Let’s be honest; we have all watched movies primarily because of their interesting covers. Similarly, you are likely to attract a wider audience if you use an attention-grabbing album cover. It remains imperative to make great music and package it using an eye-catching album cover worthy of the attention of your targeted audience. Great sound and good art always go hand in hand. Both give your audience a feel of your levels of creativity. If you want to learn how to design an album cover, read on!
In this post, we will discuss the importance of album covers. We will also look into the main components of designing an album cover. You will also find a section with the top 5 album cover design tips.
Dive right in!
- Why Is An Album Cover Important?
- How To Design An Album Cover; Understanding The Main Design Components
- How To Design An Album Cover; Simple Tips
- Conclusion
Why Is An Album Cover Important?
An album cover, just like the cover of a book or a film, is the first representation of your work. When the cover makes an excellent first impression, people are more likely to be curious about what’s inside. As potential fans flip through vinyl recordings or a Spotify playlist, what they see on the cover may help them decide whether to listen to your music or continue searching for something that seems more interesting.
A beautiful and professionally designed cover will make a statement that you took your time to entice your audience. Similarly, your fans will assume that you also did your best to impress them when creating your music. As you master how to design an album cover, remember that your choice of colors, imagery, and typography can make or break your music sales.
How To Design An Album Cover; Understanding The Main Design Components
When creating an album cover, there are several aspects you must consider. They include color, imagery, and typography. It is essential to isolate these elements and choose a systematic way of introducing them into your album cover. Using a step-by-step procedure is less likely to feel overwhelming.
Here is how to design an album cover using these three vital elements:
Color
In any design, one of the most critical elements is color. You must put a lot of thought into your color selection, irrespective of whether you want to create a black and white album cover or you want to use a whole spectrum of hues. Colors are powerful and can evoke emotion. How they meet the eye can make your audience feel a certain way. For instance, a blend of orange and yellow can make your audience assume that your music is happy and playful. On the other hand, if your music is more melancholy or subdued, darker hues like gray and blue on your cover will do justice to your work.
Typography
Your choice of words and fonts also matters a lot when designing an album cover. Fonts, just like words, can give your brand a personality. For instance, you are more likely to make your album seem serious and classic if you use serif fonts like Cambria and Times New Roman. On the other hand, you can give your album cover a more modern and streamlined appearance if you use San serif fonts such as Arial and Helvetica.
Like colors, fonts can also invoke precise feelings. For instance, script fonts that tend to emulate handwriting appear messy and scratchy. This makes them ideal for designing rock album covers. Display fonts, also referred to as novelty fonts, are, on the other hand, pretty decorative and perfect for albums with songs that kids can enjoy. It is perfectly okay to use different font styles on various areas of your album cover, as long as you ensure that they can help you pass your intended message.
How To Design An Album Cover; Imagery
When deciding how to design an album cover, you must also consider imagery. Again, images can evoke specific emotions. Whether you choose to use the band’s photography, art or abstracts, make sure you can capture the attention of potential listeners with ease. Additionally, ensure that your graphics of choice tell more about your album and blend effortlessly with your color and typography choices.
Your complete album cover should comprise a careful combination of color, typography, and imagery. Nothing is as vital in ensuring harmony in how these elements work together. With some hard work and creativity, you can ensure that your cover creates the desired effect on your targeted audience.
How To Design An Album Cover; Simple Tips
Music artists have creative minds. As such, you may feel a little tempted to go straight to sketching your vision on the album cover. While this may work, there are simple tips that may ensure your cover represents you or your band correctly.
Let’s start by discussing what you should do before starting the design process:
Consider Your Identity
Nothing is as crucial as ensuring that your album cover portrays your brand correctly. Start by defining yourself as an artist and think deeply about the audience you want to reach. For instance, if you are targeting Generation X, your album may not meet the expected sales if you use colors or typography that give the album cover a traditional feel.
It is also imperative to consider the emotions you want to evoke when your fans listen to your music. Any artist knows that music is indeed tangible and how you use your words and instrumentals can make your listeners feel a certain way. When figuring out how to design an album cover, make sure that your design choice sets the right emotions way before people listen to your music.
