Digipack Reasearch - What is a Digipack

Digipack research and interesting album covers

Digipak research:

Digipaks are a trademarked product firstly made by MeadWestvaco. They are   made out of cardboard or any other heavy paper material designed to hold and protect CD’s. There are a few different designs to this type of CD packaging; it can either be flipped open like a book e.g. like a normal jewel CD case or there is the three panel digipak design which means the CD is placed in the center of the packaging so this time there is a left and a right  panel to be flipped open, this allows more room for multiple CD storage and album cover art.

Flip book digipak design

Three panel digipack design

The digipak has both advantages and disadvantages for example, they are more expensive than jewel cases but look good and hold more room space for CD’s, a lot of bands and labels prefer them because of this.  Digipacks can be easily damaged and tare if not careful and overtime the paper material starts to peel apart however, they do not crack like jewel cases. They are also environmentally friendly which means they can be recycled although; they are not always necessarily made this way. The outer proportion of the digipack is made out of paper which makes it a lot flimsier than the jewel case; this also means the teeth of the tray fall out easier allowing the CD to fall through the packaging because there is nothing else holding it in place unlike the jewel case where there is nowhere to escape.

Overall, Digipaks are great if an artist wants more room to express a creative and inventive album cover, the downside to them is that they can be expensive and break easier than the jewel cases but in most cases the digipak is a popular choice.

Cover art artists:

Cover art should be interesting and eye catching in order to attract it’s target audeience and fans to increase sales. It should also define the artist(s) enabling the fans to recognise who the album belongs to.

I have done some research into artists that have designed covers for musicians and found a useful website that provides information about the artist and their cover work. The covers I have found designed by these artists were done between the 1950’s to the 1970’s, most of them are very iconic, bright and colourful. I have print screened some of them as examples:

Album covers:

These are some album covers I’ve picked to help give some inspiration for my own digipack I will be designing to go with my music video. I think all of the albums I’ve looked at are really interesting and different and say a lot about the artist and their music. Some stand out more than others and some are just plain but they all have a unique flare.

I like Lady Gaga’s album cover ‘Born this way’ because as usual she takes things out of the ordinary. I think that the image of her as half bike, half human relates to her wild, wacky side and her music. The image has obviously evolved from the centaur (half human, half man mythical creature) which suggests Lady Gaga is a modern day version of this and something very unusual. The album colour portrays the artist as very rebellious and a person that can’t be tamed or broken. I particularly like this album design because it certainly relates to the artist well, if i was to walk past it in a CD shop i would know by a glimpse that it was Lady Gaga’s and i think the overall design has been cleverly designed and thought about.

Again, another cover that stands out to me is Christina Aguilera’s ‘Bi-on-ic’ album. The overall covert art is eye -catching but not only because it is interesting to see  but because it suggests a lot about the artists life. The idea of a bionic woman obviously relates to her song featured on the CD but also that maybe at times in her life shes had to be the strong, bionic one and wanted to reflect this through her art and profession as a musical artist.

Red Hot Chili peppers album cover ‘i’m with you’ is another distinctive design and very recognizable. The image is iconic yet so simple and slightly random but works well. I think the image may have something to do with the song and the artist’s feelings, maybe the drugs is to take away the pain of not being together, maybe it’s away of handling the situation and the fly represents the ‘fly on the wall’ saying so wherever you are i’m always there too. I find this album cover visually effective, the saying is true, less is more!

I find this album cover interesting because it displays an image of a child in a leather jacket holding a lighter which suggests that Taylor Momsen (singer in the The pretty Reckless) was a ‘rebel’ from an early age, the image has also been linked to the album title ‘Light me up’.

I think this album cover is really eye-cathing and colourful. It reminds of the colour spectrum and stain glass windows, the design is really unique amd while looking at it makes you think about what it could be and mean. Although the image isn’t a specific picture that could be easily identified as something it instead contains elements such as the Earth, stars and the colour spectrum.

I found this album  while searching for really different and unusual covers and i thought this one was so origional. Again, it’s a cover that’s so simple but one that’s probably been  thought about the most. There’s no image but yet it’s still striking and stands out.

I really like this album cover too because it hasn’t really got any connection with the artist’s music or title. It’s another bland but interesting cover because it allows you to have your own imagination and thought about what it may represent and why the cover has been designed the way it is. The Typography and title name, choice of colours and the way Bruno is dressed also reminds me of the style of cover art used in the 50’s/60’s.

Finally, I think this cover art for Joss Stones album ‘This way up’ is creative and reflects the artist imaginative flare. I like the way the image isn’t just about the way the artist looks but about the art, the art of the cover and the art of her music, I also think it’s interesting that they have added numbers and included a pencil and extra text ‘colour me free!. It’s another cover that’s been designed to make the buyer/fan think.

I have also created a montage of album covers of artists that i like, some are fairly modern and some are old. I have taken some elemements from a couple of these albums to help create my own digi pack for example, i have included the nickelback, daughtry and Rascal flatts album because it ties in with the country, rockstar look.