Album Art and CD Cover Design

500 Piece CD Duplication Special at Discmasters

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:03:26 -0600

This is a great deal for independent musicians, bands, etc. Discmasters has a 500 piece cd duplication deal that includes 500 full color discs packaged in color Propack sleeves, with a UPC barcode for just 99 cents each. That makes even an EP release a potential money maker, also an inexpensive way to spread a demo in professional packaging.

Votable CD & Book Cover Design Gallery

Thu, 21 May 2009 13:15:28 -0600

CoverArts.com is a new site that lets visitors vote up cd and book cover designs. You can view covers by most recent additions or by highest rated. At least one new cover design is added every day. CD cover design has it's own unique design challenges - sometimes conceptual, other times it's creating a style for an artist photo or photos.

There is some excellent design work represented there. I check it out for inspiration (actually their rss feed sends me new covers as they are added). Each cover is tagged with genre or type, so you can search for just Rock or Hip/Hop covers with a simple click. Cool.

The First CD Packages

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:58:57 -0600

Wilson Rothman published a neat article at Gizmodo about the ever shrinking packaging for music. I had almost forgotten the CD long box, the original packaging for compact discs. As he describes,

"They actually started shipping in long rectangular boxes, so they'd take up exactly 50% of the rack space of a vinyl album. I think this was on purpose, so record stores didn't have to retool their shelving. The upside was lots of surface area for cover art, and the early days of the CD were like a return of album art. These long skinny boxes had huge busts of Jim Morrison, huge prints of the famed Zeppelin explosion that launched a band into stardom. The boxes were also wrapped in easy-to-tear plastic, so getting into your CD, though it took a few steps, was pretty easy."

CD Cover Design Case Study

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:49:33 -0600

Ever wonder how a cd cover design comes together? Check out this case study from a talented young designer who blogs at a vector art site.

It's pretty cool, he breaks down the elements, showing the use of stock photos to create several variations on a Christian rock cover design.

Ghost in the Machine - Cassette Tape Art

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:01:10 -0600

Flickr member iri5 has found a cool way to recycle old cassette tapes, making portrait art of the magnetic tape.

His Flickr set includes portraits of Jim Morrison of The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Ian Curtis (of the now defunct Joy Division), Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Robert Smith of The Cure and Ian Brown of Stone Roses. Great stuff!

The artist is working on Tom Waits and I saw a request for Frank Zappa. I would love to see that.

Bob Dylan "Together Through Life" Album Cover Art

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:49:34 -0600

Just unveiled, here is the album art for Bob Dylan's surprise release Together Through Life. He talks about the new release in this interview.

One Click Album Art Grabbing with Songbird 1.1

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:31:47 -0600

Songbird, the open-source music player just updated to v 1.1. Click a button and your missing album art will now be filled in with cd cover art from Last.fm's music/social networking site. Here are other features of Songbird, which is for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Let's Get Small - Album Art Gets Tiny

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:54:36 -0600

But fortunately still not small enough to climb into a vacuum cleaner. Old comedy reference for a new article by Steven Heller at Wired Magazine about the shrinking space of music album art. This quote sums up the design challenge nicely:

"The space allotted to album art may be a fraction of what it once was, but that just sets the bar higher. If musicians can continue to innovate in the digital age, then designers must take up the challenge of the minimalist thumbnail."

Exactly. Check out the article here

Stanley Donwood profile by CurrentTV

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:34:06 -0600

Stanley Donwood has designed every Radiohead album cover and most of their posters since 1994. In this video he discusses his cover design art process. There are also many examples of his work.

Best Album Covers 2008 Rolling Stone Readers

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:48:16 -0600

Rolling Stone has published it's Readers' Rock List: Best Album Covers of 2008. Below are a few samples of the 25 designs they posted. Judge for yourself if you think they are some of the best. To me it's really more of a popularity contest than a statement of quality designs.

Jim Flora - Style Maverick in 1940s Album Cover Design

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:41:58 -0600

Steve Heller of Print Magazine published a nice post about Jim Flora and his influential illustrative style. Flora produced jazz album covers in the 40s that set a style still used today. In fact some designers license Flora's work for modern CD covers.

Vinyl Art by Daniel Edlen

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:41:56 -0600

The relationship between art and music is always changing, particularly in recent times. It continues to remain strong in those for whom music is more than just entertainment. One such artist is Daniel Edlen, who channels his love of creativity and music into a unique expression. Using record albums as a canvas, he hand paints portraits of musicians directly on their vinyl releases.

Folded Paper CD Case Made Before Your Eyes

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:19:25 -0600

A do it yourself cd case skillfully made with paper, pencil, scissors and a disc.

Cooll Paper Cd Case !!! Flower Design ..... - Funny home videos are a click away

New Cover Art Features in Playwatch v1.2 iTunes Controller

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:31:43 -0600

Playwatch is a very unobtrusive, yet powerful menu bar controller for iTunes. It sits on the menu bar, providing title, artist, album and other information as a ticker with smooth scrolling and transition effects. Album Cover-Art and lyrics are displayed on demand. Two new Cover-Art views now display the tracks belonging to the album. With just one click, a track can be selected and played in iTunes.

The Simpsons Spawn Worst Album Cover Hoax

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:59:33 -0600

Perhaps you've seen this album art while browsing the internets. It quietly makes all the worst album art lists out there. But in a shocking new report, gawker.com exposes the truth and the fraud behind this piece o fart. Wait until you hear the connection with The Simpsons. Go now.