Conventions of Digipaks and adverts

Digipaks are a form of CD packaging. Generally they consist of a 6-panel, paperboard, or card, gatefold with a plastic tray to contatin the CD. They are known as one of the first big alternatives to plastic jewel cases. They are often used to promote singles or special edition albums and tracks. As the Digipak cases are generally made out from card or paperboard they are known to wear and become a damaged a lot morequickly than the more resistant jewel case used by many manufacturers. Digipak cases can also be made a lot more environmentally friendly with some manufacturers even making their Digipaks using 100% recycled materials.
The artwork on Digipaks would generally follow a similar theme over all of the panels and the artwork would be related to the song or the artist in particular. Similar colours and the style of the artwork would be used throughout. On the front panel of the Digipak, something related to the band, such as their logo or a picture of the band, would be used to promote the track and make it obvious who it is aimed for. On the back panel of a Digipak the tracks would be listed and numbered.

An example of a Digipak



A standard, clear jewel case

The posters that are used to advertise the album often use the same images as the front cover of the Digipak. The poster would often have information regarding the release date of the album and may feature very short reviews on the poster.

Digipak front panel 

Poster using very similar to Digipak cover

As you can see with this Dikipak cover and the poster, the image that is used is pretty much the same. However, the poster features extra detail that the Digipak cover does not have.