To get a good idea about the designs and layouts that are currently on the market I used the search engine Google to try and find some existing digipaks which I could perhaps take inspiration from. The artists who the packaging belongs to may not be within the same genre category as mine, but hopefully I can use some of the creative ideas that I have managed to find.
This is the digipak design for a rock band called Distorture and the albums name is Revere. What's so striking about this design is the strong use of bold contrasting colour on the front which would be the first thing that the potential buyer would see. The streak of red which is striped down the right hand side of the cover divides what looks like a symbol for the band or just a piece of constructed illustration. It's interesting how this band of colour also divides up the name of the band with torture being situated in the red section giving emphasis and also brings connotations of blood, death and perhaps love. Turning onto the back of the packaging which would probably be the second thing that the viewer would see appears quite shocking as a hand of blood dominates the space on the back. This indicates, to me, that the music is extremely emotional and heavy as it's a very powerful image to display on a packaging. The track listing is present on the back but other than that the layout is very minimalistic. opening up the packing the striking images are run right the way through the panels, with more pictures of blood filled hands are spread across the section.Although I find the images quite disturbing, which is probably which they aim to make their audience feel, I like the fact that the images run through the panels so that the colours and the pictures flow all the way through.I also like the idea that it's more graphic than bombarded with writing and information, I think this is what my particular audience would enjoy to see pictures more than words.However I don't like the face that the design is only based around two specific colours as I think it gets a bit boring to look at and doesn't appear to be particularly creative. I want mine to be full of colour and tones from my actual video.
This is the packaging for Faerie Archives, a Canadian instrumental band. Although this is an 8 panel layout I love the design that runs fluently through it. The front cover is warm green colour covered in detail which looks like a fairy tale story book, more than likely to compliment the name of the band and the use of their music, perhaps used in films and such. The image in the centre is a mystical looking lady playing a harp, again showing what the music is like and what it contains. The editing in the image again looks like the typical magical fairy theme with little figures hovering around the main character. The title of the band is written in the story book theme with lots of detail and an eye catching soft yellowey/gold colour.There's also what's meant to look like piece of parchment nailed onto the cover which holds some of the artists information which I think is a brilliant idea as it really gives a touch of artistic ideas. Even though not all of the inside can be seen in this image as I couldn't find a better picture to post, it's visible that the inside follows exactly the same theme. Parchment looking backgrounds with what could be either stories or further information about the artist with pictures and illustrations to make it really interesting to look at. This is a great idea to make the packaging more hands on, and that the buyer can take time to appreciate not just the music but the extra effort made to let the audience enjoy the experience of purchasing it more.
This is the packaging for Faerie Archives, a Canadian instrumental band. Although this is an 8 panel layout I love the design that runs fluently through it. The front cover is warm green colour covered in detail which looks like a fairy tale story book, more than likely to compliment the name of the band and the use of their music, perhaps used in films and such. The image in the centre is a mystical looking lady playing a harp, again showing what the music is like and what it contains. The editing in the image again looks like the typical magical fairy theme with little figures hovering around the main character. The title of the band is written in the story book theme with lots of detail and an eye catching soft yellowey/gold colour.There's also what's meant to look like piece of parchment nailed onto the cover which holds some of the artists information which I think is a brilliant idea as it really gives a touch of artistic ideas. Even though not all of the inside can be seen in this image as I couldn't find a better picture to post, it's visible that the inside follows exactly the same theme. Parchment looking backgrounds with what could be either stories or further information about the artist with pictures and illustrations to make it really interesting to look at. This is a great idea to make the packaging more hands on, and that the buyer can take time to appreciate not just the music but the extra effort made to let the audience enjoy the experience of purchasing it more.
Finally this is the packaging for acoustic singer and songwriter Kevin Click from South America. I don't really like the image on the front cover as it seems so simple yet effective. The heart made of petals is slightly cliche in a love story sense but I like the fact that there's a crack coming from the corner of the cover, its adding a bit more thought and creativity to the design. The background colour is like a stone texture which works quite well to make the overall feel quite artistic. The font which is used for the name is quite peculiar as the Click looks more like a horror movie style to me, although the flick of the N makes it really feminine - the suspected target audience for this artist. Inside the panels appear to be a gradient red/orange, more than likely to give off connotations of love and lust etc. What I really don't like is that there seems to be a lot of writing inside that's in blocks of white fonr which to me looks really unprofessional and unnecessary. What's also quite disappointing is the fact that the whole panel on which the CD is situated is just exactly the same as the cover which suggests that not a lot of thought has gone into making the packaging unique and appealing.
