A digipak is a style of CD/ DVD packaging which opens much like a book.The outer packaging is made out of paper and card whilst the inner packing is made from plastic.They are most commonly used for special editions of singles or for albums.
Digipaks are designed to fold in a square CD case and can come in a wide variety of forms and styles, however the two most common are as follows;6 panelled4 panelledEither of these styles can also include sleeves to hold other promotional devices such as lyric books, posters or postcards.
The front and pack panels of a digipak are the key promoters of the album and artist as they are the panels which are most commonly seen. This means they must have creative designs to attract both fans and a wider audience.The inside of the digipak will often contain more information on the artist or will offer more of an insight into what the album is about.The inside of the digipak tends to have a lot more subtle imagery as it isn't seen by as many people and therefore doesn't need to be as extravagant.The card/ paper folds around the plastic help to hold the CD in place whilst any sleeves will hold extra merchandise.
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Front Panel
The front panel of the digipak is the most important of all. This is the first thing that any audience member will see and therefore needs to have the most eye-catching and suitable imagery in order to promote the album.Due to this, the imagery on the front panel will reflect the theme of the songs from on the album as well as the genre of the artist.The front panel will also, in most cases, feature the title of the album/song it contains.
The rear panel of the digipak will be home to another eye-catching promotional image. However, more importantly than this, the rear panel will contain all of the important information about the album including:
Track List
Artist Name
Record Label
Bar Code
Release Year
Important Production Information
Digipaks are created for a number of reasons:
To promote the artist/ band
To promote the album/single and make it more appealing
To give us information on the artist and music
To attract a wide audience
To express a message through imagery
To store additional promotional items e.g. postcards
The Purpose of a Digipak
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How This Will Help Me
This will help me when it comes to creating my own digipak as it has allowed me to gain a full understand as to why we use Digipaks and what they should look like.
