Digipak Analyses - 9

CD Digipak Analyses

Example of a standard Digipak

Definition and Purpose: A digipak is the typical form of packaging for content related discs such as DVDs or CDs. Digipaks fulfil several functions for both the content producer and their audience. These functions include; protecting the actual disc(s), making the content storable/presentable and most importantly (to the customer) encourage a purchase of the CD or DVD. This can be through the image present on the front cover, the content itself, or the reputation of the artist/creator them self.

Example of a Jewel Case

For CDs, there are two main types of packaging - Jewel Cases and Digipaks. The main difference between the two is the overall size of each case. Where Jewel Cases can only usually hold the CD itself, Digipaks can often hold additional content, such as short 'zines, artbooks or additional CDs. In this post I will be discussing five separate digipaks and jewel cases from various artists. I will be primarily focusing on the Synthwave genre, however I will also feature additional genres such as Alternative or Electropop (as mentioned in my 'genre research' post).

The XX - Coexist

The Front Cover (Top Left), The Inside Sleeve (Top Right), The CD 'Holder' (Bottom Left), The Back Cover/Tracklist (Bottom Right).

Above is the digipak for The XX's second album 'Coexist', which was released in 2012 to generally positive reviews. In the sections below I will be discussing each section of the digipak, while giving reason as to why some features of the digipak may have been deliberately chosen to make the CD more eye-catching to potential listeners/customers.

Front Cover 
The minimal use of colour throughout the digipak is, I believe, highly effective at making the CD eye-catching and interesting. This is most evident in the front cover of the CD, as the way in which colour is limited to inside the large 'X' quickly draws the viewer's attention as it heavily contrasts with the unchanging white of the rest of the cover. The use of colours within the 'X' is also very bright and, to me, is almost reflective of stained glass windows, most often seen in churches and other religious buildings.

This in turn presents the album and it's cover in an almost religious manner, with the large 'X' perhaps being chosen to be symbolic of the crucifix. This thereby adds to the effectiveness of the cover, as the deliberate simplicity triggers many questions for the viewer, prolonging interest in the album, while likely increasing the chances of someone purchasing the album. 

Inside Sleeve
The minimalist style of the cover is replicated in the sleeve of the digipak, helping to create a sense of uniform throughout the packaging. The position of the 'X' also lines up perfectly with the front cover, developing the sense of coordination in the digipak. This also helps to give the impression of the 'X' being an actual 'gap' in the sleeve, perhaps being chosen to give a glimpse of the band's style of creative attitudes.

CD Holder
Here, the continuing theme of the large 'X' appears on the CD itself, with no other details present on the disc. The use of vibrant colours also appears again, however it does not directly replicate the other Xs, giving a different array of colours each time. The 'holder' of the CD also continues the all white theme of the rest of the digipak, making the colourful 'X' stand out even more.

Back Cover/Tracklist
Like the other three aspects of the digipak, the back cover is kept highly minimalistic, making the actual content highly eye-catching to the viewer. As well as the tracklist of the album, the back cover also conventionally features a barcode, included to make the actual purchase of the album possible. Despite the inclusion of the barcode, the customer's attention would still likely be drawn to the tracklist, due to its highly sterile, unchanging font and position.

Summary
Overall, I believe that this digipak is very effective in gaining interest from a potential listener, due to the very simplistic but eye-catching cover and theme of the digipak. This is something I would bare in mind if I were to design my own digipak or CD cover, as 'Coexist' has shown me the effectiveness of minimal colour.

The 1975 - The 1975

The Front Cover (Top Left), The CD (Top Right), The Inside Sleeve (Bottom Left), The Back Cover/Tracklist (Bottom Right)

Front Cover
Similarly to 'Coexist', this digipak deliberately minimises the use of colour in order to make the album more eye-catching to potential customers/listeners. The contrast of white and black is highly effective in drawing the viewer's attention to the title of the album, as well as the artists behind it. The decision for the album to be self-titled is also effective, as it represents the album as a definitive part of 'The 1975', and that the album is essentially a summary of the band up until that point. This keeps the cover very simple, with only the title and it's neon border being present upon the black background. The monochromatic style throughout the digipak also gives suggestion to the potentially dark style of the music, acting to portray an aspect of the band before the customer even listens to the album's content.

