CD Digipak

What is the history of the CD Digipak?

CD were originally only seen as limited edition, however improvements in CD production and CD packaging printing techniques has meant that this sleek CD packaging solution is now available at much higher quantities and at much lower prices. These were the first alternatives to the jewel case to be used by major record companies. They give the music a professional look and feel,  compared to jewel cases. 

What different forms can they take?

These are some examples of commonly used Digipak designs;

This is a 4 panel 1 tray template.

                                                 This type is generally used for a single.

This is a 6 panel 1 tray template.

This is a 6 panel 3 tray template.

       This is an 8 panel 4 tray template.

   

What are the conventions of a CD Digipack?

They are made from cardboard, and can sometimes be made from recycled cardboard, which can give the view that they are more economically friendly, and the disk is held in a thin plastic tray inside the digipak. They fold out like a book rather than the usual  case of a plastic jewel case. However the plastic trays that hold the disk break easily. Although the covers will not crack they are likely to rip and tear in time.  The measurements in length are 139 mm, height 125.5 mm and the spine would be 8.5 mm. 

The conventions of a digipak cover are;

• Artists name and the name of the album on the cover.
• An image on the cover - could be the artists themselves, or an image that relates to the album content.
• The side (spine) will have the name of the artist and album name.
• The back of the case would be expected to have track listings, perhaps with track lengths. 
• Basic background information on the artist can be found sometimes in an insert.
• Reviews of the album.
• Barcode on the back of the cover.
• Production credits.
• The design of the cover will usually run through the inside.

Textual Analysis of Digipak's

1. This Oasis digipak has 6 pannels, and from looking at the cover it's clear from the guitar that the genre is Indie-rock, even if you are unsure what the genre is, and the use of the brown colours also promotes the indie genre. The font for the artist is bold black and white and the name of the album is colours similar to the rest of the digipack.

The use of the guitar shows that the artist Oasis is keen on promoting the image of their music and the genre of their music, rather than the artists themselves as there is no picture of the artists on the cover. This is similar to other Indie album covers, and is similar to my artist, The Script. The design of the digipak is quite simple, which is similar to other arists digipaks that I have looked at.

The cover includes the conventions of a digipak, such as the artist, band name, and an image on the cover, as well as the artist and the name of the album on the spine. The track listings are listed on the back of the cover, in colours alike to the cover, and these colours run throughout the digipack.



2.  The album from snow patrol also uses the conventional aspects of a digipak cover, with the artist name and the album name on the cover, as well as having the song listings on the back of the cover.

It is similar to the other digipak in the use of an image on the cover, rather than the artists themselves, and they both represent an aspect of the band. In this one, as snowflake is used to manipulate the name of the band 'Snow Patrol'. This overall design of the digipak is simple but sends the message out that the band is successfull in promoting their music, rather than the bands image. I can connote that the Indie genre digipaks are generally simple, from looking at other Indie digipaks.

The vibrant colours that are used are not always associated with the genre of Indie music, but however the use of the black, whites and reds are still conventonal and stand out to the target audience. The writing is simple, and not over-the-top, but is neverless effective because it stands out.