Digi Packs Reviewed

What are Digipaks?

"Digipaks 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 center portion. Usually, the portion of the digipack that hold the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background." (http://musicians.about.com/od/ah/g/digipacksleeve.htm)

In 2007 Beyonce released her album 'Beyonce- Greatest Hits'. It included songs of her previous albums 'Dangerously In Love', 'B'Day' and 'I Am...Sasha Fierce'

The digipak included images of Beyonce and her previous albums, this is allowing the artist to showcase her other work and to re-promote it to her audience who may not have seen her older works. A normal CD case wouldn't accommodate for this as there isn't the room to showcase these images. The images of her previous work also help to promote her image as they are all fairly similar, in that they are all quite sexualised which fits into the 'pop' and 'RnB' genre. For example, the image of Beyonce on the far left shows her in a outfit that shows off her figure, which is emphasised by her having her arms up as it draws your attention to the gap between her arm and her waist. This is then repeated again in the middle picture which too is quite sexualised as Beyonce is wearing quite a low cut top and holding a similar pose to the picture before. The picture on the right is a mid shot of Beyonce which looks like it is less about showing off her body. However, the sexualisation of her image is shown again in the bigger picture of her in leather clothing which shows off her figure and promotes her image and perhaps the image she has of her self which could be of confidence in how she looks and feels. Which in its self could be a selling point to many women as they may aspire to be like her. All of this was made possible by the nature of the digipak and the space that it offers for creativity and advertising or perhaps, re-launching a brand. 

A large chunk of space is taken up by writing about Beyonce and her career. This is another good selling point of the Digipak as a normal CD case may not allow for this. Plus it appeals to her fan base who have followed her throughout the years and want to know more about her. 

One Disk is a CD and one disk is a DVD which includes music videos. This is something that the traditional CD case wouldn't accommodate for. Therefore a digipak allows for extra features which may also bring in more profit. The images behind the CD and DVD are also of Beyonce, showcasing her image again. A typical CD case wouldn't allow for this many images therefore the digipak is allowing for the artist to be more creative. The front cover of the digipak shows a extreme close up of Beyonce's face which shows her importance and makes a very clear link between who she is and what she looks like. The whole album is quite glamorous (for the time it was released) and conveys power and importance which in-turn could link to Beyonce's nick names of "The Queen of Pop" and "The Queen of RnB".

In 2010 Katy Perry released 'Teenage Dream'. Below you can see the image for the digipak.

The digipak strongly represents the music video for 'California Girls' with images taken from the video. The images are quite sexual and flirtatious which could be a selling point. Sweets and 'treats' are seen through out the digipak design, you can see here on the CD's the design of a lolly pop and a donut; you can also see in the top picture that there are cakes and a crown of cakes. These are things that are associated with fun and good times which could link to the less serious side of the lyrics. Also the sexualised image and the theme of sweets link to the title 'Teenage Dream' as they are themes that you might find teenagers being more interested in than perhaps adults.