Presentation showing the conventions of a Digipak.

1. Conventions of a Digipak

2. What is a digipak??
A digipak is an alternate type of packaging used to encase CDs instead
of the typical, plastic jewel case – it is made up of images printed onto
thick card, and contains a plastic CD holder on the inside. Digipaks are
often used in order to showcase an artist’s brand and style in a physical
form, and are usually printed with images that either link to what the
audience has seen of the artist so far, or shots in the same setting as
one of their music videos.

3. Digipak/album art examples
Grunge/punk band
Hole used a still
from their music
video for “Miss
World” on the front
of their album, and
used images of the
band on the inside.
Black Honey
linked their album
art with lyrics
from their songs,
and put across the
older feel of their
music through the
vintage imagery.
Harry Styles’s debut
album uses softer, more
surreal imagery, which
deliberately showcases
the image he is going for
as a solo artist and
establishes his individual
brand.
The Script have used images
from the setting of one of
their songs from their new
album as cover art in their
Digipak – this links the
images to the album as a
whole.

4. The Front
The front of a digipak is used to showcase the artist’s individual branding. It could be an image of
the artist, (this is usually if they are not as well-known, in order to introduce themselves to their
audience) or artists with more experience sometimes use artwork or designs which show the
imagery they want to give their audience.
Examples of this are Tyler the Creator’s album “Flower Boy” and Bjork’s album “Utopia” – as they
both already have established their brand, they have more creative freedom and can risk not
showing their faces, as their art style is already easily recognisable.

5. Back of Digipak
The back of the digipak usually just shows the album’s track list, but
also has the barcode, credits and record company name. The back
often has another image of the artist on the back, or artwork linking to
the front of the album in terms of imagery or colour. This can be seen
on Panic! At The Disco’s album, which uses the same font, darker
colours and “doodle” style of drawing on both the front and back.

6. Inside the digipak
The inside of the digipak is where the CD sits in its plastic holder, and the
back side of the digipak. Like the other parts of the digipak, the image
connects to the album as a whole and carries on with similar
imagery/colours to the front and back. This section can just have an image,
but some albums have song lyrics, a message from the artist or a quote.

7. Fold-in panels
The folded panels of a digipak contain images of the artist, lyrics to the songs and usually a section
for crediting the different musicians, producers and inspirations etc. Some fold-in panels can even
fold out into a poster, as shown with My Chemical Romance’s album “The Black Parade”.
Having a digipak fold out into a poster is more of a novelty idea, and adds something extra for fans.
However, most digipaks just contain imagery and lyrics to the songs on the album, which allows the
audience to get to know the album (and artist) better, and provides a sense for what kind of
imagery the music is intended to give you.

8. Advantages/and Disadvantages of a
digipak
Advantages Disadvantages
They allow the audience to gain a better
understanding of the artist’s vision.
Less secure than plastic CD cases – CD could fall out.
Can contain extras – track downloads, posters. Typically more expensive than jewel cases.
Environmentally friendly – can be made of recycled
paper, not plastic.
The paper/card the digipak is made from could easily
rip or get worn down over time.
Won’t crack/snap like plastic CD cases.