Analysis of Album Art + Codes and Conventions of a Digipak (Grace/Wastelands - Peter Doherty)

Grace/Wastelands - Peter Doherty 

Grace/Wastelands (2009) is the poignant debut solo album by Babyshambles front man/The Libertines co-frontman, Peter Doherty. The digipak comprises of the audio CD, a DVD featuring an interview alongside exclusive acoustic performances and a booklet containing the song lyrics and various pieces of Doherty's artwork.

Front Panel

The front panel of the digipak displays the album artwork created by French artist Alize Meurisse in collaboration with Doherty. When speaking to the NME, Meurisse explained the inspiration behind the artwork was Oscar Wilde's 'Salomé' and when she gave the painting to Peter, he added some of his blood to it; "I'm not very precious about my drawings. I like him to mess about with them, I trust his eye." Despite the fact that conservative British papers refer to Doherty's blood art as "disgusting", I truly believe that marking his album artwork with his own blood is probably the most genuine and creative expression of self-identity, possibly hinting at the metaphorical notion that the artist has 'put his body into his work' and the songs on the album are his personal 'works of art'. Furthermore, being a huge fan of Doherty and owning this album myself, the gesture provides an intimate connection between the audience and Peter. 

The cover depicts Meurisse's abstract interpretation of the femme fatale, Salomé; kneeling down whilst smoking a cigarette. The dangerous nature of this seductress is vividly juxtaposed with her casual body language and the idea of love, lust and even broken love are themes explored within the album, especially on the tracks: 'Salomé', 'Broken Love Song' and 'Sheepskin Tearaway'. Additionally, the neutral toned image animated with the vibrant red of Peter's blood, is placed in the centre of the blank white canvas-like cover and acts as the focal piece (similar to a portrait in an art gallery), almost over-powering the artist's name and album title, representing the idea that Doherty's creativity is part of his being. The artist's name is portrayed in a small black sans-serif font, separating itself from the decorative artwork and white background. Underneath, the album title 'Grace/Wastelands' appears even smaller and in a handwritten serif font; Doherty's own handwriting. I view Doherty's handwriting as a type of calligraphy since it appears all over the digipak (e.g. track listing on back panel) and seems like a form of visual art. The fact that Peter's own handwriting features on the digipak contributes to the personal quality the album exudes and further highlights the artist's strong sense of originality. Moreover, the album title 'Grace/Wastelands' is an oxymoronic, juxtaposing title and reflects the array of themes explored on the record. For example, 'Grace' connotes with peace and suggests a gentle atmosphere is present within each track, whereas the reckless image of 'Wastelands' implies a contrasting darker side to the album.

A parental advisory sticker is evident in the bottom left-hand corner, warning the audience there is strong language featured on the audio CD and DVD. The fact that a photo of Peter isn't featured on the front cover of his debut solo album is slightly unconventional, since when releasing a first record, most artists often want to make an impact with a close-up photo of themselves and their name/album title appearing in a large sans-serif font (i.e. the artist's image is the centre-piece). However, considering Doherty is an alternative/indie artist and already possesses a large following from The Libertines and Babyshambles, it would explain the reason why he doesn't appear on the front panel and instead, chooses to ingeniously represent his genre of poetic rock n' roll through his album artwork.

An inside look: 6-panel digipak format

The inside panels of the digipak continue the theme of Peter's abstract blood-art and each panel illustrates the artist's own sketches of a ballet dancer with handwritten 'Grace/Wasteland' lyrics scribbled over them alongside handwritten song lyrics in the booklet, emphasising the idea of a 'personal-touch' . The fragility and 'grace' associated with ballet dancers may reflect the poignant meaning portrayed in the songs and the theme of 'dancing' certainly seems apparent on the album, e.g. - "...she dances and demands the head of John the Baptist on a plate." - Salomé. This lyric in particular seems to resonate with the centre panel, where the ballet dancer can be seen twirling with arms spread out and behind her, the religious symbol of a cross is depicted (resembling the cruxifiction). This made me question: Is the image of the ballet dancer on the panel Salomé? The dangerous seductress in disguise as a graceful ballerina? What's more, it suggests that the concepts of religion and philosophy may have been a key influence in Doherty's work. The slots to either side of the centre panel contain the audio CD and the DVD and at the bottom of the centre panel, there is a slot provided for the booklet - this demonstrates a very simplistic and compact design yet ensures maximum protection of the products.

Usually, digipaks consist of one or more plastic trays that are capable of holding a CD/DVD attached to the inside. However, the disc tray inside the package (especially the 'teeth' of the hub which secure the disc in place) is prone to cracking if the package becomes crushed. Therefore, by providing simple slots to hold the CD/DVD, it reduces the risk of damage to the digipak and this design can be viewed as a preferable alternative to jewel cases, which are vulnerable to cracking.

An outside look: 3rd panel

This extra panel serves as as Peter's personal 'thank you' message to the audience; hence the elegantly handwritten; 'love you forever'. Here, we do see a portrait picture of Doherty, although a slightly distorted one appearing similar to a piece of black and white pop art. The fragmented state of the monotone photo (alongside the jigsaw puzzle pieces) could be representative of a Peter's constant struggle to find himself (having endured difficulties in The Libertines and Babyshambles), the artist may be looking to 're-invent' himself as a solo-artist. 

Back Panel

The track listing is written in Peter's signature, fine handwriting and reinforces the idea that his handwriting is a form of visual art (calligraphy) for his audience. In addition, this affectionate/personal touch meshes well with Doherty's star-image as a striking individual artist and romantic soul. Referenced beside the relevant tracks, Doherty pays homage to those also featured on his solo album, including the likes of Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, who plays guitar on all the songs on the album apart from 'Broken Love Song', Dot Allison, Peter Wolfe and members of Babyshambles. The digipak notes that the CD is produced by Stephen Street, which would appeal to Doherty's alternative/indie rock fan- base who will most likely recognise the English music producer, best known for his work with cult favourites The Smiths, Blur and The Cranberries. The record label indicated is British multinational music company EMI; one of the world's leading music companies that signed major rock acts such as The Beatles and Pink Floyd (defining them as a label that work with influential British artists, much like Doherty). Although newspapers couldn't comprehend why EMI signed "high-volatile" Peter Doherty for over £1 million, the reality shows that Doherty's growing influence on popular culture is vast and thus, EMI seem proud to be associated with 'Grace/Wastelands'. The bar code is also displayed in the top right-hand corner.

Digipak Spine

In summary, I adore the digipak for Peter Doherty's debut album 'Grace/Wastelands'. This is predominantly because the album is represented in a way that I believe Doherty would also admire; the unfolding of the visual artwork panels unveil his record to be a true form of self-expression and a gift to his fans. This is an element I will definitely look to recreate when designing the digipak for Olly Patriarca's, 'What We Started'. Furthermore, the digipak for 'Grace/Wastelands' possesses a protective UV coating (recommended by licensed digipak manufacturers such as domestic U.S. printer and disc replicator Oasis Disc Manufacturing), which ensures greater longevity. Moreover, the digipak is constructed from glossy, rigid card and by eliminating the conventional plastic trays, digipaks prove to be a more environmentally friendly alternative to jewel cases.