Digipack

Digi-pack Research & Influence

I have decided to conduct my own research into the construction of a
dig pack. Using the conventions of dig packs from the hip-hop genre I
can use this as a basis to create a successful and effective
one. Conventionally digipacks consists of a small paper book
containing promotional pictures and information on the tracks, the
album and the production of the tracks. Digipacks also contain one or
two plastic trays that will hold a CD/DVD. In the early 2000's
digipacks grew in popularity and emerged as a new form of
technology as a result of the rise of Walkman and cd players. I
wanted a style of digi-pack that conformed to the conventions of Hip
Hop and also the gritty and social realistic portrayal of street life in
the artists lyricism. Using Jay Z's Kingdom Come cd, Kanye West's
The College Drop and Nas Illmatic, they helped to give me an idea of
what to include in the digi-pack. In Jay Z and Nas's CD contains
images of the artists on the street depicted through a black and white
edit. As seen in the digi-pack that I have designed I have found some
resonation with the use of photographs. The four images used all of
which are screen grabs from the first draft are edited in a black and
white style conforming to the representations of urban setting.
A particularly striking image, which I think is quite effective, is the use
of the low angle shot looking upwards at this brooding tower block
with the graffiti in the background creates a menacing backdrop to
the album. Single shots of just the artist were influenced by Jay Z's
Kingdom Come album booklet. Given that all the images are done in
black and white I felt that they added a dark and eerie vibe to the
presentation and were integrated also for continuity purposes.

Digi-Pack Draft 1

Draft 1: Design
For the design I was required to use a six squared template for the
digi-pack. Using photoshop I acquired the images from screen grabs
from our music video. The digi-pack covers a album cover and back.
The cover was initially designed for the music poster. For the digipack the design experienced some alterations in order for it to look

like a album cover it only has the name and album title of the artist
and of course the trademarked parental guidance sign that many Hip
Hop albums have due to the explicit content. The back cover is more
detailed giving information about the track list. Going across the
cover is a feature of Hip Hop album. To stick with continuity I also
used the same text and font in red. The typical representations and
conventions of the producer and the trademark and copyright titles
are also presented underneath this to give the impression that this is
a proper CD.