Browsing through the New York Times magazine this weekend, I came across a piece called "Go ahead, judge them by their covers," about the art of DVD packaging. I only realized later on that it was part of the advertising section (an entertainment guide, infected with Oscar fever -- as am I!), but it was interesting nevertheless because I'd never thought of DVD packaging as an art form. To quote a blurb:

DVD packages have evolved into works of art, platforms for ingenius design.

They even have the Alex Entertainment Packaging Awards (started in 2003) "to honor the creative aspects of home video package design." Who knew?

Apparently the driving force is to really give consumers a feel for the movie, to even give them a physical piece of the movie. For instance, the "Lord of the Rings" DVD gift set comes with figurines and original art work on the cover! And in 2005, a limited edition of "I-Robot" came in a life-size robot head. As one art director says, "It's like fashion for DVDs."

There's no controlling the avenues into which art will expand, it seems. That's a good thing!

(Note: I can't link to this piece because it was, after all, in the advertising section)