Packaging that rocks: Ani DiFranco CD creates high-impact packaging
Paperboard Packaging

The design team for Ani DiFranco's Evolve CD approached this challenge from a new angle. Co-art directors Ani DiFranco and Brian Grunert used unique materials and high-concept embossing techniques to create eye-catching, memorable packaging. The CD has received accolades from the music industry, including a 2004 Grammy award for Best Recording Package.

"Paper selection was a principal step in the design process," Grunert says. "We wanted to express the themes of Evolve by using strong colors in combination with evocative textures and patterns."

The team chose FiberMark's Skivertex Alloy[R], a packaging material that expresses and elevates brand image with a feel and visual depth that invites interaction. Produced at Shorewood Packaging's Toronto facility, the package sets the CD apart from other new releases on the retail shelf.

From Concept to Construction

The "main character" in Evolve's title track is a moth. The moth became the central metaphor for the recording's package design. It is a symbol that aptly represents the themes of change and growth, both personal and artistic that are present throughout the album's songs.

A layered approach was visualized. The art directors chose to juxtapose a slicker, metallic slipcase against a more muted, organic inner packaging. To create a lifelike appearance, the designers conceptualized a moth printed in muted browns and greens and embossed in a sculpted die. "A diecut in an exact outline of the moth suggests the emergence of the moth through the outer packaging. The combined effect is that the package itself 'evolves' as it is opened," Grunert says.