The CD

The CD itself is also kept highly minimal in design, with only the album/band (conventionally) written on the disc, perfectly mimicking the font and scale of the title on the front cover. The font itself is of a sans-serif style, making the title highly uniform in appearance. This gives the album a sense of informality to the viewer, as no emotion or style is evoked through the title, making the actual genre of the album unknown to an uninformed customer. The title is in fact written in black, making it difficult to see on the disc. This may have been chosen deliberately in order to make the disk non-distracting for the customer, ensuring they spend little time admiring the CD and instead play the content on it.

Back Cover/Tracklist
Like the previous two panels of the digipak, the tracklist of the album utilises the black and white aesthetic to full effect. With the song titles being the main sources of light on the image, the reader's attention would likely be quickly drawn to them, the titles themselves likely provoking questions for the reader, as they try to decipher what each song could be about.

The tracklist for the album is kept almost completely parallel with the front cover of the album, the list of songs being the only thing different about the two images. The positioning of the white frame in the centre of both images acts as a focal point, ensuring the viewer is drawn to the most important features of each image.

Inside Sleeve

The real Inside Sleeve - The one shown previously is
taken from another release from the band.

Here, the short magazine included within the digipak can be seen. The booklet continues the two-tone aesthetic established by the cover of the album, however the images shown on the booklet appear more 'sepia' toned in appearance. This gives the album a vintage style, as this form of photography is typically associated with older cameras. On the front page of the booklet, the viewer can also notice some lyrics printed on top of an image of the well known musician Johnny Cash. This could thereby allow the reader to interpret this as one of the band's inspirations for their own musical style. This would also attract fans of Johnny Cash, as they would likely want to know more about his inclusion on the digipak. 

Summary
I think that similarly to 'Coexist', 'The 1975' has shown me how a minimal use of colour can actually make a digipak more eye-catching to potential listeners. By keeping the more visible aspects of the digipak highly subtle and straighfoward, I believe that the digipak for 'The 1975' is a excellent example of how a digipak is used to encourage the purchase of the content it is encasing. Therefore, when designing my own digipak, I would bare in mind how effective simplistic digipaks can be in order to remain appealing to audiences and customers.

Kavinsky - Outrun

Above is the cover for the album 'Outrun' by Kavinsky, a well known Synthwave artist. The cover features many of the Synthwave tropes I discussed in my previous 'Genre Research' post. The image present of the cover is actually set to a 'cinematic' format, making the image appear as if it has been taken from a film or television programme. This cinematic imagery is highly conventional of Synthwave artisrts, as they often feature or mimic films from the 1980s. The font used for 'Kavinsky' also resembles the title for the film 'Drive', a film I have discussed before for its Synthwave tones and imagery.

Shura - Nothing's Real

In order to source the necessary images for this analysis I viewed and screenshotted an 'unboxing' video which can be viewed above.

The Front Cover: Personally I believe that the front cover for Shura's 'Nothing's Real' is extremely eye-catching and bold, with the mixture of real life and illustrated images being blended together. 

Back Cover: The reverse cover, shown to the right, is kept extremely simple in appearance, with the tracklist and copyright information being the only visible features. This is highly similar to the previously analysed 'Coexist' by The XX, and allows the consumer to be drawn to the tracklist itself without distraction.



Inside Sleeve and Disk Holder: Here, the inside sleeve and CD holder continue the front cover's theme of blending illustrations with real images. I believe this is highly effective as it suggests an 'otherworldly' tone to the digipak, and thereby the album itself. With the illustrated aspect of the digipak even continuing onto the disk, I believe that this album would be highly appealing to consumers, as they would be intrigued to uncover what the 'image split' represents about the album and the artist herself.

New Order - Music Complete

Front Cover: Similar to The 1975's album and The XX's album, the cover for New Order's 'Music Complete' is highly minimalist, with no indication given to the actual members of the band. This is uncommon with such forms of promotion and packaging, as the star of the product is typically displayed frequently in order to create a sense of a personality to the consumer.

Back Cover: Similar to some of the other digipaks I have analysed, the tracklist of the album is the only main feature of the album, with the juxtaposition of the black font against the white background helping to make the tracklist highly eye-catching to the consumer.

The Disk: The CD of the album is also kept relatively similar to the tracklist in terms of its simplicity. I personally think that the continued minimalist aesthetic of the digipak actually works in its favor, as the consumer would likely be intrigued by the lack of typical digipak conventions. 

Inside Sleeve/Booklet: Other than the sleeve of the digipak, the booklet shown here is the only place on the album that the title and band are actually shown. Again, I think this would be highly effective in interesting a potential consumer, as the lack of information presents a detached, almost creditless album.