Digipack research

I'm With You - Red Hot Chili Peppers

'I'm With You' (2011) is the tenth studio album by American rock band, Red Hot Chili Peppers. It is the band's first studio album to feature guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, following the departure of John Frusciante in 2009. The 4-panel digipak consists of the audio CD and booklet containing song lyrics and photos of the band.

The Red hot Chilli peppers took a different approach to the design of this album cover going for a minimalistic take which strays away from their usual abstract works associated with the chili peppers. The Peppers used a tribute to a piece of art created by controversial British artist, Damien Hirst. Frontman. The cover consists of a close-up shot of a fly sitting on a red and white capsule pill, positioned in the bottom left-hand corner against a clean white background. This cover has its share of controversy when first released as fans weren't really able to understand it but it could be argued that the band used a postmodern strategy where the audience's interpretation is the narrative that each person will experience when they see the cover.In my interpretation, i believe it may symbolize 'pivotal change'.

for the band such as how Kiedis (the lead guitarist) battled drug addiction from a young age and the loss of his close friend and role model, guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988 (caused by a heroin overdose) .This was somewhat of a turning point in Anthony's life and inspired him to take the path to sobriety.Since dedicating to this, Anthony has remained sober since the year 2000, 11 years before the release of this album. Since the fly is seen on the pill (creating the illusion that the fly is drawn to the substance,Since flies are generally associated with being attracted to feces, putting the substance at the same level meaning that substances are on the same level of feces and that they are disgusting with what they can do to a person. Furthermore, the fact that the album title 'I'm With You' is written in a bold, black sans-serif font on the pill (similar to the markings on real medicine), alludes to the notion that although (due to drugs) Slovak is gone, his legacy is still living 'with us'. Frontman, Anthony Kiedis, described the album's cover art by saying: "It's an image. It's art. Iconic. We didn't give it its meaning but it's clearly open to interpretation” this further provides postmodernism insights as now the audience know that it is open to interpretation with significance to their own lives. Anthony was a greatly important musical influence on both the band's guitarists, new and old. John Frusciante and also on current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, have stated that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will always maintain an essence of their original"punk-funk" style (still evident on this album within tracks such as 'Monarchy of Roses' and 'Ethiopia') which they've innovated since the formation of the band in 1983. Returning to the concept of the statement artwork being a symbol for 'pivotal change', 'I'm With You' marks another 'turning point' in the band's career with the new addition of Klinghoffer and the ambiguous nature of the artwork hints that this particular record is the Chili Peppers' most modern and 'experimental' to date.

At first glance of the front panel, the name of the album and band can be easily overlooked due to the size and font. The band's name is printed in a small, block, white sans-serif font which is placed at the center of the cover and almost disappears completely against the faded-white background. It is often deemed quite unconventional for famous rock bands to 'hide' their name on the front cover of their album, as generally bands of this genre push their own identity and carry it through their artwork and try to be as “loud” as possible (just like their music, done to draw attention) In this case, the Red Hot Chili Peppers created an album cover to be based on the consumer's interpretation further encouraging the idea of the 'fan-power' and an intimate philosophical connection between the band and the audience.

Continuing with the theme of simplicity and minimalism, the insides of the digipack continue the main theme and add an alternative picture of another fly on a pill. The inside of the digipak displays the name of the band,'Red Hot Chili Peppers' in the center of the left panel and 'I'm With You' in the same position on the right panel. The use of black sans-serif font is there to make the writing stand out and give it a raw image over the blank white background in order to sell the band's ambiguous message: Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'I'm With You' (resembles the format of a famous quote.) Some fans have interpreted this message quite literally and believe they possess a deep, intimate connection with the band and feel as though they are part of a Red Hot Chili Peppers 'society' another alternate interpretation of the album.

On the back of the digipak, the tracklist is printed in a similar bold, black sans-serif font adhering to the simplistic style written on the rest of the cover. Accompanied by this, there is a slight addition of the letter 'O' being replaced by a round, white pill which helps the tracklist attract the attention of the audience on the canvas-like background and continues the narrative of the album with drugs. Opposite to the tracklist is the barcode, production details, producer's name and record label logo (Warner Bros.) The producer is Rick Rubin who produced one of the most successful albums of the band, 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik' along with all the subsequent albums. Therefore, fans will undoubtedly recognise Rubin's name and incredible talent and will be further pushed to purchase the new record. As a producer who has a big name in the genre along with globally loved 2006 Grammy-Award winning 'Stadium Arcadium'.

Main influence

The artwork created for the album Californication is perhaps one the most iconic album covers of all time as the band was able to capture every emotion and the general ambience of the project. The album's theme depicts the typical Californian lifestyle that many seek to achieve although, the Chili peppers broke the spell to reveal and talk how overrated and materialistic the Californian lifestyle is. The album cover depicts a pool overlooking the distance with the red fierce sky inverted in the picture with the water on the sky, perhaps which the band connotes it by saying that with entering this lifestyle you are entering the metaphorical pool of hell or damnation and a hectic lifestyle that they portray in their music . It's supposed to show a typical "Californian" lifestyle but with the colors swapped, it shows how unrealistic this view is. Showing a very abstract use of imagery of “a world turned upside down”. The conceptual use of this imagery links to the album title - californication, which refers to how people change and adapt according to the influence of a Hollywood lifestyle in order to achieve their hypothetical Californian dreams of materialism and ignorance or perhaps super stardom. The use of complementary colors makes the album cover more visually appealing and attractive to the audience's eye and the concept makes the album cover catch the eye of the viewers. For bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, it is quite unusual to use such bright colors as rock bands are usually associated with themes of darkness and gritty seriousness. This therefore shows the band taking a unique and original approach. The band's name and album title are in a small, basic, white, sans serif font. This is so the focus is solely on the artwork and the message of the front cover, however the band and title still appear first in the line of vision so they are not completely hidden.