CD Digipak Research

What is a digipak?• Digipak is a type of styled packaging, which is used for physical copies of

CDs (includes a single or a special edition of a CD album) and also DVDs.• Typically, digipaks are a styled either as a book or it can have three parts

where one part folds out to the left, one to the right and then the CD itself will be in the center.

• The part of the digipak that holds the CD is usually made of plastic, which is attached to the paper background.

• Digipak is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd and Atlas Holding Company.

• Digipaks have become much more popular in current times and have been used by many more manufactures oppose to a regular and traditional jewel case.

Examples of digipak progression

A few years ago, the typical way to sell an album was in a normal jewel case. To the right is an example of this.

Over the jewel case was a cardboard cover to protect the plastic.

The lyric booklet is inside the front cover of the jewel case.

Now, instead of having a jewel case, the newest album is in the form a cardboard digipak, with one side opening to the left and the other opening to the right.

The lyric booklet in a digipak is in a slot on one of the sides, which slides in between the two pieces of cardboard.

The lyric booklet is the same as the type that would be fitted into a jewel type case as it opens out to show the lyrics/credits. In both of these feautrs, the cartoon theme is kept, with the font being very bubble-like, like an animated TV show.

All Time Low – Don’t Panic.The release of this album was in October 2012; 2 months before the world was “supposedly going to end”. The theme of the album (designed by Brett Jubinville) is a parody of this event, showing a cartoon animated village being invaded byzombies and monsters. In the middle at the right hand side of the front cover, there is a black speech bubble coming from one of the neighbours which says “DON’T PANIC” in white block font. By having this, then it makes the album title be prominent against the background of bright reds and oranges, making it stand out more to the eye of the buyer. The name of the artist is printed in white against a brown in the personalised font of the band. There is also the ‘infamous’ skull and crossbones that appears on every All Time Low album, which is recoginsed to be their band logo.

The theme of the cartoon animated ‘end of the world’ is continued as the digipak is opened. The difference with the inside cover however is that we see the band as characters. However, unlike the rest of the village, the band are very relaxed during this ‘invasion’ and, like the album of the title, are ‘not panicking’. This could probably emphasise the fact that the band do not take themselves too seriously and just want to have a good time in the lifestyle that they live in.

Although the animated theme is carried throughout the entire design, the back cover of the digipak is much more simplified than the rest of the album. While the rest of the covers have different kinds of monsters and/or zombies, the back cover consists of just a light sky with three fire balls located around the tracklist of the album. The background of the back cover is a light blue which is ideal in order for the tracklist to stand out against this. On the back of the digipak is also the name of the record label (with the logo included) and other people/companies that helped with the production/design of the album.

You Me At Six – Final Night Of Sin (live at Wembley Arena)

Because the show was live, there was explicit language, so there is a warning of this on the front cover of the digipak.

In December 2012, You Me At Six performed on stage at a sold out Wembley Arena. The band decided to film the entire show and create it into a CD/DVD.

The show was the final date on a tour based around the band’s last album “Sinners Never Sleep”, so because the show was the last show the band was doing for the year, they decided to call the show “The Final Night Of Sin”.

The front cover of the digipak is an image of the empty arena with the set of up of the stage and the stage lighting, including the set up of the bands symbol of the roman numerical number ‘6’. By having this image, the consumer will be bale to easily identify the DVD because of the symbol standing out against the rest low key lighting of the image. The image is also convenient for putting the name of the band and the name on the CD/DVD, as the outline of the cover is black/dark lighting. The artist name in a white font contrasts with the darkness of the arena in the image.

The theme of the colours being black and white matches the DVD as the performance has been filmed in black and white also.

When the digipak is opened, like the front cover, there is an image taken at the back of the arena, where the venue is completely empty. In the center, you can see the set of up of the stage lights butin a perspective as if you were standing at the back oppose to the front. By having both the front cover and the first inside images as a completely empty arena, then it almost builds up the anticipation of what the sold out show will be like.

In the edges of the first inside sides, in each end there is a slot where the audio CD of the live performances are placed. By having the CDs placed in a cardboard slot, then it is protected from being damaged. The CDs also keep with the colour scheme of black and white as both CDs and the DVDs are black with the font in white.

When the digipak is fully opened, then there is a full crowd image of the arena completely full. This can create excitement for both the people who weren’t able to go to the show and also the people who did as it will bring back memories of the night. The camera angle of this shot is an establishing shot as it shows the entire background of the picture, showing the amount of people that went to the show as you can see how big the venue is.

Inside these two paper slots is the black DVD and also a booklet including photographs of the band on stage (in the continued theme of the monochrome edit settings). Having these two items located in this part of the digipak continues the anticipation and excitement before watching the DVD as all of the features to do with the actual performance are all fitted together.

On the back of the digipak, the tracklisting of the performance is shown as a photo of the setlist that the band used on stage. By having an image of a personalised setlist instead of a printed font gives the album a much more personal feel for those who attended and will tell those who haven’t seen the show yet a feel of what they are about to watch. It also includes all of the stage productions such as “CO2” and “flames”, telling the consumer what effect was used on what song.

On the spine of the digipak, it says “You Me At Six” and “Final Night Of Sin” in the band’s infamous typography, making the album recognisable to the person looking for it when the album is stacked amongst others.

Also on the back is the barcode and logos of companies that are necessary such as the record label and film making company that the band has worked with.

After researching about these two already existing digipaks, then I now know the typical things that are found on a digipak and also essential information that is needed to be included in order to create my own.

The types of features that I need to take into consideration are as follows:• A specific (and semi-obvious) theme that is kept throughout the entire digipak

such as a colour theme.• Appropriate places in the footprint of the digipak such as where to put the

CD/DVD or an extra booklet of information E.G. a lyric booklet.• The type of extra information needed to be printed on to the digipak such as the

logo of the record company and/or extra companies that had input with the design/production of the album.

• A template of how a digipak is put together so it can be assembled into a 3D product. An example of a digipak template can be seen below.