Digipak Research

Jennifer Dady 13 VIFN

A2 Media Studies

What is a Digipak?

Background artwork taken from Silver Jew’s album “American Water”

Digipak covers were one of the first alternatives created for the traditional Jewel case. It is a style of packaging which is commonly used for CDs and DVDs. Most Digipaks typically consist of a paperboard or card outer binding, with one or more plastic trays attached within it and is usually made up of four, six or eight panels.

Chairlift “Does You Inspire You”I would like to take inspiration from this four pane digipak for Chairlift's debut album 'Does You Inspire You', with artwork resonant to that of Pearl Jam's album 'Ten'.

(Outside – Front & Back)

(Inside)

There are two sleeves on the inside of the digipak (as shown on the left), one for the disc and the other for a fold out piece of album artwork, with lyrics printed on the reverse.

The artwork shows the band to be youthful, lively and cultured, fitting in with their alternative style of music and helping to appeal to their audience demographic.

The Wannadies“Be a Girl”

(background artwork taken from their album “Before & After”)

The album “Be a Girl” by The Wannadies was released in 1994 in a traditional jewel case.

The theme of youth and innocence is evident in the artwork, which ties in to the themes of the songs on this album as well as the bands image.

This youthful representation of the band is reinforced by the fact that a photo of them is placed in the middle of the booklet, in amongst photos of the boy & girl shown on the front and reverse of the cover.

Imogen Heap “Speak For Yourself”

Hidden lyrics, printed underneath the booklet.

These two images to the left are placed on separate pages in the Digipak. This works well to pick out the artist in the image, as the audience only sees her dominating one of the shots at first glance.

This is an eight fold Digipak for Imogen Heap’s album “Speak for Yourself.” It is paperboard, but has a plastic tray for the disc itself. Throughout, there are hidden lyrics. One technique it uses well is printing lyrics and album information on the artwork itself (as shown in the background image).

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes use this old style of artwork which fits in with their acoustic / folk style of music helping to appeal to the audience and put across the bands style.

On the inside are two hidden sleeves, both concealing two discs which make up the album. This effect works well and does not disrupt the effect created by the artwork itself.

This is a four pane Digipak, made out of paperboard, for this album by Fleet Foxes.

Laura Veirs “Saltbreakers”

All the artwork for Laura Veirs albums all follow similar patterns and have a similar style (like Radiohead) with recurring themes, for example, the theme of nature and night in “July Flame”.

This digipak has four panes and is made of paperboard, with a plastic tray holding the disc. On the inside cover is a sleeve of artwork, with the lyrics printed on the reverse.

Laura Veirs is a female artist similar to the artist I have used in my production, with a strong unique and individual representation I want to get across in my own Digipak.

Bon Iver“Blood Bank” & “For Emma, Forever Ago”

The package of “Blood Bank” has six panes and is made entirely out of paperboard, with one sleeve for the disk. The artwork depicting footsteps in the snow and the front cover is closely related to the artist (a play on ‘Bon Hiver’, meaning ‘Good Winter’) as well as the title track “Blood Bank” and the images created in that (another image from this song shown on the back image)

The package for the album “For Emma, Forever Ago”, unlike “Blood Bank”, was released in a traditional jewel case.

The image of the front is of woods and is a direct reference to the way in which Justin Vernon wrote the album– in a log cabin in Wisconsin, over the period of four months and therefore, naturally fits the themes present in the music itself.

The artwork also fits well with the indie / folk genre in which he is classified

The Only Ones “Immortal Story”This is the album “Immortal Story” by The Only Ones, released in a traditional jewel case.

This is by far one of the most simplest of designs I have looked at. However, there are some features of it I think work well and which I can use in my own Digipak. For example, the way they have layered a photograph of the band on top of another background for the front of the album is very effective and draws the audiences attention to it better simply by providing this extra layer. The artwork itself is very focused on the band – with their clothes and stance conventional to the genre which further helps it to appeal to their target audience.