Ancillary Task 2: CD Digipak

The History of the Digipak:
A Digipak is a style of CD or DVD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd, an Atlas Holdings company.  IMPAC Group Inc. originally owned the Digipak trademark. The company was taken over in 2000 by MeadWestvaco (MWV). Following this in 2010, MWV sold AGI Media to Atlas Holdings. A Digipak opens in a book-style way with one or more plastic trays to hold the disc inside. Digipaks were amongst the first alternatives for a jewel case. Digipaks are often used for CD singles or special edition CD's. Digipak cases became increasingly popular in the early 2000's among record labels and recording artists.

What is a Digipak:
The CD Digipak is a modern alternative to the standard plastic jewel case. A Digipak is a custom printed card packaging which can hold one or more discs depending on how many plastic trays are glued into the packaging. CD Digipaks are especially popular for CD albums or multiple disc sets. Digipaks were originally seen as being limited edition and specialist. However they are now available at much lower prices and quantities. There are many different types of Digipak, ranging from 4 panel to 10 panel. The most common is a 4 panel CD Digipak, which simply opens like a book.

Compared to the Jewel Case:
The Digipak differs from the standard jewel case, as a jewel case comes in one style, and is made from plastic. The jewel case has been used since the compact disc was first released in 1982, and is a three piece transparent plastic case, which can have a cover slotted inside. The jewel case locks shut itself, and opens in a simple book-style way. The Digipak differs to this as there are many different types and sizes, and is made out of cardboard. The Digipak does not have a cover; each Digipak is custom printed so that the design is printed onto it rather than being seperate. Digipaks still remain less common than jewel cases due to the higher manufacturing costs and lower resistance to wear. This is why most CD's on shop shelves all are sold in a jewel case, and fewer Digipaks are seen.

Different Types of Digipak:
Four different examples of types of Digipak are the '4 panel, 1 tray' Digipak (which is the style of Digipak I will be creating for my chosen artist/track). The 4 panel 1 tray Digipak is the most common and simple Digipak available. It has just one fold and opens like a jewel case would, however is cardboard and the plastic trays are on the inside.

The second example is a '6 panel, 1 tray' Digipak which still only holds one disc as it only contains one plastic tray. However, it has a different folding mechanism which means there are six sides to the Digipak.

A third example is the  '6 panel, 3 tray' Digipak, which folds in the same way as the example above, but is fitted with three plastic trays so that it can hold up to three discs. This would be useful for multiple disc sets.

A final example is the '8 panel, 4 tray' Digipak. This is a large Digipak as it holds up to four discs as it is fitted with four plastic trays. There are also eight sides to the Digipak.

The style of Digipak I will be creating is a 4 panel 1 tray Digipak. I will be creating a simple book-style mechanism of folding, with one plastic tray to insert a disc. I will also be designing the Digipaks exterior.

Examples of Digipaks:

This Digipak is a 6 panel Digipak of Bon Jovi's greatest hits. The main colour scheme for this Digipak is brown. There are also colours such as black, or lighter browns, and small hints of red. These colours represent the style of Rock as they are quite dark colours. From the CD inside of the Digipak, I can see that the disc is black with red on it. Black and red are quite common colours associated with rock and alternative rock, as the bright and dark colours contrast.


The image of Bon Jovi on the front of the Digipak means that it is instantly recognisable. Also, the artist name is central at the top of the Digipak in large letters. The front of the Digipak is quite plain and simple, with the name of the album, the name of the artist and a large image. All of the information is on the back of the Digipak. This is because it looks better if there is not much writing on the front as it makes the cover clearer and would appeal more to all of the target audience as they can choose whether or not to read the back cover.

The spine of the Digipak states that the Digipak is a double disc pack. This may also appeal to the target audience as they would recieve two CD's of Bon Jovi's greatest hits. Also, as well as on the front cover of the Digipak, a different image of Bon Jovi is on the back cover. The CD is also made to look like an old record vinyl, which fits the genre of the music and style of the artist. The fact it is black and made to look quite old also links with the colour scheme and style of the Digipak as a whole. From this angle of the picture alone, 'Bon Jovi' has been written on it four times in a clear bold font, to appeal to the target audience and make it clear to a buyer of what this Digipak contains.

The Digipak as a whole is obvious as to what is in the content, such as the artist, the amount of discs, and what the album is (Greatest Hits). This means it is clear to the target audience and would appeal to a buyer if they were looking for this.

This Digipak is also a 6 panel, 2 disc pack. It is for the Wombats, which is a band of a similar style to my chosen artist, Simple Plan. Bright colours have been used such as bright pinks, and a contrasting colour of black.

In the centre panel, there is a large image of the Wombats, which would appeal to the target audience, and it also adds more colour to the Digipak as a whole to make it look bright and colourful. This represents the style of the band.


Each disc is of a different colour which contrasts with each other. Also, the background of the panels containing the discs are also of opposite colours. This makes the discs stand out and adds to the colourful theme of the Digipak. The two discs also cleverly have a slight hint to the name of the band, the Wombats. For each disc, there are two small 'ears' above the colour of a disc to emphasise the name of the band being about Wombats, (a small animal).

This Digipak as a whole is of a similar idea to what I would want to do in my own Digipak, by using bright colours which represent the artist, and to include images of the artist (in my case, the cast members of my music video).

This is a Digipak of a 6 panel, 1 tray style, for My Chemical Romance (MCR), which is a band of a similar style to my chosen artist. It also uses a similar colour scheme to what I had in mind also, and a colour scheme which is associated with many rock bands, red and black.

As is similar in most Digipaks, an image of the band is large on one panel on the right hand side. The image is in black and white and contains all of the band members standing next to each other in an arrangement. This would appeal to the target audience as the style of the photograph is poster-like, and the black and white colour scheme also links to the genre of the Digipak being rock. Also, the pose and arrangement in which the band are standing represents the fashion and style of the target audience. They are all dressed in dark colours of a similar style, which would appeal to the target audience.

All of the information is displayed on the left panel of the inside of the Digipak. This could be because if lots of information was put on the outer covers of the Digipak, it might put off buyers and also take up room which could be used for important information and images.

The whole colour scheme of the Digipak is black, red and white, which is an obvious trend when it comes to rock and alternative rock bands.

Similar to the Digipak for Bon Jovi's greatest hits, this disc is also made to look like an old vinyl record, with circle lines on the black disc. Also, a random red 'pattern/shape' is central to the disc, which contrasts with the old look of the vinyl disc and adds a modern touch which represents the band.

Ideas:
I have collected a few images to get ideas and inspiration on what to put in my own Digipak design. I have considered the colour scheme, including photographs of the band members and cast, instruments, and writing style. It is clear from looking at some examples of Simple Plan albums that red and black and white are colours which often appear. Also, block lettering is used to make it stand out on the covers. The writing is often in white. I would like to get the idea of the genre of the song across by using images of instruments and also by the fashion in which the cast would wear. Below are some example images which I have looked at so far to give me ideas of what I could possibly include.

I have now created a bar code using a bar code generator online so that there were no copyright issues. I have used my full name and candidate number as the text along the bottom of the bar code so that it is personal and is useful to have on the back of my Digipak. I chose the dimensions of the bar code and I also chose to have a white background with black font. Below is an image of the bar code I created.