ALBUM COVER DESIGN
ThePersuasivePoweroftheVisualEnvironment
Therearenice-lookingalbumcovers,andthentherearewell-designedalbumcovers.
- Well-designedalbumcoversarenotjustartistic,buttheyareeffectiveatmarketingaswell.
-Theygiveyouaclearrepresentationofwhatthecontentwillbe,ortheydon’tandthatcanbeequallypowerful.
ELEMENTS&PRINCIPLESOFARTANDDESIGN
FINDINGINSPIRATION
GREATIDEASARENEVERBORNINAVACUUM.INOTHERWORDS,UNLESSYOULOOKATWHATPEOPLEDIDINTHEPAST,IT’SHARDTODOSOMETHING
BETTERINTHEFUTURE.
PAGESIZECOMESFIRSTWEWILLBEUSING8”X8”FORTHISASSIGNMENT.
IWILLSHOWYOUHOWTOCHANGETHESIZEOFYOURARTBOARD
MAXIMIZINGLIMITEDSPACEYOURALBUMMAYINCLUDE:
1. THEARTISTANDALBUMNAME2. POSSIBLYTHEARTISTTHEMSELVES3. THESTYLETHATPROPERLYREPRESENTSTHECONTENTSOFTHEALBUM4. ANYARTISTICDETAIL
EMPHASIS DRAWSATTENTION-CONSIDERPUTTINGTHEFOCUSONASINGLEELEMENT
(EVERYTHINGELSESHOULDBESECONDARY)
INTHESETWOALBUMS,WHATISEMPHASIZED?
PROPORTION SIGNIFIESCHOICE-SIZEMATTERS
CONSIDERUSINGILLUSTRATION
TYPOGRAPHY
CHOOSEAPPROPRIATECOLORSCREATEAMOODORFEELING
WHATFEELINGDOYOUGETFROMTHEJOHNNYCASHALBUM?
EXAMPLES
- TheRamones’musicwasverymonochromatic,andsowastheirdebutalbum’scover– allblackandwhite.
-TheclothesandlocationofthisphotoshootassuresyouthatthisispunkmusicfromNYC.
-Theywereanononsensebandwhichisreflectedhere.
-Weezerdidn’tlooklikeother90’srockbands,nordidtheirlyricscoverthesamegroundasmost.Thiscoverboldlyshowcasestheirgeekiness.
-Havingasolidsingle-colorbackgroundputsthefocusontheband,asdidthemlinedupsidebyside.
-Jay-Z’s“retirement”albumwasamature,classy,andboldstatement,andthecoverreflectsthat.
- Theblackandgreycolorsandclassicfontrepresentstheclassinessofthemusic,noblingorstereotypicalitems.
- Athemerunningthroughwelldesignedalbumsistheuseofnegativespace.
- Anythingmorewouldhaveruinedthebalance.
ALBUMSALSOCANBEUSEDASACATALYSTFORSOCIALCHANGE
v SOMEARTISTSUSETHEIRMUSICTOHELPCREATEANAWARENESSABOUTMANYISSUES
FACINGSOCIETYTODAY
- ThisstagedgroupshotofanapparentvictorycelebrationontheWhiteHouselawnfollowingablackrevolution.
- It’sintimidating,it’sjoyous,it’spolitical,it’scomicalandpowerful.
- Thissongandalbumcoverwerecreatedtocreateanawarenessforthesexualassaultthatoccursoncollegecampuses.
- Thealbumcovergivesaneeriefeelingofareallifesituation.
- Thissongwascreatedasapleaforworldpeace.
- Howdoesthiscoverprovokethatfeelingandcommunicatethatmessage?
QUESTIONSTOCONSIDER:
§ Isthereamoodorafeelingaboutthealbumcover?
§ Whatdoyouthinkthealbumcoverisabout?
§ Howdotheimagesrepresenttheidea/themebehindthealbumcover?
§ Howdidyouachievevisualconsistencywithouthavingthedesignbeadirectcopyofwhatwasdonebefore?
REQUIREMENTS
1. PAGE=8”x8”2. ATLEAST2ARTBOARDS(front
andback)
*Youcanmakeahybridofyourfavoritebands,recreateanexistingalbum, orcreateyourown,Etc.
NEWTOOLS
1. Changesizeofartboard2. Verticaltypeonapath3. Embed4. EditColors
InternetPolicy
• Whendoingyourresearchpleaseremembertostayoffinappropriatewebsites.
• YourfinalalbumcovershouldnothaveanythingInappropriateunlessclearedwithme.(Nobadlanguage,useoffirearms,drugs,sexualcontent,etc.)