CD Cover/digipak analysis

Kabita Nepali

What is a digipak?It is a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically is made out of cardboard with an internal plastic holder for the discs. It can consist of a gatefold, which is a book style outer binding. They are the first alternatives to the ordinary jewel case, which were used by major labels to sell the CD to their market. The digipak is more appealing to the audience then the jewel case because it contains more graphics and pictures, it is also more appealing and sells more then just the disk it self, it can also protect the Disk more, Some artist also include bonus features in the digipak e.g. pictures, videos, signed cards etc. Also some digipaks are economically friendly since they can be produced from recycled paper and card. There are advantages for the industry as well, such as, it allows them to make more money since they can charge more, it has more flexibility in creativity aspect, it can also gain the attention of the public more since the company can offer digipaks such as ‘Special editions’ and ‘remastered’ etc., this would make the public want to buy it since there are only limited versions of it, and most of all it is a large promotional opportunity for the company, because it allows them to advertise more merchandise of the artist/band and they can also promote other things at the same time so, the audience can see it and it can get them interested in the company and the artist/ band.

Here is an example of an Jewel case and a Digipak:

Jewel case

Digipak

This is a digipak, as you can see the synergy throughout the packaging is that it is red and while, the colours do not clash over one another nor does it come out strange. The red in the white, makes the red stand out almost as if trying to connate that this album is suppose to standout from the other albums, who are plain compared to this one.The packaging of the album is really simple and doesn’t seem complex. As you can see the content inside the digipak is a poster and photo cards (bottom right), this makes this different then a regular jewel package since it has a lot of content inside of it. We can see that the logo of the album is carried throughout the content too, the poster, this makes it link in. In the image we can see the group are wearing too, which makes it almost blend in with the background but, the effect of shadows behind them make it seem like they are standing out.

Here you can see that the back of the cover, are a list of Track list. The letters are also in red and white. This linksIn with the colour scheme of the digipak. By having some words red and some white, it makes the it stand out also, makes it seem different because it also has the logo of the group there like the front cover and the content inside. It makes it all link in with the whole packaging and makes it astatically appeal to its target market.

The colours used in this digipak are very calm therefore, at first glance people may think that it could be associated with classic music.The font used aren’t very bold therefore, giving off the expression of calm and relaxed and not over the top.The images used in this digipak are also very minimal in colour, the main image of the CD cover, is black and white therefore, indicating that it wouldn’t be very pop who use a lot of colours and also indicates that the music will be very calming and maybe inspired by old times.The images do not use very much artificial lighting, it all looks quite natural, except for the front cover image which looks like it was studio taken. The colour scheme in this digipak is also very minimal colours, they are very neutral and earthy.I think that this suggests that the songs within the album will be soft pop or classic type of sound.

In this digipak there is various shots of the artist, this suggests that there are different types of songs available that are very different to one another but similar. This may attract its target audience since it will be very appealing and interesting. Also the consumer would know by getting this album they could expect diversity but still has a similarity within it.

There isn’t very much writing or, any bold massages/ texts, I think makes this digipak seem more relaxed and casual then if it was to have bold writing and messy pictures. It also shows that the genre of music which this artist plays must be something gentle yet stands out because that is what the consumer might decode from this.

The gifts included in the digipak will make it more appealing to the consumer. I think this because by having things that aren’t usually available in like, jewel cases, it allows the consumer want to purchase these items in order to feel closer to the artist or to get more content which is other wise unavailable to them. Therefore, for my digipak I would like to include things like posters, photo cards and other gifts that will be available to the consumer and want to make them buy it and will be worth their purchase.