The second digipak I will be analysing is Paolo Nutini's album, 'Sunny Side Up'. Just like the digipak I analysed previously being Laura Marling's album 'Alas I Cannot Swim', there are no actual images of the artist anywhere on the album but instead replaced by cartoons, albeit easier to interpret than that of Marling's album. The front cover has a very bright feel to it, with yellow, green and red colour walls and a window in the background with a blue sky and a rainbow. This all links to the title of the album as it features the word 'Sunny', and the use of those 3 colours link to many countries in Africa that use those colours as part of their flag, and as Africa is known as being a very hot country this association is made. Another link that is made with the title of the album is the fact that the man in the drawing is eating two eggs, which is where the phrase comes from.
It is very easy to tell the genre of the artist by looking at the album, which can be done in many ways. One way is the very simplistic clothing the man is wearing in the picture, especially the straw hat as that is like a stereotypical item that is found frequently in the folk genre due to the popularity of it in southern America where those types of hats are wore a lot. Another quite blatant factor is the guitar sitting beside him, which is a tell-tale sign as the folk genre relies heavily on the playing of a guitar, as I have explained in detail with the creation of my music video. Another give away of the album's genre is the walls, as they are done to clearly indicate that they're made out of wood, insinuating that he is living in a wooden house. This makes a clear link to the convention of naturalism in the folk genre as living in a wooden house insinuates that you live in a quite rural area surrounded by trees and grass as can be seen through the window in the picture, therefore makes him seem as if he is close with nature and also plays the guitar, indicating that he is a folk artist. Not only is this a reflection on the genre however, but also a reflection on the artist himself portraying him like he is very natural and likes quite a simple lifestyle, dismissing any links to the celebrity culture.
The title not only reflects whats in the front cover like I mentioned before with the eggs, but it also creates a link with the artist himself. This is by making the artist seem very happy and positive as the man in the drawing looks very content with his life and seems like he has everything he wants and is happy with it, like his life is constantly 'Sunny'. The title could also represent him and say that for this album, he is very happy and joyful which is why there are such joyful songs. However it insiutates that he also has a dark side as well as a sunny side, but just for this album he is letting his sunny side show, hence it being 'Up'. This portrayal of happiness and content for the artist also promotes him at the same time, as not only is the actual front cover itself eye-catching because of the colours, but by making him seem happy and like he enjoys his life promotes him as an artist as he is known for making quite upbeat songs, so naturally this is reflected through his digipak most of all the front cover.
By Harry Luke Mulvany
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