From deconstructing existing digipaks I have found that there are several generic conventions. I deconstructed "Arctic Monkeys- AM", "Kings of Leon- Come Around Sundown" and "Tame Impala- Lonerism".
All of the digipaks had a clear house style. For example, the Arctic Monkeys digipak had the same black and white graphics running through the whole digipak and similar colours throughout reinforcing the house style. From deconstructing my digipaks and looking at others both online and in stores, I have found that nearly all of them have a house style, meaning my digipak needs to have a house style to fit in with generic conventions. My house style needs to be attractive and suitable to my target audience.
Another generic convention that I have discovered is that on the spine and usually on the back of a digipak is a symbol representing what record label the band/artist is signed to. Therefore, before I start making my digipak, I need to research different record labels and decide which one would be best for my artist so I can use their symbol on my digipak to make my work look as realistic and professional as possible.
On the front of the digipak, the band/artist name and album name were usually featured however this was not the case with "Arctic Monkeys- AM". The artists name was displayed however the album name was hidden within an image. The style of the presentation of the band/artist name and album name varied widely from position to font style and colour because of the changing house styles from digipak to digipak. Coldplays album subverted these conventions. The band/artist name and album name are usually repeated on the spine of the digipak in the same colour and font style to help enforce the house style.
I have found that the CD's are nearly always part of the artwork of a digipak and not just a plain CD. They are decorated in a style which fits in and compliments the house style. This shows that I need to design the CD of my artist as well in order to have a fully designed digipak and to follow conventions.
On the back of the digipak, the album tracklist is displayed, another generic convention. The layout of these differ due to varying house styles. The tracks are always listed in the order they are played on the album.
Before deconstructing existing didpaks I assumed that an image/images of the band/artist would feature on the front of the album however I found that my assumption was wrong. Especially within the indie genre it is not typical to see the band/artist on the front of the digipak. I found this was true with all three of my deconstructions. This shows that I do not have to have an image of my band on the front of the album.
I will consider all of these conventions when creating my own digipak in order to make it look as professional and realistic as possible.
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