Digipack Research

What is a Digipack?

Digipack is a patented style of compact disk or DVD packaging. They typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. (wikipedia)

Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the centre portion. (about.com)

Examples of Digipacks -

This is an example of a John Mayer CD digipack.

The neutral theme used throughout the digipack is clean and simple reflecting the artist's ethos, in other words the overall image that the record label wants to convey to the audience. In a way, it mirrors the way his live performances and some of his songs are just him and his guitar, a simple but affective set-out that has earned him an extensive fanbase.

The black and white images hint of a certain nostalgia towards past popular music genres e.g. jazz and are a sort of tribute to that old era of smokey clubs and authentic musicians. This therefore could represent the type of music that is present on the album.
Furthermore the design on the CD itself reminds me of the design used on old vinyls.

This is an example of a Coldplay CD digipack.

Considering Coldplay fit into the rock genre, this album cover etc. looks more alternative, due to the abstract illustrations. Each illustration could be seen as indicative of a certain historical event, period or era. For example, the cover art is an excerpt from the painting by Eugene Delacroix called 'Liberty Leading the People' depicting a scene from the French Revolution in the 1800s. Due to the powerful ideal behind the painting and the overall strength related to this historical period, it could be said that the band wanted to convey the message behind their lyrics and songs on the album, for example the idea of struggle but also liberation are explored in both the album cover and their lyrics.

The back panel is a more serene photograph that still, due to the sepia tone, harks back to another era or past.

The middle pages of the insert of the CD (see left image) remind me of a certain psychometric test - the Rorschach inkblot test, used to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning. At the time, this was a new concept and was hit by numerous complaints and controversy over its radical unique approach. Therefore this could represent the type of music apparent on the CD - a new, unique type of music that was a shift from their music before.

Secondly the random writing around the central image could be representative of the Free Association technique founded by Sigmund Freud, the idea that patients speak freely about whatever comes into their mind and through this problems or conflicts in their sub-conscious are resolved. Again this could mirror the band's approach to songwriting - it is a stream of consciousness, and hinting at the possible hidden meanings behind their lyrics.

Finally, the back panel and the CD itself, reminds me of an old hardback book, embossed with gold ink, which furthers the above connotations of the Coldplay's overall digipack for their album 'Viva La Vida' - a reminiscence or tribute of by-gone eras and pivotal foundings of previous generations.

What is a Promopack?

A promopack encompasses both the digipack (see above for description etc.) and the music video itself. It is important that both the video and digipack are linked in some way, so that they are easily recognisable on their own and look complete when together. This can be achieved in many ways. For example, using a still from the video itself on the cover of the digipack.