2. What is a Digipak?
A digipak is a patented style of packaging used to protect CD’s or DVD’s.
The outer covering usually made from a thick laminated card coated by UV,
whilst the inside is formed of plastic to protect the product.
Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD
albums.
They remain less common than jewel cases (standard plastic CD cases) due
to higher manufacturing costs and lower resistance to wear. They generally
start to disintegrate quite quickly if not protected constantly.
Digipaks became notably popular in the early 2000’s and have since varied in
style.
They can vary is shape and style but will generally either consist of either 4
or 6 panels.
3. Typical features of a Digipak
FRONT
Main band/artist
image
Name of artist
Title of album
Logo
BACK
Track list
Special features
Another image
(usually placed
under the text)
INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION
Price
Barcode
Record label
Year of publishing
Copyright
Composers/producers credits
etc...
Reference number?
Band members?
Guest performers?
SPINE
Name of artist
Title of album
Record label
Reference number
INSERTS/INNER SLEEVES
Further institutional
information
Song lyrics
Photographs of artist
Thank yous
Postcards
Promotional/merchandise
information
Website info
4. Purposes of a Digipak
To simply protect the album and inner contents
To advertise the contents in a more creative/eye-catching
way
To reflect the principles/attitudes etc. of the record label and
artist
To boost sales and enhance profit
Looks attractive in retail units - draws the audience in (the
front and back covers are most important as these are the
sides that the consumer will see first )
5. YOUR DIGIPAK
You are required to produce a digipak that will contain a CD/2 CD’s for the band whose song you have made a
video for.
You can make a 4 panel or 6 panel digipak
All images and artwork should be your own
You only have to submit an electronic version of the digipak
You can get up to 10 marks for your digipak
You must submit an individual digipak if you are working as a group
Just like the videos you have looked at, each genre of music has its own style of album artwork
Your research into your chosen genre should have given you a good understanding of the mise en scene
and iconography of your genre
You should look at examples of album artwork from the band/artist whose song you are using and also
examples from other bands/artists in the same genre
Your tasks will be as follows...
6. DIGIPAK RESERACH TASK - BLOGPOST 1
Look at a selection of album covers/digipaks from the genre of video you will be creating
(minimum of 5…maybe from your own, your parents or a friends collection, HMV, or online - the
more variety in genre, style, decade etc. the better.)
Note down on your blog the following for each digipak:
• What are the typical features that the digipak has? Make a list of all the elements they have in
common.
• How would you categorise the covers in front of you? Are there any other ways of
distinguishing between them other than generically?
• Album covers serve many different functions. What do you think these are (i.e. what is their
purpose?)
• What other features are included in the pack? E.g. – lyrics/photo-shoot pictures/ info about
the band/artist? – explain why they have included these and relate to how you may want
yours to look.
7. DIGIPAK RESERACH TASK - BLOGPOST 2
Choose one digipak from your selection. It might be a particular favourite, or one that is
particularly visually interesting - try to use one from the genre you will be using for your music
video - Prepare deconstruction notes of the cover, back, front and all inside sleeves that it
contains.
Explore the following:
Images used (layout, colour, style etc.)
Text (fonts, size, positioning, colour etc.)
The relationship between text and images - how do they work together i.e. anchorage
Differing functions of the front, back, inside sleeve
How the iconography represents the band, the genre of music and their overall image. Are
there any signifiers exclusive to the band/genre
What the cover says about the institutional context of the music ie the label, mainstream,
underground, first album etc
What can we learn about the potential/target audience from the cover ie specialist, niche,
familiarity with the band, compilation, mainstream etc.
What other features does the pack include? Discuss.
BE CREATIVE IN YOUR BLOG PRESENTATION! (glogster will be a good online tool to use for this)
