Sure, USB drives (also called flash drives) have been around for some time now, but now, more than ever, they are becoming a business. There are so many things that companies are able to do with flash drives that make them more appealing than before.  But what makes a flash drive more appealing than a CD? As CD’s begin to fade out, flash drives are coming in to take their place. There are many advantages to using a flash drive instead of a CD. And although CD’s do have some benefits, those benefits of the flash drive outweigh the benefits of the CD.

Yes, CD’s are produced at a cheaper rate than flash drives are, but as bloggers for USB Flash Drive Tips states: “Yes flash drives cost more but that’s like comparing a piece of paper to a computer. Yep computers are more expensive, but you can only use a piece of paper once!”

For company purposes, a CD is never really good for more than a one time. Think about it, you are only able to burn a presentation onto the disc once, you can only label the disc once, and once the content is viewed by the consumers, it is likely to be thrown away. Yes, there are CD-RWs, but most often, they have a limit of three to four uses before there are quality issues. The CD therefore has no more value because the material on the disc is not needed anymore and is only seen online brochure.

A flash drive, like the CD, has an external logo and a preloaded presentation, but unlike the CD, there is extra memory and storage that is accessible to the user. It is like a portable hard drive and with flash drive memory you can add, erase, and modify data as many times as you would like. A customer is now able to use and reuse the flash drive for their own purposes, which gives the product more value. A flash drive is also a strong marketing tool. Every time your customer pulls out the flash drive you provided to them after viewing the presentation, they will be looking at a customized flash drive with your companies logo whenever they attach the flash drive to the computer.

For tomorrow and today, investing in flash drives will be of more value to you and your company.

It’s no secret the music industry has been battered by the growth of online digital music sales. CD sales continue to be way down. The convenience of jumping on iTunes and grabbing some tunes without having to leave your home is unmistakable. Faced with that challenge, artists and labels are choosing not to completely give in to the digital revolution. Custom CD packaging is a way that artists can differentiate and offer something tangible for their fans. Going beyond jewel cases and digipaks, a lot of artists and record companies are having success customizing their packaging. These examples might be an exaggeration, as you won’t see CD packaging this elaborate everyday. Nonetheless, they’re very cool and creative.

DHNN‘s design for Beck’s 8-bit album

Vonnegut Dollhouse by Rethink

Clever Paperboard CD Packaging by Jakebox

Radical Music by SunrisePackaging

Head over to our online store this month. We have an Amazon Gift Card with your name on it!

I’m sure we have all heard of the famous jewel case, but have you ever heard of a digipak? A digipak is an innovative and patented style of CD or DVD packaging that is similar to the standard jewel case, but typically consists of a gatefold paperboard or card stock outer binding instead of plastic. It also features one or more plastic trays that are attached to the inside. The main benefit of a digipak is that it is shatter proof and allows for greater graphic display. Digipak CD packaging can also be configured to fit specific needs. It can be designed to hold anything from discs to literature and artwork. The way the digipak folds can also be specifically designed as well. From a simple book-like fold to multiple folds, the possibilities using digipak packaging are endless.

Digipaks also allow creative flexibility. Traditional jewel cases only allow artwork to be inserted in the back and front covers, with a place to insert a small booklet on the inside. Digipaks have the benefit of being able to emboss letters and images, which is a technique that creates an impression on materials, giving packaging a unique look and texture.  Bright colors and elaborate graphics are able to be used as well as incorporating literature and booklets if needed. The trays that are used in digipaks are versatile in that they can be configured in multiple ways. They can come in different colors and are impact resistant and eliminate the risk of breakage.

Digipak packaging also enhances promotions and marketing. They are an inventive and creative way to promote a product, service, or company. Digipaks can be easily distributed and are an attractive way to get a message out to attract customers and clients. They also provide a more eco-friendly option than traditional jewel cases because less plastic is used. Digipaks offer many benefits for disc packaging and are used by many companies.

The music industry has been in a transitional phase for a handful of years. Digital sales continue to grow at a steady pace while CD sales continue to decline. Artists continue to fight the transition because buying digital albums means consumers are paying less and less attention to the artwork and digital mp3s do not sound as good as CDs. Thus the compromise of art and quality.

Packaging has come to the forefront in the music industry as many artists and record labels are trying to find innovative ways to convince consumers that they’re missing out when buying digital.

The example of Katy Perry’s recently released album “Teenage Dream” takes music and media packaging to the next level. After removing the shrink wrap from the album, the sweet scent of cotton candy is exuded from the packaging. After weeks and weeks of testing, the pressing plant was able to apply the scent into the printing varnish of the CD booklet. Not sure how consumers benefit from something like this unless maybe you’d like it to act as an air freshener in your car?

Regardless, this is a unique way of enticing your fans to pick up a physical copy of your disc rather than a digital copy from iTunes. It will be interesting to see what other ideas surface in an attempt to salvage the ultimate fate of CDs…..time is running out.

