This is a blog about creating and designing your own album art. I’m going to be talking about what is involved in creating an album cover and the process that it takes to make one. I’ll be sharing my experiences of creating my own album covers, as well as my experience working with and for other artists.
I’ve been involved with music for many years now, both as a consumer and a producer. I’ve worked with several bands over the years and have designed many album covers in different genres of music, including death metal, jazz, and pop/rock.
I hope you find this blog useful!**
Creating custom art work for your album is a necessary step in the process of designing your own CD. It’s also well worth the effort, since it gives you something unique and professional looking.
Custom album art is not too difficult to create with the right software and a little knowledge about how to use these programs. This article provides tips for finding the best layout for your album cover, creating an effective design and getting the most out of your custom album art program.
TIP 1: GET A TITLE THAT POPS
The title of your album or CD will be the first thing people notice when they see your custom art work, so it’s important that it stands out from everything else on the page. It should be large enough to read without having to squint or move closer to the screen, but not so large that it takes up too much space on your cover. It should also be centered on your artwork and not placed at some random angle or location — titles look best when they’re straight across from each other like book spines on a shelf.
If you are creating your own album art, you will have total creative freedom. However, this also means you’ll have to do all the work. You have to design the album art, and then print it out, and then place it on the CD case yourself.
Trying to find a design that suits your music will probably be more difficult than you think. If you want your album art to stand out from its competition, but still fit in with the general style of other album covers in your genre, this can be hard to achieve.
★ Make sure the image isn’t too large or small for the CD case. If it’s too large it won’t fit; if it’s too small it won’t look good.
★ Make sure the text is readable when shrunken down to size.
★ Don’t forget about designing a back cover if you’re planning on printing out any liner notes.
★ Make sure that if someone drops your CD case, or scratches it by accident, there will be no damage to the outer appearance of your CD case.
Once you have designed and printed out your album art, you can put it onto a CD case using double-sided tape or glue (superglue works best). To make things look professional,
I am a graphic designer, music producer and recording artist. My work has appeared on the front cover of New York Times Best Sellers and I have worked with clients like Michael Jackson, Outkast, Ghostface Killah, The Roots, The Black Eyed Peas and more.
Tired of the same old album art? I am here to help you make custom album art for your next project. I will work with you every step of the way to design your artwork or logo.
Contact me today for a quote:
info@jwgraphicdesign.com
Have you ever had an idea for a cover, but didn’t have the skills to draw it yourself? Or maybe you don’t want to spend too much on having someone else create your album art?
If so then you’ve come to the right place. I’ll show you how I designed the cover for my upcoming EP, and will also share some tips and tricks on how to design your own custom album art.
This is an ongoing process. It all started with a pen and some paper. Then I moved onto Photoshop, and now I’m using Illustrator for my final sketches.
When designing your own album art, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First is the dimensions of the album itself, as this can be a deciding factor in what programs or mediums you use. For example if you’re creating a 12″x12″ album, then you’ll definitely want to use vector based programs, like Illustrator or Inkscape. If however you’re creating a 7″x7″ album, then most any art program will do (but please don’t use MS Paint).
Next is the theme of your albums cover art. If you have an idea in mind already then great! Just make sure it’s something that can be
The design of an album is one of the most important things a band can do to promote themselves and sell albums. To create a successful album art, you must be able to convey the meaning of your music in one image. This is not an easy task for many bands, but with some planning and research you should easily be able to design a cover that will attract new fans and help sell your albums.
I have made a lot of album art in my time. I have used the same techniques I describe on this blog to make all of it. Now that I have written down my methods, I can never change them or improve them without someone noticing!
I am always looking for new cover ideas, so feel free to contact me if you have a request. I will provide cover art for FREE to anyone who has purchased one of my photo manipulation books. If you cannot afford to buy a book, but still need some awesome album art, then email me and we can work something out. My email address is below.
The whole point of this blog is to show you how to do the same thing I did with your own photos. If you would like a copy of the source files for any of my covers, then please email me and let me know which one(s) you would like and I will send them over to you for free!
