WS - Bryan Adams - 18 Til I Die

To really try and get an understanding of Digipaks, we need to look at Digipaks in general, but also examples from our own genre. For this reason I have decided to look at this example, from Bryan Adams for his album "18 Til I Die". This digipak comes under the broader genre of Rock music that is shared by the song we are using. Below is a quote from Wikipedia putting the album into context:

"18 til I Die is the seventh studio album by the Canadian rock artist Bryan Adams. Released on June 4, 1996 through A&M Records, the album became a commercial success peaking at #1 in United Kingdom and number two in his homeland Canada." [Wikipedia]

To begin with we will look at the obvious parts of the digipak and the layout. This particular product has four panels; a front cover, back cover and two panels on the inside. This is common for digipaks, although some do have six panels that can be folded out. Often digipaks have front and back covers that are somehow linked, and the panels in the middle may be similar. The middle panels usually have some relevance to the front and/or back cover, and this is the case in this example. The background image on the back panel is the same as the background on one of the inside panels. This shows the outer panels and inner panels are linked, something we are looking at for our own digipak in some way.


It is worth noting that the actual CD in this particular digipak has a design printed on it. This is something we are looking into and need to make a decision on. The design on this example is quite similar to the front cover. There is no background image on the panel, so the design on the CD is the whole image for that panel. Without it the panel would look very bland and boring, so this is something we need to consider seriously before making a final decision on this.


The other inside panel has a background image with a more dominant, but smaller image set in front of this. This shows the use of layering on a professional product, something we are required to do on our own digipak. The black and white image on the panel is very bland and doesn't particularly catch the eye. As a personal opinion I think it is quite boring and ineffective, so hopefully we will go for something more eye-catching that will appeal better to our own target audience.


If we go back to looking at the back panel we can see everything you would expect, such as a barcode, copyright information and logos of companies involved in the making of this digipak. There is also another image of a man that can be linked to the background image of both the back panel and one of the inside panel due to him wearing three rings. The title "18 Til I Die" can be seen written in bold writing on the back cover several times, though there isn't a large standout title on the back cover. 


The main things that I have taken from looking at this example are:

• Four panels with something of the design to link them all
• Closer links between the outer two and inner two panels
• Design printed on the CD
• Barcodes/copyright information/company logos included
• Black and white won't necessarily work and can be quite bland.