THE DIGIPAK
The CD DigiPak (or CD Digi-pak) is a modern, stylish alternative to a standard CD Jewel Case. CD Digipaks are a custom printed card packaging that can hold one or more CDs which are held in place with plastic trays (CD flexitrays) which are glued into the digipak.
CD Digipaks were originally only seen as limited edition or specialist CD products however improvements in CD production and CD packaging printing techniques has meant that this sleek CD packaging solution is now available at much lower quantities and at much lower prices.
CD Digipacks are made out of card stock (with recycled card options available on short-run orders). The most common CD Digipacks is the 4 panel Digipack which opens like a book. However 6 panel Digipack are also very popular, providing a larger canvas for CD artwork and text information about the CD.
On replication quantities 8 panel CD Digipacks and even 10 panel versions are also available. In fact, being made from cardboard stock, the number of panels, CD trays and CD booklets mean that CD Digipak combinations almost infinite.
There are different types and designs of the digipak.
I will only focus on 4 sided digipak because I believe it will be better for my project.
Different types:
Elton John
The digital package looks very similar to the front page of the website. Similar colours are used in the picture : blue, toxic pink and yellow. Well known piano is right next to Elton John and himself in the middle. This digital package was created for the last tour that started in 2018. On the top left corner we can see big bold capital letters, the name of the artist without world well knows logo of the artist and the name of the album. From this cover, we can know that on this album is dedicated to all songs that artist wrote in the past.
From the examples of previous albums underneath, the latest album stands out among other albums because of its colours. Elton John usually chose a colour as a thee for his album and tried to use limited numbers of colours on his covers. Lately, the artist focused on creating his songs, tour, websites and especially digipacks look more colourful and bright to attract younger audience.
Bruno Mars
This digital package was created to promote the latest Bruno Mars album in 2016. I have also found digital packages of other albums from 2010 and 2006 to have a comparison later. To start with, the picture on the digital package is simple and is clear to the audience. We can see a long shot of the artist on the left side and the name of the album on the right side. The main colours of the album are red, black and gold, the background and the colours of clothes complement each other creating a balanced cover.
On the left side of the album we can see Bruno Mars himself sitting on a chair. The combination of expensive sun glasses, jewerly and red pijama gives a picture of a rich, however silly and goofy person. I believe this was done in order to attract different audience.
The sign on the right side was done in gold colour to represent the richness. The crown has connotation of power and richness. It was done to show his power over the pop music or to again to promote the image of a confident and rich person. XXIV k magic is the name of the album, therefore it was done in bold and capital letters.
In conclusion, the digital package is simple and shows everything needed for the audience. We understand the main idea from a combination of gold and red and can start thinking of the possible meaning of his music.
Other two packages are very different from the first one. The first shows long shot of Bruno Mars, however he looks very confused and lost.
The second package is an illustration picture which can be a representation of a long journey of the artist to the pick of his career. In my opinion, the silhouette of the men on the bottom of the cover is Bruno Mars. He is lost, however is going on the right direction. The rocket is fast and gos up as it can possibly represent his career going up . There can be many possible ideas on the representation of these two digital packages. The second digipack is also very simple, there is a middle shot of the artist, his name and the name of the album. The digipack is very straight forward however does look interesting and appealing to audience. Grey colour does not out stand and looks very boring, however out lines the picture of the artist, who can be easily recognisable on a simple background. I decided to use these two digipacks to have any comparison and see how there were changing within the years of his career.
Beyonce
Beyonce is a very famous and successful artist. She has created many albums and digital packages to promote her music and to promote her image. On the album that I chose, we can see a long shot of Beyonce laying on the mirror (we can see how reflection). The artist is half naked which makes the cover be more appealing to male audience for example. There is only one big headline “Beyonce” in pink capital letters. The word is not in the middle of the poster as it covers the lower part of the body. There is no name of the album because it was created of a mix sings from previous years. The cover is very dark and mysterious. The pink sign “Beyonce” suggests that the album is targeting at the female part of target audience.
All her other albums have a similar concept. They look minimalistic and simple. The artist doesn’t need to have a lot of information or close up shots of the face on digipack because of her success. Beyonce is so popular that she doesn’t need to follow codes and conventions of the pop genre for the digipack to attract more audience. She has her own audience who knows everything about upcoming albums.
In conclusion, well known artist use a long or middle shot to represent the digipack. They don’t need a lot of text, only the name of the artist and the name of the album. They also use simple but powerful colours like black or red to out stand among other albums.
Elton John Best hits 