Digipak Ideas ANALYSIS // Looking At Digipaks

What Is A Digipak?

A Digipak is a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs. They typically consist of a gatefold (book-style), paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one  or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. Digipaks were first created by MeadWestvaco, and their product called Digi-Pak, is trademarked. Now in current times, digipaks are very common and very popular.

The front of a digipak has a relevance and some aspect of what the artist represents and what their predominate genre is. The digipak also conveys a theme and a message about the artist and their image. All aspects of the digipak, brand image and music video are all interwoven together.

Digipaks benefit the artists and their music as its promotional aspect of the music industry which helps to bring awareness to the artist, and thus assist in selling their product to a wider market.

Some Examples: 

1. Lana Del Rey - 'Born To Die'

This is a more girly digipak  with the use of a lot colour. It promotes the artist well, with the use of flowers which could be used to symbolize the artist. In addition to this, the album cover has some significance with the rest of the album songs.  Songs which include 'Summertime Sadness' and 'This Is What Makes Us Girls'. This therefore allows customers to easily identify and relate to her music. What I particularly like about this album cover is the cut out of her name on the album sleeve. The CD covers out of the outer sleeve to show a digipak with an image of the artist on the front. the colour on the sleeve has also been used on the digipak cover. This shows consistency and also prevents too much going on, on the cover. It makes it visually appealing and easy on the eye. I like how the design on the outer sleeve of the digipak has been used on the CD as well. The blue and the clouds as well as the font of the artists name 'Lana Del Rey' links well together.
The Inside:
The artist has done a photoshoot, as a consistent use of a similar image has been used. The imagery used in the middle makes her the centre of attention as a circle has been used in which she has been placed at the centre.
The template of this digipak is something I would like to use for the creation of mine. I like how there is a sleeve on the outside which holds the actual digipak. This makes it different from the conventional digiapak design. The cut out of the artists name gives the digipak a good quality finish and gives it a good texture. Other relevant information has been included such as the album title, the record label company and the tracklist.

2. Rihanna - 'Loud'

What I like about this album cover is close up shot used for the cover. Everything used compliments each other well, such as her red hair and red lipstick. What is also effective is how her photo has once again been used on the inside. It spreads across the entire inside cover, and therefore helps to promote her as an artist. This is something that I think I would like to adopt and consider when creating my digipaks. Techniques that put all focus on promoting the artist and their music.