What is a digipak?

A digipak typically consists of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD/DVD attached to the inside. It means the CD comes in a cardboard flip-out case rather than a standard plastic hinged case.

Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD digipak is often used as a premium package for DVD's and DVD sets. 

What is included in a digipak?

A digipak often contains:

• Photographs/Pictures - usually at least one will be of the artist, and another will be of a scene which will reflect the mood/genre of the record. 
• Track list including song-writing credits.
• One box with a disc impression, like a circle over an innocuous background that shows where the disc will go or alternatively the design on the actual disc).
• A band/artist information section (names, instruments, additional musicians,  copyright, and year of release, etc.)
• Barcode, QR, and a logo for the record company.
• Possibly reference to other albums by the same artist.

This colour scheme for a digipak works very well for this band. The front and back covers are very eye-catching as they are black with a white illuminated light, which would be effective in grabbing the audience's attention. There is consistency throughout the entire digipak as it continues the black and white theme in every panel. Also, the information page is just a subtle black background with white writing on it which is simple yet it works very well for this digipak as it follows the same lines as the back page with the song titles on. As this band is the indie genre, they tend to not follow normal digipaks for boy bands, and so they did not have a picture of the band on the front of the digipak, instead they followed the simple, intriguing fashion for their front and back cover of the digipak, allowing the audience to gain more interest in the band, and also suggesting it's more about the music than the attractiveness of the band. The CD itself is fully black, however it did not conform to the rest of the digipak as the CD is matte black, whereas the writing on it "The 1975" is written in a shiny black colour which stands out and would catch the audience's attention subtly. The font used throughout the digipak is very distinctive yet simple, which would help the audience's familiarity with the band and make the band easy to recognise. However, the photo of the whole band is spread across the two inside pages of the digipak, the photo that would be on the left of the digipak and the middle where the CD would be placed. This is quite effective as the audience would recognise the band and would gain more interest in the digipak. Their outfits also fit the colour scheme, which creates consistency throughout the entire digipak.

This digipak for Katy Perry's album "Teenage Dream" is very effective for it relates to her song for "Teenage Dream." She has the colour scheme of a baby pink, which could make her seem innocent, however the photos of her surrounded by the baby pink contradict the innocence of the colour as she is naked in the photos, therefore conforming to Andrew Goodwin's theory of women being subjected to voyeuristic treatment, and Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze, which is also present in her music video for "Teenage Dream". Perry also has another trait in this digipak which relates back to her song, which is the use of sweet imagery. Her CD's are the images of a lollipop and a doughnut which again adds to her innocent look. Katy Perry's middle and information panel are a connected image of her sitting down in between some cakes, again presenting sweet imagery. However, the information section does not take over the whole page, unlike "The 1975" digipak, which could suggest that she is more famous than them but also that her image matters more to the audience than her music, which is the opposite of The 1975.