Ancillary task: introduction to digipaks

In today's lesson, we were introduced to one of our ancillary tasks, the production of a digipak. A digipak serves as the modern alternative to standard jewel cased packaging. Typically, digipaks are made from 300gsm cardboard, allowing either a matte, gloss or spot varnish finish. Laminating or embossing is also available for digipaks. The four colour (CYMK) model is usually adhered to or a pantone colour scheme is applied, while calligraphy or font type is adapted to suit the style of the album/artist/genre. They have four panels and plastic casing inside, to hold the compact disc. The dimensions (based on a standard 4pp digipak) are 139.5mm x 6mm x 125.5mm.

 Digipaks vs jewel cases:

• More eco-friendly/ reduced environmental impact as a minimal amount of plastic is used 
• More compact as they are made out of thin cardboard instead of thick plastic 
• More manageable and versatile as they are lighter and thinner 
• Virtually shatterproof and very hardwearing 
• Increased room for graphic display 
• Increased value as they look more premium 

The generic conventions found on a digipak include:

• Album title 
• Name of the artist/band 
• Track list and featuring tracks 
• Album artwork i.e images, photographs or illustrations 
• Logo or typography
• Copyright information 
• Parental advisory sticker 
• Record label logo and information 
• Social media information e.g Twitter, Facebook 
• Reviews e.g "outstanding", "album of the year" "★★★★★" 
• Produced and written by information