07. How to design an album cover
Album cover forms the first impression of the content of disk, sets expectations of the music and affects the perception of the ideas of compositions. A commercial CD comes with a brand album cover, but disks which you fill with music on your own also need album covers. Apart from aesthetics an album cover keeps essential information on the band, album, release and facts about the album. In this guide we have collected the best tips from professional designers of how to make an album cover.
What should you know to design album cover
Before you set to design album cover, here are tips from top experts of music industry art design.
1. Feel the music and band to get the vision of the performers. Read the story of album creation, watch the concert or read some interviews or at least read the reviewers and fans. Does it worth saying that you need to listen to the album or that you should be listening to music to create an original outstanding album cover art.
2. Keep it minimal. Do not try to use all elements which are associated with the album in a single design. In some cases a simple, yet powerful photo is enough to communicate the idea of the album. Too many elements create noise in design, distract attention and spoil the effect.
An ideal cover design does not feature:
- Lyrics;
- Links
- Social media icons;
- Prices;
- Dates of release.
But if you design album cover for your private music collection, you may certainly put any data on the album cover to make it easier and simpler to organize disks.
3. Browse the history of album covers of the band to sense the concept and idea of musicians.
4. While being creative, do not forget about user experience when you will take the disk out from the box. You need first information first. The album essentials must be there on the cover:
- Artist/band;
- Album name;
- Data which are essential for you (duration, specific composition, date of creation or a fact about the band; for example “the last live concert” or a place “live concert in London”).
5. Do not be afraid of experiments! Try to make a different design. Follow your own perception of the music.
How to make an album cover
To design album cover you will need a simple, yet powerful album cover creator. You can try to design album cover using any graphics editor, however there is an optimized solution.
RonyaSoft label creator offers you a set of tools with ready-made customizable templates. You need just to install the application and choose one of the provided album cover designs.
Before setting to design album cover, choose a photo of a band or an artist which is associated with an album cover, make a list of data, which you will put on the album cover and decide upon cover style.
Step by step guide on album cover design
1. Downloading and installation of album cover creator. Just follow the wizard and get the application unpacked. After installation it will get launched automatically.
2. A new window will allow you to choose from the options. Click Start from a Template. Choose any template you like and delete all unnecessary elements.
3. Upload a photo of an artist or a band. The photo can serve as a background for the album cover. Right mouse button click will open a menu in which you can move an element backward and bring back to front.
4. Each element can be resized, moved in the design (drag and drop) and rotated.
5. Add a text block. To make the text more readable you can set a background for it using additional elements in the left toolbar.
Three ideas of album cover design
1. Album cover design with a photo
Album cover with photo
(Click to enlarge)
If you choose to create an album cover with a photo of an artist, then try to find a unique shot to the release. You can find pictures from concerts, from the recording process in studio or just choose an abstract photo of guitar or piano or vinyl or microphone or else.
Fit it to the size of the album cover and add a few lines of text with concert/album name and artist/band name.
2. Album cover design with a quotation
Album cover with quote
(Click to enlarge)
If you fail to find a proper photo, then you can create a minimalistic album cover with a quotation. They say, if a text is powerful enough, then it will produce effect even if typed on a blank paper.
Find a powerful quote. This can be a line from the lyrics, a quote of the artist or a critic or your own words that best describe the content of the disk.
RonyaSoft CD DVD Label Maker offers all necessary tools for text editing and formatting. Add text block and go to the right menu to set font, size and effects. If it looks like requiring some background, then you can set it as for an entire album cover (choosing from standard backgrounds provided in the application or filling with color). Do not forget to experiment and try different ways to design album cover.
3. Colorful album cover with a mix of colors
Colorful Album cover
(Click to enlarge)
If mind goes blank about photos, pictures or text lines, then you can design album cover with a mix of colors. Apply various geometric forms, fill the cover with splashes of paint or just add a mixture of colors in a free manner.
Creating a colorful album cover, keep in mind that even a color can express emotions, ideas and concepts. To get the sense and the mood of the album, listen to the music and track the colors associated with music in your mind.
Design album cover is a perfect way to organize your music collection. If you create various album covers you will add mod to your collection, you will make it original and it will turn to a real music art. Does it worth saying that an original album cover will change your experience of listening and touching to music forever?
In addition, you can view our other articles and tutorials. Some of them: CD cover dimensions, 10 ideas to design music album cover, Ideas to design CD and DVD covers, How to create a custom size disc cover, How to make paper CD case.