DigiPak analysis

Analysis of Rihanna- Talk That Talk album

Rihanna- Talk That Talk album cover analysis (Deluxe Addition)

• •  This album cover becomes striking in that we see Rihanna smoking (first impression of the album/her as an artist when looking at this cover). This shows both her rebellious personality (her brand), her individuality and her ‘naughty’ side (becoming sexualised due to the openness of her mouth)
  • Her straight direct eye line and being positioned centrally to the album cover means the audience’s attention is immediately draw to her as an artist. Being a close up emphasises her dominance on screen (throughout the album/music videos that go with the album songs)
  •  Looking as if she has little/no clothing on in this picture again reinforces the sexualisation of the artist; her facial expression giving of a sense of seduction (linking back to her brand image-being a very ‘current’and ‘now’ sex icon through both her fashion as well as music).
  • The letter ‘R’ at the top left corner of the cover is very striking (when looking at the image as a whole); being Rihanna’s ‘logo’throughout her career will mean her immediate fans will recognise this instantly. The logo being created out of newspaper could be looked at as portraying the fact Rihanna as an artist is talked about throughout the social media a lot-linking to her songs within the album.
  • ‘Talk That Talk’ being positioned centrally at the bottom of the cover in a simple, yet striking font means that the image as a whole becomes the main focus (the title not distracting from it).
  • The artists hair being down and very volumised shows her femininity (contrasting slightly with her smoking within the image-again reinforcing her rebellious side as an artist).
  • The image itself (album overall) being in black and white means that the photo attracts the attention of the audience straight away (with no colour to distract from the artist etc.)
  •  This front cover appeals to Rihanna’s target audience (predominantly females 17-29), as she looks both strong, independent and gives off her strong sense of personality/brand (something her fans follow/idolise her for). Her strong male following also have an appeal to this album cover due to her sexualisation within the image (being a sex icon).
  • Talk That Talk follows in the same vibe as Loud. Talk That Talk is a dance- oriented pop/R&B crossover album that incorporates elements of hip hop, dubstep electric and house music. This is reflected through the album cover as Rihanna as an artist is related to these genres of music, therefore this strong image gives off a sense of this album being something Rihanna would particularly be associated with (her ‘sound’ music).

Rihanna- Talk That Talk album cover analysis (First release/original Addition)-comparison to Deluxe addition

When comparing these two editions of the Rihanna- Talk That Talk album you can see that through releasing the two editions the album promoters have been able to broaden the albums target audience. They have done this by releasing the original cover (album artwork) to appeal to the mass amount of people within the target audience, teens with a low income. Teenagers are more likely to prefer the original album cover as it gives off the more rebellious, sexualised image of Rihanna, something she is well known (glorified) for with her teenage fans. The deluxe addition would appeal to an older audience (late teens to mid-twenties) as they are both prepared to pay more and have bought the album later. Buying the album later suggests they haven’t learnt about it (become interested in it) through teen targeted magazines and music channels (for examples), suggesting they are an older audience. The deluxe album cover also portrays Rihanna as an artist in both a similar but different way, that would more likely appeal to her older fans (target audience).

 The album covers portray Rihanna similarly as they both sexualise her, both images reflecting her rebellious side (e.g. in both images Rihanna’s mouth is slightly open and she is both sticking out her tongue and smoking-showing her rebellious, sexualised side as an artist/brand). Both covers also have the same Rihanna ‘logo’ positioned in the top left corner, meaning her fans will be instantly attracted to both albums. The title of the album (‘Talk That Talk’) is also in the same font for both albums but positioned differently, the original album cover making it look as if she has the album name tattooed on her arm (her younger audience being targeted-tattoos being very ‘now’ and popular in the teen fashion industry).

Rihanna- Talk That Talk back cover and CD artwork analysis

The CD artwork links back to the rest of the album design due to the use of a newspaper print styled design. The design itself having a headline of the album name, with ‘Rihanna’ being the predominate font both suggests that as an artist she is widely ‘talked about’ (in social media etc.), Rihanna using this as a way to promote herself (almost turning around this being bad publicity the majority of the time). This both reflects her rebellious side throughout the artwork of the album, suggesting she ‘doesn’t care’ about this, instead using it as a way to present herself. The image itself being very dull shades of black and white suggests that she has been talked about for a long time (throughout her career)-the newspaper almost looking ‘aged’. The album itself having songs based around this aspect of her career as both an individual and artist means that the artwork is successfully promoting both the album and also the songs within it. 

The back cover of the album sexualises Rihanna as both an objectification of the female form and an individual (artist). This is done through her costume, wearing suspenders and having a lot of skin on show as well as her body language (positioning within the shot-image). Her eye-line being very direct draws the viewer of this artwork towards her and therefore towards the fact she is being very sexualised. When comparing the back cover to the front cover of the album, here Rihanna is being very much objectified, the front cover showing her more rebellious side (with undertones of sexualisation). The use of a black and white image allows the track list to stand out in red font, being places side-ways in order to both mirror Rihanna's position within the shot (meaning her whole body can be seen) as well as add a sense of 'rebellion'-track lists being typically put horizontally.

This being the back cover for both additions means that this image (artwork) is aimed to target the majority of Rihanna's target audience (fan base). The album following Rihanna's previous album 'Loud' means that Rihanna's image is being changed slightly through this. The previous album being based more around love, the colour scheme of the album being more colourful and almost 'innocent' in contrast to this album suggests that Rihanna is targeting all her fans in order to show this image change (her rebellious, sexual side being shown massively through both the artwork of the album as well as the songs within the album as well-e.g. 'Talk That Talk' and 'Pour It Up)-the album having a number of references to drug use and the sex industry.