Print Component Research

I would like to take a look at some real life examples of digipak. I'll look at both a vinyl digipak and a CD one. I am not sure which format I will commit to.

Let's take a look at vinyl digipak for The Strokes "The New Abnormal". When the wrapping is removed, we are left with the album cover (from a Basquiat painting!). It's abstract, and I would like to create something like this for Jack.

The back cover is actually transparent, and would originally contain the tracklist, which was printed on the wrapping. Without it, the cover looks boring. The most interesting thing is that the barcode extends to the middle, and there is a cutout for the printing on the vinyl.

The inserts are very cool! There is a poster included, which includes the full art of Basquiat's Bird of Money painting. On the other side, there is a photo of the band members' silhouettes. I would like to include something like this, where there is an "extended" version of the album cover as a poster, and a photo of Jack on the back, or something symbolic from the song, like a flower.

One more thing...There is another insert that includes a code for a free digital download. This is becoming more popular in physical releases after 2015, so I will be including a digital download code. 

Let's take a look at a CD digipak for Radiohead's Kid A. The album cover is bold and glitchy, which encompasses the production of the album.

The back cover is almost a continuation of the front, with the same style. It includes the tracklist

The front cover is secretly a booklet! It contains artwork in the same glitchy style, and at the end has the credits.

In some copies of Kid A, it was released with a secret booklet hidden behind the CD! Shoutout to pookapeeka on YouTube for finding it and showcasing it off. It contains lyrics and random streams of consciousness that Thom Yorke felt like saying. Some of these would appear in later Radiohead albums, including lyrics from "I Will" off of "Hail To The Thief" released in 2003.