CD Digipack

CDD Research : The History Of The Album Cover

The first disc records, ones that we would recognize as such, appeared around 1910. Most often these were packaged in plain brown Paper or cardboard sleeves. Occasionally and enterprising retailer would print his store name on the sleeve but generally they were unadorned.

In the early 1920's retailers started gathering many of these cardboard sleeves and binding them together with heavy paperboard or leather covers. These looked similar to large photo albums and, borrowing the name, were sold as record albums. These albums offered much greater protection for the discs than the original packaging and were seen as indispensible to disc owners that had seen too many of their fragile records broken.

Beginning in the 1930s the record companies started using these record albums to distribute bundles of records from one performer or a collection of performers with similar musical styles. Some of the first cover designs can be traced to these albums and the record company’s desire to graphically communicate the music each album held.

Alex Steinweiss the art director for Columbia Records is given credit for the concept of modern cover art. He experimented with different concepts and images through the late 1930s and into the early 1940s. During this time Columbia Records rebounded from the terrible years they had suffered during the depression to become one of the most prominent record companies in the United States. Much of this was due to their ground breaking use of graphical design. By the close of the decade all major recording companies had graphic design professionals on staff.

Alex Steinwess

The golden era of cover art design began in the early to mid 1960s and lasted into the early 1980s. During this time the major format for music was the 12 inch, long play disc or LP. Cover art became a part of the musical culture of the time. Often used to express graphically the musician’s artistic intent, it helped connect and communicate to listeners the message or underlying theme of the album.

Queen II

Guns 'N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

The Beatles- Yellow Submarine

Designers, photographers, and illustrators sometimes became famous for their cover art creations. Such notables as Andy Warhol and Frank Frazetta were taken from being known in their industry to becoming household names due to their cover art graphic design work. So respected and desired are the designs and illustrations found in cover art that there are numerous art galleries that specialize in helping collectors find rare album covers.

As the medium for recording transitioned from the LP to the compact disc many graphic designers failed to transition with it. Having worked for so long with the much larger canvas of the LP cover, switching to the smaller CD case left most designers dissatisfied with their results. Often artist and record companies simply tried to shrink the LP size art to fit the CD.

Album cover art, now almost exclusively CD and CD packaging artwork, went through a period of change and rebirth in the 1990s. Designers learned to capture snapshots and portions of the artist’s musical intent rather than trying to convey the entire message. Also designers started conveying the emotion of the music rather than the musical intent.

Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Green Day- Dookie

In the late 90s computer design programs started to overcome the physical limitations of the smaller CD packaging. With the ability to draw much tighter, finer lines and have even small details look crisp and sharp, once again designers were free to explore a larger variety of design options. As the technology continued to improve graphic designers adapted and were once again producing world class artwork.

In the present, CD design is undergoing a true renaissance. Rather than becoming obsolete in the digital age as many thought it would, graphic design is once again proving itself as the difference maker. The internet is now the largest record store imaginable. Now rather than browsing a few hundred albums or songs at a time you may be exposed to thousands and thousands. Since it would be impossible to listen to portions of all those thousands of songs the design of the accompanying artwork must cause potential listeners to stop and take notice and give this album a try.  

CLICK HERE to watch a video which provides an interesting take on the implications of album artwork in relation to marketing.

Research into Existing DigiPacks

I then looked at multiple existing DigiPacks to try and find common conventions used. This would allow me to use these conventions when I come to making my own DigiPack for my chosen album.

I organised my findings into a diagram of a DigiPack template.

I found that on the Front Cover of the DigiPack, the artist and album names are usually found. They are more than likely found in the top third of the album cover, as it is easily noticeable when flicking through multiple albums. Another convention on the front cover is an image. Depending on the artist, this could be a picture of them, a photograph or a piece of artwork created by an artist. These images usually illustrate what the theme of the album is, and what genre the artist specialises in.

The back cover usually consists of a track list. This shows the name, the order and sometimes the length of each song on the album. It also states the record label, and any websites or social media pages linked with the band or artist. At the bottom of the Back Cover is usually small print, which states all legal information of the album.

A convention of the inside front cover is text that states the names of everyone involved in the production of the album. Some artists also include the lyrics to the songs on the album. There is almost always a background image that is linked to the one on the front cover.

The inside back cover is where the CD sits. However, there is usually an image behind the CD. There is sometimes text that is wrapped around the CD tray, which includes similar information to the inside front cover.

On the spine, the album and artist names are stated. This is so when the CD is filed into shelves, the owner easily find the album they are looking for.

Existing CD Digipak Research - JP Harris and the Tough Choices

To further my research into common conventions in existing Digipaks, I looked at the album "I'll Keep Calling" by J.P Harris and the Tough Choices. Below is my Slideshow of my findings.

I then investigated an existing Digipack for my chosen band, Biffy Clyro. The album I chose was Only Revolutions. This is Biffy Clyro's 5th album, and is the previous release to my chosen album, Opposites. Here is a PowerPoint showing my findings.

