ancillary product digipak album: Imagine dragons

The title of the album 'smoke and mirrors' is a reference to a saying used when the truth to something is jaded or hidden. This paired with the imagery of the bird falling into the hands makes the album appear dark. This suggests that the songs and the general theme of the album is dark and possibly sad but because of the title 'smoke and mirrors', it suggests that the album cover might not be a true reflection of the songs included in it.

If you look at the painting by Tim Cantor on the front you can see that the bird is in distress as it can't stop itself from falling but in actual fact, it can't see that it is about to be caught by the hands of someone trying to save it. This implies that the album could be about being saved and that it is uplifting and will catch you on the day you feel like you're falling. 

Imagine Dragons have also used a lot of there cover work for there singles as more paintings by Tim Cantor which are very representative of the songs they're attached to. The use of actual fine art paintings is not often seen on album covers as most of them are digitally created. I find this interesting as it gives the cover a very real and authentic feel to it, and because, it is so unique it attracts an audience, in addition to this, the artist who painted the cover also has a mass of followers who might buy the album because of their love for the artist. It is also nice to see a merging of the use of the arts, which is similar to something I want to create.

As for the inside of the album, a similar use of toned colours are continued followed by a reprint of the painting on the front of the ribbon on the hands, this links the CD to the front of the case. This dulled golden yellow represents decay and could link to the birds' loss of flight. Yellow also represents happiness and joy which could refer to the happiness that the bird will feel when it is caught by the hands. The use of the colour in this painting with the black background makes it really stand out to the viewer. However with the deluxe version of the album the background is white with the exact same painting on the front. This is interesting as it changes the athletic of the album making it feel more uplifting which might be because of the extra songs making the overall feel of the album more uplifting and bright, which is why they felt it was right to change the colour. 

The bird suggests that the album could be about freedom. On the back, you can see a cross, similar to a religious cross, which could suggest the album is about religion or has lectures in their music similar to religion that could possibly help them. If you look closely on the front of the album you can see lines with a number next to them which look like angles and degrees of the line. This is seen a lot in Tim's painting, this could be here just to let the viewer know that this is his work. The use of ribbons is also similarly used in Tim's work. This could suggest that even though you are trapped you can still save somebody else. Also as you look even closer at the painting you can see the there is string wrapped around the bird showing, like the human, it is trapped in a similar way.