Plextor, pioneers of reliable CD, DVD and digital video solutions recently unveiled their newest Blu-ray drive, the PX-B120U. The beauty of this drive? It’s USB powered and plugs right into your computer. This is a huge advantage for Blu-ray enthusiasts on the go, not having to carry around an additional AC cable. The brand new Blu-ray device can not only read Blu-ray discs but it also acts as a CD or DVD disc burner. The downfall is that it doesn’t burn Blu-ray discs- just plays them.

The PX-B120U Blu-ray drive can also be converted to a living room player by hooking it up to the PlexMedia player.

Sunrise Packaging offers great prices on Blu-ray media cases.

What is being hailed as the world’s smallest library is somewhere between quaint and genius.  This “library” is none other than a salvaged phone box.  Stocking around 100 books it works as a book exchange.  Users simply bring books they have read and then take books that they haven’t.  This little libarary also hosts DVD’s and CD’s and appeals to all ages with a variety of childrens books as well.

In addition to the creativity and sense of community that this library offers there is a eco-friendly factor.  The salvaging of the phone box itself along with the book exchange it facilitates is a great way to be green. It is the epitome of reuse.

For more information please visit:

Baltimore Sun

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With the invention of MP3 players and online music stores you may not be buying CD’s anymore. However, that doesn’t solve the problem of what to do with all of the old CD cases from when you were.  Luckily a few creative minds have come up with some options to put those cases back into use.  These alternative uses can be more than just Saturday morning art projects for your kids, although that is a possibility too.

1. The jewel case poster display.

This is a project you’ll want to make sure you layout and measure carefully before moving ahead with the cutting.  It’s the old cliche, measure twice cut once.  This is done by taking a poster of your choice and cutting it into sections that fit into the CD case.  The cases are then hung on the wall to recreate the poster with a little edge and artistic twist.  It seems to work especially well for music posters, but the sky is the limit.

2. The CD case photo collage.

In order to create the collage simple print out photos you want to incorporate and place them individually in cases.  Then attach them to the wall with wall putty in whatever order you want.  Photos that are printed in black and white and then placed in colored jewel cases take on an especially unique and cool look.

3. Create a Book- Kid’s style

Kid’s love art projects.  They especially love art project where they can show off their decorating, drawing and writing skills all at once.  Creating a book out of old CD cases is perfect.  Allow them to decorate the case with stickers and whatever else they may find interesting to create the cover. Then cut pages that fold and fit into the CD case. Attach it by double-stick taping the front and back page to the cover or by gluing it.

For more information and ideas visit:

Associated Content

Paper Jewels

Life Hackery

The other day, I had the opportunity to visit local CD/DVD replicator and duplicator, Next Generation Media. We walked through the plant and saw the whole process in which your CDs/DVDs are copied and mass-produced. It was very interesting seeing the discs being created and to see all of the machines going at once. They do both replication and duplication, and since many people do not know that there is a difference between replication and duplication, so I will try to briefly explain it.

When you duplicate a disc, you “burn” the data from your master disc or hard drive onto pre-manufactured recordable CDR or DVD-R discs. If you only need a small number of discs copied or just a few at a time, this will be your quickest and least expensive option. You can still make the disc look just as good as a replicated disc with high-quality printing, design, and packaging.

Replication is much different than duplication. When you replicate a disc, there is a manufacturing process involved. Each CD or DVD is injection-molded from polycarbonate pellets and shaped into a disc. They are then physically stamped with the data. They go through the whole process of premastering, mastering, electroplating, injection molding, metallization, spin coating, printing, and advanced quality control. These discs are more durable and are of higher quality than duplicated discs, but they are very expensive if you only want a small number of discs. This is because it takes time to set-up the machines, so there is a high initial fixed cost. But if you are doing a larger project (more than 500 copies), replication may be the best option for you.

I personally enjoyed watching the machine that did the four color printing on the discs. It was a quick way to vamp up the look of the disc for brand recognition, as well as give it a professional style. Now that you can decide on duplication or replication for your next project, don’t forget about all of your CD/DVD packaging options!

Yesterday marked the 30th birthday of the Compact Disc. On March 8th, 1979, Royal Philips Electronics exhibited a prototype of what we now know as the CD. Since then, over 240 billion CDs have been sold. The introduction of the CD also paved the way for videogame discs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs.

To celebrate this historic landmark, IEEE, the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology, presented Philips with the IEEE Milestone Award for their role in the development of the CD.

The CD was truly a revolutionary idea. Not only are CDs much smaller than their predecessor, the cassette tape, they are more convenient and have a much higher quality playback. They completely transformed the way audio, video, and computing was done.

Although some believe that CDs are being pushed out of the way for digital files and mp3s, CDs have brought us a long way and aren’t disappearing yet. Many prefer having a physical disc, rather than storing everything on the computer. And don’t forget about videogames, DVDs, and the new Blu-Ray format. The world is not letting go of discs anytime soon. So to this we say, “Happy Birthday CD!”