This document provides a detailed summary and analysis of the packaging design for two different album digipaks: Cave Rave by Crystal Fighters and Join The Dots by Toy. It examines the visual elements, layout, color schemes, and information presented on the front, inside, and back of each digipak. The summary highlights that digipaks are designed to appeal to dedicated fans by featuring prominent images of the band and limiting album title visibility, and include artistic representations of the band members, credits, and references to inspire deeper connections with fans.

1. This is the digipak for the album Cave Rave
by Crystal Fighters. The band’s genre is a
hybrid of electronic and folk.
The inside of the digipak
is filled with collage
style artwork, including
the section behind
where the CD is held.
The front has a combination of artwork and
text explaining the inspirations behind the
album. This is because the artwork is a
pastiche (Frederic Jameson) of artwork that
has come before so the band are crediting
the artists who inspired it. This also gives
fans further information about the band and
album, which makes them feel ‘closer’ to the
band.
The title of the album does not appear on the front
of the album but the band’s name is featured
prominently. This is because digipaks appeal to the
most loyal fans, who are expected to have prior
knowledge.
The disc is held in place by a
plastic tray in the middle section
of the digipak.
Information is given about who
was involved in the making of the
album, such as who played various
instruments and provided vocals. It
also gives information about
where the album was recorded, the
names of the band members and
who worked ‘behind the scenes’
on the album. As well as this, there
is a section for the band members
to thank people.
A section tells the consumer who the
producer was and gives writing credits.
This is on the back of the digipak
whereas it would be in a far less visible
position inside an insert in a traditional
album.Copyright and publishing information is given
and the companies involved are listed.
The band’s website
is given to
encourage fans to
find out more.
Logos of the record
labels involved are
included.
A sticker is used to promote
another product and tells
the consumer when it will
be released.
Track list
Barcode
The album title is prominent so when consumers pick the album
up from the shelf, they will remember the name of the album. It
is featured prominently on the back whereas the album title
doesn’t appear at all on the front of the album. This is because
the target audience of digipaks is dedicated fans so they are
likely to buy the album purely based on the band while casual
fans would pick up the album to have a closer look before
making their decision to buy it.
Cave Rave by Crystal Fighters

2. Join The Dots by Toy
This digipak is for the album Join The Dots
by the indie rock band Toy.
The band are prominently shown
throughout the digipak. However
the images of them are in the form
of artwork rather than just a photo.
This is because traditional albums
tend to include photos whereas
digipaks tend to be more artistic.
There is a plastic tray
to hold the disc.
The grey and black
colour scheme is used
throughout the digipak.
The band’s name is much bolder than
the album title because the target
market for digipaks is fans.
The image of the band on the
cover of the digipak is a silhouette,
which doesn’t allow the consumer
to easily identify who the people
in the image are.
The track list is written in a
relatively small font, which places
more emphasis on the image of the
band underneath. This font size may
also have been chosen to encourage
the consumer to pick up the album
and read the track listing.
The barcode is placed in
the bottom right corner
to follow the conventions
of CD packaging.
The band members’ names and roles are
written beneath their pictures. This is give
the consumer more information about the
band or to reinforce a ‘die hard’ fan’s
knowledge to make them feel they have a
‘connection’ with the band.
Reds, oranges and pinks are included in
the artwork in the inside panels of the
digipak. This ties together the overall
design and colour scheme of the digipak
with the design of the disc.
There are several pictures of the band
members, which could be fan service so
the fans can appreciate pictures of the
people they adore. This is because there
is an element of worship of bands as
‘Godlike’ figures, particularly rock
bands.
There is a small section of text giving
copyright information and album credits.
This section also includes the web sites for
both the band and the record label.
The logo of the
record label is
included in the
bottom left corner
of the back of the
album.