What is a digipak?

A digipak is a printed card packaging for CDs and DVDs. The body of the digipak is made of cardboard and contains a plastic holder that can hold one or more discs depending on the specific type. Disc are secured in the case using plastic trays that are fitted by glue, known as flexi-trays. The outer cardboard of the digipak usually has printed images and text designed for the respective product within.

Digipaks have been widely distributed since the early 2000s as an alternative packaging option to jewel cases. Jewel cases are 3-piece plastic casings that were traditionally used to hold discs since compact discs were introduced back in 1982. Digipaks on the other hand have a cardboard outer layer, which is less brittle and makes the packaging less likely to be compromised by external force. Cardboard is also a more eco-friendly solution than mostly-plastic jewel cases. (I once had the unfortunate experience of dropping a jewel case in a record store, which convinced me that digipaks are a overall better solution. Phew!

Types & Contents

Digipaks are differentiated according to the number of panels that they contain. The most popular digipak template contains 4 panels. Alternative templates can contain 6, 8 or 10 panels for albums that contain more CDs or albums that contain large amounts of attached information.

The contents of a digipak typically contains 1-4 CD discs depending on the amount of panels in the digipak. Additional contents include song lists and lyric booklets that allows audiences to gain detailed information regarding the album, providing space for artists to express themselves. Other miscellaneous materials can include promotional content and souvenirs such as notes or Polaroids from the artist.

The packaging of the digipak contains a number of elements. Firstly, there is information about the album, including the artist’s name, the album name and a song list. Next, there are labels of record companies and copyright labels, along with a bar code. The artwork on the digipak cover is custom designed to fit the theme of the album.

Purpose of Digipaks

The primary purpose of a digipak is marketing and promotion, which ultimately aims to increase sales of an album. For these reasons, digipaks are carefully designed to have a strong visual appeal that will attract consumers from shelves. The font and other graphic elements are arranged to further the genre and stylistic direction of the artist. Since digipaks are physical products and can be flipped open like a book, designs are created to be evocative in order to establish a strong emotional connection with audiences. Elements on the digipak can also introduce the contents of the album as well as the style of the artist to newer audiences. Functionally, the digipak is designed to hold the actual CD and other internal contents, such as booklets or other promotional materials which are included as a form of collectible and fan service.

Case Study An example of digipak design is Modal Soul by Nujabes, a classic jazz hip-hop album released in 2005 by Hyde Out Productions, Nujabes’ own hip-hop and electronic label. I took these photos from the vinyl edition of Modal Soul, but the design across 4 panels are the same for both CD and vinyl.

The front panel of the album features cover art by David Verba. The painting is an abstract sketch, and the orange/blue colour scheme provides a strong but not obtrusive contrast which attracts consumers’ attention. The font of the album name is written in a cursive font, while the artist’s name is written in a rounded font. Both fonts emulate hand-written letters, and are printed in white to be clearly visible over the orange background, also matching the white line between the orange and blue colours of the cover art. The human silhouette in the artwork corresponds with ‘soul’ in the album name.

The second panel contains a message from the artist. Most of the text is written in Japanese, which is Nujabes’ native language. The first half of text explores the artist’s perspective on nature and the meaning of life, expressing how he feels people are oblivious to their environment. The second half preaches for individuals to pay attention to the world and environmental issues, and how music brings people together. The pure white background is highly minimalist, but suits the ‘zen’ vibe of Nujabes’ philosophical meditations.

The top of the third panel contains the album credits, including the artist himself as well as individuals who contributed in the production and design of this album. The mid-section contains the track list with lyric & instrument credits. This left & right aligned design was probably made with vinyl as the main medium, as it corresponds well with the 2-disc structure of the album on vinyl, whereas the CD digipak version would only contain 1 CD. Located in the bottom-mid are Nujabes’ personal logo and the official website of his personal record label.

The back cover contains a centre-positioned list of tracks in the albums, with the names of the collaborating artists. The logo of Hyde Out Productions is located in the centre of the lower half. The indie production label makes it possible for Nujabes to pursue an extremely clean aesthetic which does not incorporate industry standard elements e.g. copyrights at the bottom of the album. The barcode is featured as a sticker on the bottom-right corner of the plastic film packaging, which helps preserve the clean design on the actual digipak.