DVD Label Part 1 : The Beginning

Continuing from the blog posts regarding the creation of a DVD Inlay, we should now focus on expanding into other related media. Thus in these posts we will start to focus on the creation of a matching DVD Label, for affixing on the disc itself.
The work path, which is to say the order of general operations we will need to follow before reaching an end product, will be broadly the same as with the inlay. However since we have already established the product to create, the formalities of such can be forgone, else we would simply be repeating the first section of DVD Inlay Part 1 : The Beginning . As such work can progress directly to the following topic.

Therefore the first item on the agenda, is to examine existing products.

 

The purpose of this section is to examine existing products, in order to determine the common features and layout properties, so they can be effectively reproduced for the purposes of this project. Whilst operating on the inlay we established that there were significant differences from product to product, some resulted from varying genres or settings, but broadly they contained the same key items. We will explore the discs relating to the same products examined whilst working of the inlay : 

Hearts of Iron 3™

EndWar™

Red Alert 3™

Unreal Tournament 3™

  The first noticeable item is that, aside from Red Alert 3™, is that all the others have directly transplanted the front cover background onto the label of the DVD. With the other opting for a simplified version, whereby they have only used the main colour, but preserving the main character illustration atop of it.
Beyond this the labels are relatively simplistic in their appearance, and rightly so, since people will not generally linger on them, the label merely primarily providing a means to identify which product the disc is associated with.
Naturally this means it must include a title, and it makes perfect sense to replicate that used on the inlay for consistency. And indeed that is precisely what they have done in all 4 existing examples studied.
Note that, as is typical in everything in modern society they all feature the usual legal notices, strategically placed around the outer ring of the disc, which provides two benefits; allowing a fair amount of text without covering up the main area. Also most of them feature the same age restriction notices present on the front cover of their respective inlays.
Aside from the above, two principal pieces of information remain, firstly and importantly, is that they all state the media type, particularly prudent since their is a vast array of existing forms of optical media, all of which look practically identical. Therefore it is important to clearly specify which you are handling in order to ensure it's use with a compatible device. The final item, is the publisher's logo, sometimes coupled with that of the developers. The main rationale in including such logos is subliminal advertising, customers will always inadvertently glance upon such logos and thus associate them with a game they have enjoyed, should they ever stumble across the same logos whilst browsing for future titles.