Find Inspiration
Unfortunately, inspiration may dodge you just when you need it the most. The good news, however, is that you can find inspiration by pulling it from other sources. For instance, you may find musical inspiration from a particular event, feeling, or image. Likewise, you may create an album cover that translates the visual representation of your music.
It is always best when you can find inspiration in your work. However, it will also not hurt to look at the work of artists you admire. Think about the album covers that quickly grasp your attention and note down what you find eye-catching.
How To Design An Album Cover; Take Note of Typography Details
There is a lot of information that you must include on your album cover. This information may include the following:
- Album name
- Tracklist
- Licensing information
Every album cover must include the name of the artist and the album name. You can place such information on the front of the spine of an album cover, depending on the design you wish to achieve. If you intend to sell digital-only copies of your album, it may make better sense to only have the graphics on the front cover. You may then decide to include your band and album name beside your cover’s thumbnail.
Ensure Your Design Makes Internet Searches Easy
Including your band’s URL on the back of your album cover is always ideal. However, you may want to refrain from also including your social media handles. The idea is to create a timeless cover design that is likely to remain relevant even if Instagram and Twitter no longer trend 10 or 15 years from today.
You can also include a liner note. Technically, this is not part of the main cover, although you should design it with your album cover. The idea is to make sure this inner jacket matches the style of your cover. One way to make good use of the liner note is to use it to write your band information and list of songs. Simply ensure you use similar colors and fonts to make it a flawless extension of the main album cover.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Formats.
When deciding how to design an album cover, another critical aspect to consider is the formatting. Like color and typography, formats have a sneaky way of giving the overall design a specific feel. For instance, sticking to one format may give your cover classic aesthetics. On the other hand, multiple formats are considered more modern and will give your cover an up-to-date feel.
Gone are the days when artists only sold music on vinyl and CDs. It’s the digital era, and you must consider the appearance of hard copies as well as how your cover will appear online. Ensure your brand is well represented when your album appears on Pandora, iTunes, Spotify, and other streaming platforms.
How To Design An Album Cover; Think About Text Placement
When it comes to typography and general album cover texts, “less is more.” You only have as much space to work with, so it’s best to keep things simple. Think of it this way; potential listeners don’t look at an album cover for more than 10 seconds before deciding whether to listen to the songs or move on. Therefore, it makes little or no sense to include too much text. Additionally, choose the template to follow carefully. For example, if you target Western language listeners, place your name on the top left and the album title on the bottom right. This is because your targeted listeners read left to right, top to bottom.
Another ideal text placement design is to stack your name right above the album name. This may or may not work, depending on your choice of font. Experiment with different formats and trust your judgment.
Match the Overall Design to Your Music
Every detail you add to your album cover can make or break its final appearance. For instance, the wrong font choice can give a stunning graphic a cheap look. Likewise, the right fonts can make a graphic standout and create visuals that look refined in the eyes of prospective listeners. Don’t get it wrong; it’s not about choosing a complicated or straightforward design. It’s all about ensuring all the design aspects work in harmony to give your music the hype it deserves.
Take the time to do some legwork and find out what other artists have done with their album covers. Pay special attention to how the colors, fonts, and graphics blend. The last thing you want is to end up with a confusing blend of ideas that make your album cover look like a disorganized mix of Old West and modern flair concepts. Your work may not be easy, but it will undoubtedly be worth it!
Remain True To Your Style
Lastly, you must stick to your style. When choosing how to design an album cover, it’s easy to find yourself admiring a little of everything. This can leave you with a confused-looking cover. To get it right, only focus on designs that represent you as an artist.
Based on your style, you can choose a few design concepts to convey specific information or emotions effectively. Think of it this way, anything you put on the cover will be adding a visual aspect to the sound of your songs. With a bit of creativity, you may just surprise yourself with the overall outcome of your design work.
Time to Rock!
We hope the information we have offered will help you design a jaw-dropping album cover. Now you know the key elements of a design and even have proven tips to guide you through the design process. When choosing how to design an album cover, the most important thing is to ensure that your work awes prospective listeners and captivates their imagination. This is irrespective of whether you intend to do a vinyl album or digital-only release. Either way, ensure the final design helps you draw the crowds.
