Ancillary Research - digipak artist research

For my research for my ancillaries, i decided to look at similar artist's digipaks to get ideas of not only how they are set out but the format of their digipak too. This is beneficial as i can locate similarities between genres and their digipaks. I have chosen to analyse the catfish and the bottlemen album, the balcony.


Catfish and the Bottlemen are an english indierock band originating from llandudno, north wales in 2007. Their debut album, The Balcony, reached no.10 in the UK albums chart and achieved Platinum status on the 30th of December 2016. The group consists of  Van McCann(guitar), Johnny Bond(guitar), Benji Blakeway (bass) and Bob Hall (drums). They paired a DIY ethic with a grity, garage-laced sound constantly gigging throughout 2012-13 before signing to Communion Records owned by mumford & sons bandmember Ben Lovett recording 3 singles before moving to Universal in 2014. Later that year they received  a Best Newcomer Award from the BBC.

They have released 3 EP's and two albums. Their first album 'the Balcony' was released at the end of 2013 reaching number 10 in the UK albums chart. their second album 'the Ride' was released on the 27th May 2016 through capitol records reached number 1 in the UK album charts for 1 week. In 2016, they won the Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act. 

The main image consists of an image of two bodies with no heads. The only details given are the white outline that can only suggest the genders of the two bodies, eg the one on the right having outlines of breasts. The top left corner has the bands logo to establish who they are and attract the attention of fans of the band. The logo has the same colour scheme as the rest of the album cover. The drawing on the front cover is more ambiguous and not so straightforward, creating interest.

The colour scheme consists of grey scale, including blacks, whites and greys. The font is contrasting the background on the front and back cover. the white on the cover gives a more luminous look and stands out from the black background - however it remains a simple and minimalist aesthetic.