I’ve been snitching some freelance jobs lately, one of them or actually two included CD Packaging and Design, I looked for a book on the UK version of amazon, originally for £12.99 / $20.00, but a seller was selling it for 8$ so I went for it. £4.99 makes a difference when you pay for shipping twice (to your virtual address in UK then to Amman through Aramex’s famous old crappy Shop & Ship).

The book is so adorable, fulfilling, they even have the sizes of the Digipacks, Jewel cases die cuts and more. I never expected it to be that good, also printing/design and paper material is attractive to the eye. What’s so special about this revised version of the 2003 edition is that it has more pages and has more interactive and downloadable work. Each page is rich in color and includes artwork from all over the globe. Has Mika’s Artwork, A brief description of each CD covered accompanies the imagery, with the ideas behind the artwork and packaging.

It’s not only the design of each cover that makes this book fascinating - the design of each CD case is in places just as inspiring. The book looks at many different designs, including the standard plastic case, cardboard casings, cases designed from other packaging and - as the style of purchasing music adapts to a digital society - USB memory sticks.

You’ll find that it’s very easy to source inspiration from CD-Art. Every design is unique and intriguing, but the fact that we can be influenced into buying a CD that we’ll listen to because of what we see on the cover gets us fascinated.

Rates: 5/5 (Yes, full house)

I recommend it and recommend buying it off amazon.co.uk via aphrohead_books.

P.S: I’m selling 2 books of mine, What Is Product Design? by Laura Slack for 30$ and Design Handbook by Charlotte Fiell for 11$ (both new, ordered them for a friend who changed major and doesn’t need them anymore, drop a comment if you want any of them and paid around 12 JD shipping for both).