Instead of the normal style of detailing my design processes (such as my CD Design for Dominic Finley), the rest of this article just shows 77 photos detailing the process of a CD design for singer/songwriter, Peter Webster (you can here his great music on his site). That’s right! No screen-shots, just photos.

The post shows everything from snapshots of project conception, Illustrator® and Photoshop® setups, “the designer-life” with kids and the final CD printed.

Any questions can be asked in the comments section afterwards…

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Final Printed CD Sleeve & Jewel Case

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For any questions, please use the photo numbers if necessary…

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

I recently wrote an article about the unique media designed by 5inch. Yesterday, I was clearing up some paperwork in my office, and found this CD artwork I designed for a local band a few years ago.

As can be seen, it uses a unique CD Jewel Case Design that houses a clear disc.

The image above is the reverse of the jewel case, with another element of the design that shows through. When the CD is “sprung out” of the case using the trigger, the rest of the design can be viewed.

Have you designed CD artwork that uses a jewel case like this? Have you designed a cover that uses another unique-style of case?

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Here is a CD Album Design I produced for a local band named “The Reeds”, a Christian-based 2-piece who produced music for the album “all in a days musing”. Even though I produced this artwork a few years back, it’s one of my favourite CD designs I have produced, so I thought I’d feature it.

Firstly, Scott and Karen (the Reeds) provided me with a detailed description of what they wanted, including a set of photographs of themselves to be utilised in the design. The design I produced was for a CD  jewel case with black tray. The reverse printed colour and so was the face-up side of the 4-page inner booklet. The inner booklet was black & white.

I designed most of the CD cover in Adobe Illustrator®. I made the reeds-illustrations in vector format and tweaked them in Photoshop® before compiling the whole design set back in Illustrator® before exporting to PDF-X.

The CD print was comprised of two Pantone® colours, which I instructed the printers to print straight onto the CD face. This utilised the silver of the disc face as “a third colour” in a way, which maximised the simple yet attractive design.

As can be seen in the above image, there isn’t a lot of space on the jewel case spine for the allocated text. My article on CD Design Tips (on point 7) address’s the issue of getting this critical text positioning right.

When designing a CD Sleeve, one great thing you can do is use an unusual, but appropriate font. Here, I used a readable yet original font on the CD back tray and throughout the design. As there is limited information, a non-standard font can be used in keeping with the style of design.

Further resources: Scott Antony Wainright (from the Reeds) solo music sites: on MySpace & also on his Own Site

Any questions? Please ask them below or leave a general comment.

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This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

I don’t think these are great because of the bands they represent, but just because they have the “Wow” factor that would make you want to look at them further… Enjoy!

NOTE: I have watermarked these images, but they are copyright of their respective holders. If you know who designed them, please let me know and I’ll include their link.

Lemon Jelly “Lost Horizons” CD Cover Design

Interpol “Our Love to Admire” CD Sleeve Design

Interpol “Best of” CD Cover Design

Feeder “Echo Park” CD Sleeve

Editors “An End Has a Start” CD Cover Design

Muse “The Resistance” CD Sleeve

Björk “Volta” Album Art

The Prodigy “The Fat of the Land” Album Art

Coldplay “X & Y” CD Sleeve

Delphic “Delphic” Album Cover

I plan to compile another list soon listing some great “Conceptual CD Sleeve Designs”. Why not subscribe to my Free Updates by Email so you don’t miss a thing?

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Just a quick post about a poster design I recently produced for the Bob Cheevers tour, which also featured Dominic Finley and Lizzie Nunnery. My last post was about the CD Sleeve I designed for Dominic—and this poster was done straight after to announce that he was touring with the other two musicians.

◥ These PDF Proofs show two versions of the poster design, which announce varied dates and venues.

◥ The posters were supplied in three [European] sizes (A3, A4 and A5)—and also in black & white. Notice that the B+W one isn’t just a direct copy of the coloured one converted to greyscale. I individually lightened the text shades so the whole thing looked sharp and legible.

Any thoughts? I’d love to read them

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Dominic Finley is a singer/songwriter who has worked in the UK and USA. There’s a bio on his site, but this quote from the site (below) sums-up his career and music in a glance:

For the last decade and a half Dominic Finley has successfully adapted to various different styles of music. He has moved though Brit-pop, Motown and jazz, to more recently doing session work and playing progressive rock with Combination Head and classic pop-rock with the recently reformed Cutting Crew.

