CD Cover and CD Design

The problem is to create a CD cover and a CD that uses a similar motif.

The CD cover designs will focus on three main elements:

•An eye catching illustration

•The artists name

•The album name

The back of the cover will include:

•Illustration

•Songs/times

•Artist names/instruments played/bios

•Recording info/ Record Company

A quality cover illustration will give the viewer:

• an idea of what the album is all about. Is it blues, rap, heavy metal etc.

• a feeling for the personality of the artist.

• a desire to hear the music the illustration represents.

Color selection is often important for creating a mood.

Reds and oranges are aggressive and hot.

Blues and grays are distant and cool.

Browns are earthy, sensual and warm.

Greens and yellows are vibrant and rich.

This album was designed long before computers and Photoshop. Can you imagine how it might have been done using modern techniques?

What Photoshop techniques are used in this design?

•Multiple image

•Transparency

•Outer glow

How was Photoshop used in this design?

This U2 cover is a simple collage of cropped and colorized photos.

Can you see how the designer uses the principle of the golden mean?

The portrait on this cover was done by posterizing. How was the background pattern done?

One technique artists sometimes use is to scan actual drawings or objects:

•Childish scribbling

•Crumbled paper

•Hand written notes

•Tin foil

•Etc.

What Photoshop techniques were used here?

•Transparency

•Overlay

•Rotation

This cover is an interesting combination of straight black and white photography plus an unconventional use of text. Notice how the designer uses size and color to emphasize the most important text elements.

This cover uses a simple jack-o-lantern face, but adds interest by:

•Showing great depth through the openings.

•Making effective use of texture and color.

Negative space is often as interesting as positive space. It is very effective for drawing attention to text or illustration

It can be black

It can be white

It can be color or texture

What Photoshop techniques are being used on this cover?

•Colorization

•Transparency

Designs that are purely typographical can often be very exciting.