Noah Kahan Digipak Analysis
- Natalia Muñiz Blasco
- Nov 15, 2021
- 3 min read
Hi everyone!
In the previous post, we organised two digipaks from Pop singers Ariana Grande and Camila Cabello. As my song and artist belong to the Indie-Pop genre, and they have a very distinct style, I think it is necessary that I have a clear idea of what this is like- NOT to copy it, but to be able to develop my own take on its concept.
Keep reading to find out more!
xx Natalia
'Busyhead' Album by Noah Kahan
His album is very characteristic, and, as its title suggests, all about his "demons" in his mind. He talks about his mental struggle inside his head, in all its forms, and with some romantic references.
The general style of the album is as characteristic as its topic. A cartoonish image of Noah Kahan is depicted as having a whole world inside his "Busyhead". This is all portrayed in a cartoonish feel as though painted with oil paint and in an explicitly cartoon-like manner. Its effect is realising that his songs talk about something that is not from this world, but from his imagination and that everything is inside this fictitious "busy head".
From the colour palette, using a standard colour palette that might be present inside a child's pencil case (blue, red, purple, yellow, orange, green and black primarily), we can infer that he is, again, portraying an image of his imagination, as a child might portray theirs. Furthermore, the predominance of a bright (although not fluorescent) shade of yellow conveys happiness and optimism when facing a mental struggle, and also matches the upbeat tone of his style, reflected in songs like "False Confidence".
His style is very unique as, in a genre that is usually niche in being overly dark or overly fluorescent and psychedelic in its style, he is unapologetically candid and portrays an aura of child-like innocence, even though his songs talk about complex mental struggles.
The front and back covers of the album comply, to some extent, with the characteristics cited in the previous post: the front cover is focused on the artist and more detailed than the back cover. Nevertheless, the back cover is not as minimalistic as we saw in Ariana Grande or Camila Cabello's digipaks.
There is a new feature here: the design in the front cover flows into the back cover, suggesting that Kahan's train of thought is overflowing everywhere.
The design of the front cover portrays different nature and urban settings and different times of day, as though portraying a whole little world inside his head. The font used is small and calligraphy-based, but not in a tidy and cute font; its style is more messy, just like his "Busyhead". Kahan is positioned in the centre of the frame in a black-and-white cartoon which is a feature in the rest of the digipak images.
The back cover portrays a natural setting continued from the front cover with the song titles outlining the drawing, therefore expressing the relationship of the songs with his "Busyhead", and overflowing like the water that falls through the page.
There is also a booklet inside the case, which has the lyrics of his songs. This booklet continues with the colourful and cartoonish look, strictly divided between the pages, and ranging from the classic yellow to different shades of blue and green, all coming together with a bright and child-like colour palette and the same messy font used before. The drawings are given a 3D perspective which is more obvious than in the front and back covers, creating a "scrapbook" feel.
Moreover, the images used of Noah Kahan are realistic but preserve the cartoonish feel by portraying a cartoonish image of Noah Kahan that we saw on the front cover. He detaches himself from his reality, and his "Busyhead" is more colourful and seems more real than himself, which might reflect a common message in his songs of being stuck in his mind. Furthermore, he is portrayed as a musician, with his guitar being always by his side. Here he clearly differentiates himself from the Pop genre with the "musician style" and focus on his "Busyhead" rather than on himself.
Reflection:
After analysing his digipak, I now understand Noah Kahan's style better. He focuses on himself as a musician and lets his music be his message, forming his identity around his music rather than himself- which is different from what Ariana Grande and Camila Cabello do.
When I do my digipak for his album and song, I will strive to preserve his essence. I do not wish to copy this digipak, but rather to capture his image as an artist, which is formed by the message in his songs. To do this, I might focus more on the setting and a guitar, than on his face, body or attire.
Stay tuned to see how this goes!
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