Make CD Jewel Cases into beautiful, appealing, valuable works of art, with “DESIGNER JEWEL CASES.”
Jewel Cases for CDs are mis-named.
In reality, they are just dull squares of plastic with a hinge.
There is not much variety in CD Jewel Cases.
You can get them thick or thin, and in different colors. That’s about it.
Here are the reasons for making CD Jewel Cases into works of art:
1. CD JEWEL CASES ARE NOT ATTRACTIVE.
Consumers hide them away in boxes or just get rid of them and keep their CDs in racks.
2. SELLING A PHYSICAL THING IS A MORE RELIABLE WAY OF TURNING A PROFIT THAN SELLING ELECTRONIC FILES ON A COMPUTER.
Artists who make recordings, recording companies, publishers, and retailers and manufacturers of CDs have lost sales and profits to MP3s, the internet, and piracy. They would all welcome a way to increase CD sales. If a CD and its case were worth something in and of themselves, sales would be increased and A WHOLE NEW MARKET WOULD BE CREATED.
3. MAKING A JEWEL CASE A WORK OF ART
MAKES THE THING ITSELF—
NOT JUST THE INFORMATION IT CONTAINS—VALUABLE AND APPEALING.
For instance, there is a substantial market in handmade books, first editions, signed editions, etc. (cf., Digital Be Damned: Publication Studio Sells 10,000 Handmade Books – Publishing Perspectives) These books are valuable as much for the quality of their manufacture, and their rareness, as they are for the writing they contain.
4. JEWEL CASEs CAN BE MADE INTO
A WORK OF ART
AT A LOW COST.
Creating unique plastic molds (and perhaps paying the artist who creates them) is the only added cost–that is, if the Designer Jewel Case you design is still plastic. (Creating specialized jewel case molds should become ever easier with the advent of 3D Printing.)
I suggest that recording artists and CD wholesalers and retailers HIRE GREAT ARTISTS to create artistic designs for CD Jewel Cases.
Great artists design houseware, appliances, furnishings, clothing, jewelry, etc., creating added value for these products. Great artists could likewise create added value for CD Jewel Cases.
Here are just some of the ideas I have for making CD Jewel Cases beautiful, attractive–and therefore valuable–works of art.
CD Jewel Case PLASTIC CAN BE EASILY MOLDED into intricate, colorful, and varied designs, (see illustration), such as:
1. KALEIDOSCOPES
2. MANDALAS
3. FILIGREE SCREENS
4. IRISH KNOTS
5. VISUAL EFFECTS OF MOLDED PLASTIC
There are also a number of INTERESTING AND UNUSUAL VISUAL EFFECTS MOLDED PLASTIC CAN CREATE (See illustration):
1. MOTION CARDS (LENTICULAR PRINTING)
Everyone has seen plastic “Motion Cards” that change or move depending on the angle the image is viewed. For instance, a box of Cracker Jacks used to often contain a “Magic Motion Fun Card.” Lenticular printing is becoming more and more sophisticated, and many interesting effects can be created inexpensively in plastic using it.
2. HOLOGRAM
A 2D Hologram (or a “Pepper’s Ghost” imitation hologram, which simulates 3D) could be easily imprinted in the jewel case. In fact, I envisage a hologram imprinted into the top of the CD itself, where the circular motion of the CD creates a moving holographic image above it.
2. FRESNEL LENS (FUNHOUSE MIRROR)
A “Fresnel Lens” is a very thin, light magnifying lens with a circular design that can be easily made of plastic. It can have a visual warping effect similar to Funhouse Mirrors.
4. ETCH-A-SKETCH
A reciprocal agreement could be made with the Ohio Art Company to imbed an Etch-A-Sketch into a CD Jewel Case.
5. RUBIK’S CUBE
A Rubik’s Cube could surround the CD Jewel Case. (Except that, technically speaking, a Jewel Case is not a cube, but a rectangular prism). The hinges and clasps that hold a jewel-case together could be replaced with magnets, so that the elements of the device could turn.
Also, CD Jewel Cases could be made out of OTHER MATERIALS THAN PLASTIC (see illustration), materials that are more attractive, more natural–and more valuable.
1. PRESSED TIN
Pressed tin is already used for cases to hold CD and DVD collections. Making individual CDs of pressed tin, with intricate designs like the designs on pressed-tin ceilings, requires no additional steps.
2. CARVED WOOD
CD Jewel Cases of carved wood might be so beautiful that they would be displayed on consumer’s shelves and mantelpieces.
CUSTOMERS
Who would buy designer jewel-cases?
1. Consumers who buy attractive, well-made, appealing-to-look-at objects.
2. Recording companies, publishers, wholesalers, and retailers of CDs who want to protect their profits.
3. Musicians and artists who believe that disseminating their work in CD form will protect their royalties.
Custom-making jewel-cases and CDs makes the actual, physical CD in its case as valuable as the information stored on it.
It is a double appeal – the CD and its case, and the recording it contains.
Also, making CD Jewel Cases into works of art creates a whole secondary market in CD JEWEL CASE COLLECTIBLES.