I also researched into the Digipack for Mallory Knox's album Asymmetry. I think that Mallory Knox, a British Pop-Rock band, are of a similar genre to Biffy Clyro, which is why I thought it would be useful to investigate their Album Covers.

Finally, I researched the Digipack for the album Automatic by Don Broco. Although I could not find the inside covers, I still found the expected conventions on the front and back covers.

Planning: Photoshop Practise 

After researching multiple CD Digipacks, I used Photoshop to practice creating a front cover for my chosen album. Here are the steps I took:

I firstly found an image of Biffy Clyro, my chosen artist, on Google images and imported it to Photoshop. I made sure that the image I chose was big and of a high resolution, so when I edited it, it wouldn't look pixelated.

I then used the Quick Selection Tool to remove the original background of the image. This left me with just the 3 band members on my canvas.

Next, I imported a picture of Biffy Clyro's frontman, Simon Neil, performing live. I decided to use this image, as live shows are one of Biffy Clyro's biggest appeals, and all fans of the Rock genre, mu target audience, enjoy going to live shows.

Fourthly, I added a Clipping Mask to the First Layer. This would mean that the original image I cut out would act as a boundary for the layer above, and the picture of Biffy Clyro playing live would only appear where there is something on the layer below.

Finally, I added a black background to the canvas. This made the image stand out, and the borders of the 3 band members were clear.

I think, that this technique works effectively as a album cover. Therefore, I will consider using it as my final piece. However, I won't be able to get images from Google like I did here. Therefore, I will need to plan my photography effectively, as this technique relies on good quality images to look professional.

Changing colours in Photoshop

I also practised using the Hue/Saturation editor to change the colour of a guitar. I think that this could be useful for my Digipak, as I might have to edit colours of my photographs to match the colour scheme of my Digipak. Here are the steps I took:

 I firstly imported a picture of a red guitar into Photoshop. I chose this, as it is similar to the guitar I will be using in my music video.

 I then added a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to the image. This would allow me to select certain colours and adjust the Hue, which would let me change the colour of the guitar.

 This is the window that appeared after I added the adjustment layer. I set the layer to detect reds, and used the Hue slider to change all of the reds to blue.

 However, the adjustment also changed the colour of the head and neck of the guitar. To solve this, I used the Pen tool to colour over the parts of the guitar I did not want to be affected  in black. This removed any adjustments to the parts that I coloured over.




Here is the guitar before and after I photoshopped it.

I think that this technique could be useful for my Digipack. It means that if a certain colour isn't available for any of my props, then I can use PhotoShop to change the colour and make it suitable for the colour scheme of my Digipack.

Planning: Digipack Plan

Construction: Digipack

 To start the construction of my Digipack, I firstly imported the template I would be using. This allowed me to get the right dimensions for each cover. I started on the Front Cover.

I then tried to find a good background colour for my digipack. I already knew that I wanted the digipack to consist of dark colours. I also knew that I wanted to play on the album name 'Opposites', by making two parts of the cover contrast. After looking at multiple background colours, I found that black or dark red were the strongest. However, I thought that black looked too dark, so I decided on dark red.

I then started to work on the text of my front cover. I found the font Gill Sans to be the most appropriate, as it is bold, but also plain, which in my opinion is suitable for my chosen artist. I also arranged my text in this way, as the name of the band 'Biffy Clyro' ends in the same letter as the start of the album name. This arrangement also left me a good amount of space to place an image. However, I didn't want the text to be the same colour.

To illustrate the album name 'Opposites', I wanted the band name and album name to be of contrasting colours. Therefore, I used the rectangle tool to make a shape consisting of 2 colours. I chose red and blue as my contrasting colours, as they both stood out on the background colour of dark red. 

I placed this shape over the text, and added a Clipping Mask to it. This meant that the colours would only show behind the layer below, which was the text.  In my opinion, this looked effective as both the colours stood out from the background.

I then worked on adding an image to my front cover. I used the Quick Selection tool to cut out my image of my actor.













At this stage, I felt that the background colour was too dark. Therefore I started to play around with the background and see what colours looked more effective. These were some I found that looked good.

I decided to stick with the dark red background. This is because it matches the colour scheme of my music video and my actor's clothing. The darkness represents the mood of the album, while also matching the red of my actors shirt and guitar. Therefore, I felt that the dark red was a suitable background colour.

I then moved on to the back cover. I copied the background from the front cover and pasted in into the template for the back cover. This meant that the colour of the background was consistent on both the front and back cover. It also meant that I didn't have to waste time trying to get the right dimensions.

I then copied the picture of my artist onto the back cover. I resized the image and cropped it to fit the back cover. I also flipped the image horizontally, to illustrate the album name 'Opposites'.

I then added a Track List to the back cover. This was a common feature I found when researching existing album covers. I alternated between the colours red and blue, again to illustrate the 'Opposites' album title. I used the same font, Gill Sans, as I used on the front cover to ensure there was consistency throughout my digipack. 

"Biblical" Biffy Clyro Completed CD Digipack.