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How To Guide: Creating a CD Cover
Written by Steph
How To Guide on making a CD cover.
When it comes to creating the cover for your album, the key is to have a clear idea in your mind of the kind of aesthetic you want to create, and to remember that it’s by NO means a simple task. Getting the right look across that is both significant for you, in keeping with your sound and also feasible to do can be a balancing act. (By the way, see Lou’s great blog on creating a CD here. )
When it came down to it, Misery Marmalade & Other Spanish Jams was the chosen title for SMCC’s new album, and Jimmy and Hannah already had a clear idea that they wanted to include labels from the Jam Jar competition on the cover, on the labels, arranged in a cool way.
The next task is to arrange it using some software. This is the bit where you will probably have to enlist the help of a professional to help you, or a friend, or a friendly professional, or a professional friend. Mercifully, as Lou mentioned in her blog, our lovely band member Rob is a graphic artist, and does this sort of thing every day. I got the lowdown from Rob on the things to bear in mind for when you’re taking this task on. His main piece of advice was to work with someone who knows what they’re doing. Poeple train for a long time to learn how to do it – you don’t want to end up frying your brain over something that might just be beyond the realms of your capabilities!
Rob recommended using software called Quark Express, orAdobe InDesign for the page layout. He told me that often the CD producer will have templates to use for page layout too, so ask for these.
Rob mentioned that you could use a drawing package to do the designs, for example Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop – also there is a vast choice to be found on Image Editor.
The recommendation I’ve been given time and time again is to KEEP IT SIMPLE – on top of everything else, if you make something too complicated there can be difficulties in accommodating and spacing all your designs.
Rob’s Top Tips:
- If in doubt, get a proof. There can sometimes be difficulties in securing the exact colour you want, so check first.
- Work in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) mode if attempting this yourself, otherwise you’ll have trouble.
- KEEP IT SIMPLE!!
That’s Part one. more to Follow.
Steph