Putting It Out There

 Semester Two, Project Two

'You The Designer'

Ah, the humble CD case. Beyond our ongoing frustration with the fragility of the jewel case (and those stickers, good God), very little regard is paid to the ways in which we physically distribute music. What can be done to improve the CD case? Do we need CD cases at all? These are questions we aim to answer as the BCT Year One students begin their Second project for the semester.

First, there was the performance. A man mucking around with a guitar, or an entire orchestra filling a concert hall with some of the greatest music mankind has ever seen. For a long time this was the only way to experience the wonder known as music. And then, in 1877, the act of listening to music was taken in a completely different direction - Thomas Edison had invented the first recording/playback device, the wax cylinder. Then came the record, a refinement of the previous format that saw widespread production and distribution. And then, with the introduction of CDs, the act of distributing music became the backbone of the industry as we see it today. Since then, various forms of digital distribution have become commonplace, but so far none have surpassed the CD in fidelity and sheer number.

Still, at first, I didn't want to create a CD case at all. I wanted to try a new format, something that could store more music at better quality with a smaller size and better compatibility. I went through dozens of different methods to distribute musical content, many of them embracing the digital trend that music is taking. However, with digital content, especially with a tangible format such as a flash drive or SD card, many issues arise with the nature of the format. First and foremost, some people do not have or cannot efficiently operate a computer (let alone any dedicated audio equipment that supports digital formats). Though small, this is an entire audience that something like a memory card or flash drive would alienate entirely. And of course, none of the other formats would work with standard musical playback equipment such as a stereo. Additionally, there would always be a looming risk of the music files being even easier to distribute illegally than those from CDs. One could introduce encryption, but this creates compatibility issues with software and non-PC equipment. DRM could also be used, but given its track record of being restrictive and arbitrary would not be a suitable method. Lastly, unlike a CD, the data on a memory device is vulnerable to being erased, modified or completely overwritten. Interestingly, this was the basis for one of my other preliminary ideas, which was to have a flash drive or other storage media containing the music, and a blank CD with which to arrange the album how the consumer wishes. My main reason for abandoning this idea was that it would take away the focus from the music contained in the package, as the consumer could easily write alltogether different files to the disc or even use their own CDs.

With this in mind, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel in terms of musical arrangement, my solution was to simply make the case more interesting. To do this I looked to one of my favourite cases, the packaging for Tool's '10,000 Days', which has a system for stereoscopic 3D viewing of artwork included in the package. Though I did not necessarily take cues directly from this design, both the idea of the lens and the idea of an album being more than just music (something I originally got from this video of Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson) stood out to me. Next, I looked at The Resistance, by Muse. Though the actual packaging is not particularly interesting, it represented a clear logistic choice - have the packaging take up as little space as possible and at low cost. With this in mind, my final design was a synthesis of these ideas coupled with my own personal spin.

The case itself consists of a few segments (much like slices of pizza or pie) that fold out to reveal the CD. These segments wrap around the radius of the CD on both sides, and are clasped together in the middle in order to keep it secure. To remove the CD, one must rotate all of the segments until at least 50% of the disc is exposed, and then unclasp the middle to release it. The true artistic merit of this design, however, is the artwork. It is not simply a singular image printed on the front cover. Rather, it is a series of images printed on each transparent segment, and when overlaid create a complete picture that is greater than the sum of its parts. The art design itself represents the recording I used for the CD, a track from our previous project entitled 'Song for Steve'. The object of this assignment was to take various sounds and arrange them into an 'aural terrain' and, in much the same way, my CD case has various separate images that are then arranged into a cohesive whole as the package is opened. The images themselves (such as water, rope and a silhouette of the Auckland CBD) are direct representatives of the sounds used in our recording coming together in a new soundscape.

My main issue with the theory of this design has simply been the fragility of a compact disc. With the thin, transparent and flexible plastic the cover is made of, it leaves the CD prone to scratching and breakage. I believe that with the precision of modern mass production techniques, the design can be modified to use harder, thicker plastic that will both protect the CD and ease operation of the system.

Unfortunately, my physical prototype did not turn out so well, owing to both a rushed construction and the absence of modern manufacturing techniques and materials (can you say scissors and sticky tape?)

...So to clarify the aesthetic and function of this final design, I would also like to supplement it with a final model that I constructed and rendered in Blender:

 Logo courtesy of Downfall of Humanity.

This is a design that I feel is competent, but to be successful and fit my own personal goals would need more development. Nevertheless, I have certainly both gained and refined some key skills throughout this project, and would like to further explore the realm of design in the future.