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As the year draws to an end, it’s time to appreciate and acknowledge the incredible physical albums K-pop artists put forward for their fans. The South Korean music industry is probably one of the only industries where fans still buy physical albums - not only because of the CD but for its sheer beauty and collectible significance.
2021 saw some of the best creative years in K-pop, especially through unique album packaging. K-pop albums went far and beyond the general aesthetics and gave fans impressive additions for their collections.
PENTAGON, Wendy, AKMU & more: K-pop albums with the best packaging designs of 2021
Album designs play a huge role in attracting non-fans too. What are the chances of a K-pop stan who loves Star Trek to buy SHINee Key’s Toy Box version of Bad Love? Extremely High.
Note: This article is in no particular order and reflects the opinion of the writer.
5) PENTAGON’s ‘LOVE or TAKE’
Sturdy, clever, right into the heart of K-pop stans is PENTAGON’s LOVE or TAKE. The group’s design team merged the manga and music world, giving fans an impeccably designed album. The album is similar to a hardcover book, although it comes with a group and a solo member cover.
LOVE or TAKE has three versions, and all three have creative, SNS-inspired photocards. This album stands out among other K-pop albums with its ability to offer the best of both worlds to fans.
4) AKMU’s ‘NEXT EPISODE’
Even though domestically, AKMU is among the top K-pop stars, the duo still has to conquer the international audience. Described as a collaboration album, NEXT EPISODE is unique, as it is the only album without any photo of the artists.
Inside a green hollow box, the purple CD shines brightly and each song on the album is given its unique photo and lyric book. The books have holes cut out in certain places to emphasize the song’s name. All seven books have a few metallic and holographic pages, making them stand out even more.
3) Wendy’s ‘Like Water Limited Edition’
Jewel cases made a huge comeback in the K-pop world in 2021. Almost all the big groups opted for a jewel case version and a standard version. However, Wendy’s Like Water Limited Edition jewel case amped up the levels by millions.
Focusing on Wendy’s delicate features and aqua concept, the limited edition case came with blue and white flowers decorating the cover. It offers a surreal experience for fans, as the clear case looks aesthetically pleasing. With only 300 copies in the world, the beauty prompted fans to decorate their regular jewel case version with flower petals too.
2) Soyeon’s ‘Windy’
(G)I-DLE’s Soyeon released her first EP, Windy, and took everyone, not just the K-pop industry, by storm. Her jaw-dropping album packaging was rather simple, albeit never seen before - a retro fast-food chain takeaway box. Not just the album, but the music video too was based around the concept of a restaurant.
The outer box of Windy could be created into a takeaway box; the lyrics paper and tracklist were combined in one as a “menu” while the CD itself had a 3D printed burger. It also came with cute inclusions, such as a restaurant membership card, a coaster, stickers and a standee.
1) SHINee Key’s ‘Bad Love’
The veteran K-pop idol SHINee Key’s solo album, Bad Love is a showstopper. Key ecstatically shared with fans how he participated in the album design, conception and creation. He wanted a hint of nostalgia and retro, action-figure toy boxes and that’s exactly what the idol achieved.
Bad Love comes in three versions - Space Ray Gun, Box Set and Photobook. The best version is the Box Set version which is styled similar to a cereal box that came with figurines. It has retro postcards and graphic photocards in a wrapper. The entire theme of Bad Love is an intergalactic superhero, and who other than Key could have pulled this off?
Other honorable mentions for best K-pop album packaging designs include NCT 127’s Hot Sauce, IU’s LILAC, ITZY’s pizza-box inspired Crazy in Love and JAY B’s recycled paper packaging for SOLO: FUME.
