly's face, which gives off an angelic vibe and links into the positivity in which the photo is giving off. Again, in the background we can a blurred image of countryside which gives the impression that she could possibly be on a farm or a ranch, conforming to the conventions of the country genre.