Recap of what Digipaks are
Information for this section has been acquired through:
https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/music-industry/music-production/digipak-cd
https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/music-industry/music-production/digipak-cd
Digipaks are a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs. They are one of the main forms of music distribution, with whole albums being embedded into CDs for buyers to listen to. Digipaks consist of an album thumbnail on the front of the cover, the actual CD packaged on the inside, and sometimes a set of text covering a page on the inside of the Digipak. The inside page of a Digipak could include a summary of the artist's album, the list of songs which appear on the CD, or simply just another image that relates with the album. Digipaks have become less and less popular following the mass movement towards digital media, however CDs are still prominent in use today.
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Digipak Sketch
My Digipak will follow codes and conventions of a Hip Hop/ Rap genre artist, while also straying from some areas in order to make my product stand out from other people's work. The Digipak cover will consist of artwork that's abstract enough to gain a potential buyer's attention. The Back Panel of the Digipak will consist of a list of all the songs that will be present in the Digipak. The inside of the Digipak cover will consist of a group photo (of the artist), and the panel in which the CD will be placed will contain more art that fits with the theme of my Digipak.
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Existing Digipaks
In order to ensure that I produce a Digipak of the highest quality, I will analyze parts of different artists' Digipaks. The analysis of specific areas of Digipaks means that I will be able to devote all my focus into one part of the album, making the inferences more detailed and elaborate, rather than having to cover a wide area of features for each artist. The analysis of existing Digipaks as a whole means that I can see what features would be suitable and useful on my own Digipak.
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Black Eyed Peas (Front Panel)
The Digipak Cover for Foo Fighters showcases an abstract 3D model of a person, who is coloured in a shade of reflective red. The red person is the only image which is placed onto the album cover, and stands out greatly from the black background. This may be done to bring all of the viewer's focus onto the Digipak image and the Black Eyed Peas' logo above it. The red colours of the 3D person are contrasted by the white logo of the Black Eyed Peas and the name of their album, which may be done in order to inform the viewer on whose Digipak this is. The over-heading title of "The E.N.D" suggests that this may be the last album by the Black Eyed Peas, and encourages the viewer to purchase the Digipak. There is also a label which states "2 DISC SET LIMITED DELUXE EDITION", which further encourages the viewer to purchase the Digipak as the label suggests that this album is of a higher quality than other products, and that the limited availability of the album makes it valuable.
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Outkast (Back Panel)
The Back Panel for this Digipak contains lists of all of the Digipak's contents (all of the songs that are on the CD/CDs). There is a column of song names, with the artists behind each song labelled in a smaller font under each song title. There are abstract images for both of the artists on the sides of the back panel, and they are highlighted in colours which stand out from the black background. On the bottom left of the Back Panel there are a number of watermarks and labels of production companies and other companies which contributed or have connections to the band's Digipak. On the bottom right of the Back Panel, there is a bar code which is placed in order to be able to further identify the product. Further analysis can be made into the font style of the song list, which is done in a style that fits within the Rap genre.
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Coldplay (Full Digipak)
This Digipak study will focus more on a genre which doesn't align with Hip Hop and rap. This will be to help give me ideas in terms of how to make my Digipak stand out from other hip hop artists, as well as add a wider variety of research and knowledge into my work.
The Digipak for Coldplay's "A Head full of Dreams" was made in a style which fits with the theme of the band's album. The product is covered with dots and splatters of different colors, aligning with the album's name (which follows a bright and colorful style). The band's name is etched into the front cover of the Digipak, in a color that stands out from the color scheme, which effectively identifies whose album this Digipak is. The CD which comes in the Digipak is in matte black, and is covered in bright colors. This is done in order to make the CD more interesting and eye-catching to the viewer, as well as fitting in with the Digipak's theme.
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My Digipak Plan
Information on how to make a Digipak was acquired through:
https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/music-industry/music-production/digipak-cd
https://www.discwizards.com/cd-digipaks.htm
https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/music-industry/music-production/digipak-cd
https://www.discwizards.com/cd-digipaks.htm
After reading the aforementioned website, which gives a detailed set of bullet points on how to produce a Digipak, I've learnt that I must create 4 panels: front, back, inside left, and inside right.
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How I'm going to produce my Digipak
I've used Canva for multiple artistic-themed projects, both inside and outside of school, and I feel that this website would be perfect for designing the 4 panels for my Digipak. Through this website, I've already designed the size of my Digipak's panels (which was specified in the previous section of my Digipak work, as 139.5mm x 125.5mm).
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What each of the Digipak pages will contain
There will be a number of Digipak pages for each element and section of my Digipak. I will include pages for the Front Panel, Spine, Inside left panel, Inside right panel, and Back panel. There will be contact sheets for every single stage of development within the Digipak panels, with information being given for each section (to explain where I'm at within each stage). There is also a finished Digipak page, to showcase every single panel of the Digipak without any other elements, just to present each of the work to the viewer if they want to immediately see the Digipak on its own.
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