I have found that the most appealing digipaks in my eyes have been minimalistic, whereby most of the cover is used as blank space (without photography of the band). They only show information once the case has been opened through leaflets and text on the inside covers and/or CD itself. This offers a mystery to the viewer and also gives it an exclusive feel which will bode well when on the shelves amongst other digipaks. I like the idea of only using two colours for the design and as Empire already have an official logo, that choice is made easy - White and Red/Burgundy.
Although I plan a minimalistic design, what little is included needs to be thought though. Therefore I am going to research into many different designs of both minimalistic and other styles for inspiration. This will also give me an idea of the content to include e.g. bonus tracks, freebies, booklets etc.
Examples of 2 minimalistic designs
Focusing on the layout
The digipak below is in the standard CD layout. The case only opens in one place, with the CD on one half and text on the other. This would fit in with the minimalistic styling but in would be difficult to add features (such as removable leaflets) due to the limited space.
In contrast this digipak has a very complex layout. This is perfect for jamming in all the bells and whistles to increase appeal to fans, but I don't believe it is aesthetically pleasing. Also, from a business point of view, costs to produce the extra CDs and material will increase costs of packaging and thus the price for customers.
I really like this layout. The extra panel makes it more interesting than the standard layout giving room for content but doesn't use too many confusing panels, as above! Of all the layouts I have seen, this is my favorite and I shall be using this for Empire's digipak.
This is the template I will use, but will transfer the CD position to the middle tile.
What to include
The research gave me an idea of how many possibilities there are in terms of what to include in the digipak. Many of these are to maximize the appeal of the tangible product. There are a few obvious features that all of the digipaks includes, such as bar-code, website of artist, BBFC certification and track listings.
There were also many features that were included to increase appeal to the tangible product. These were things that couldn't be viewed without purchasing the product, for example:
- Information leaflet (biography, message from artists, interviews, lyrics, anecdotes from gigs and tours, plans for future)
- Bonus Tracks
- DVD with live or behind the scenes footage or a 'making of' or music videos
- Remixes track
- Codes for login to private band website for the owner of that digipak (Not as common)
- Posters
- Exclusive artwork