The Design Process

This was one of those rare projects where I had total artistic freedom over the design. Before I started the design, I asked Dominic to answer a series of questions pertaining to the design and specifications (my online CD Design quote form is available on my site here).

◥ The only thing that was absolutely specified was the use of a photo of Dominic on the front cover—in some way, shape or form. Another aspect of the design was for it to have an earthy feel, and to be aimed at people 30+ years.

I had a very basic idea in-mind for the CD Sleeve design. As always, I sketched a rough plan of my intended illustration. Nowadays, I use a Moleskine® Notebook to collate my thoughts and ideas.

◥ As can be seen in the image above, I only required a very rough sketch of what I had envisaged, as the next step was to create some vectors in Illustrator® on my Mac. The actual specification for the CD was a 4-page colour booklet, Tray Card + CD Print.

What is the design concept? Well, after I listened to some sample music from Dominic’s site, I settled on an organic-looking, earthy formation that was both visually-appealing and suited the style of music it represented. This kind of job is, in essence, illustration. There are “no rules” to artistic interpretation, so I just designed what I saw in my mind when I listened to the music.

◥ This is the vector I created in Adobe Illustrator®.

◥ I wanted the vector to be textured, so I downloaded a couple of free images from Fudge Graphics, authored by Franz Jeitz. Most of the time, I pay for stock images from sites like Dreamstime, however, with great designers such as Franz around, there are many high-resolution textures on the web—free for commercial use— and also downloadable for free, too.

◥ This is how the main images I used on the CD Sleeve started to shape-up using textures.

◥ The image above shows pages 4 & 1 of the CD booklet from the final PDF I supplied.

◥ This was the tray Card PDF (I’ve left the guides visible here for illustration only). As can be seen, the CD was inclusive of a professional barcode. Even though these CD prints were to be printed in Digital, I only used flat black in the actual barcode .eps to ensure a sharp-print on the black lines.

Client Proofs

◥ After I finished the design work I sent off some PDF proofs to Dominic. For a more in-depth look at the type of proofs I supply to my clients, please refer to my article Total Design Process for Edit Websites.

CD Photos + Technical Info

◥ The prints were printed on a Digital Press, which is a suitable choice for small print runs.

◥ The CD comprised of a Clear Jewel Case with a Black CD Tray.

◥ The actual “CD print” was produced digitally too. For larger print runs, CD’s are normally printed using a  Litho or screen process.

◥ The inside of the 4-Page Booklet shows the track-list, credits and production information (I get a mention, too—thanks to Dom!).

◥ The back of the 4-Page Booklet is visible on the inside of the Jewel Case. As can be seen, there is a thank-you message from Dominic [t0 the listener].

◥ A big headache that can be caused when designing CDs is getting the placement of the Spine Text just right. Even if the text is placed in perfect position on the template, the actual tray print is still subject the guiletines. However, a good print-house should always do a good job when it comes to perforating the Spine “creases” in the right place.

◥ The only gripe that I have is that the reflectiveness of the Jewel Case makes the print look a little darker than it should. I’ll remember this next time I design a dark-blue CD.

This was a great project to work on. I didn’t have a massive budget to work with, however the project worked out well—and Dom really liked the design. I think that his music is great, and this design has the potential to let his music flourish in physical sales and online, too.

I’ve included another one of his tracks below named “Misery”.

I’ve also produced another CD recently for Dominic Finley which will be featured in another design-process article in the new year. Be sure to Subscribe to my RSS feed for free as not to miss it. Any comments or questions about this article can be left below…

★★★★★ If you liked this post, then check out How to Design a CD Album for a Local Band.

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Recently, a new development has transpired – the birth of Music Singles sold on Memory Sticks (as opposed to CD’s). The popular UK Band Keane are the first Band to release a Music Single in this way.

The 512MB memory stick will be sold in standard CD packaging, with the device shrink-wrapped to the sleeve artwork. So far, this new phenomenon is only available on a limited bases, but may take off soon as an alternative to CD’s and Music Downloads.

THIS IS A PAGE THAT I HAVE CONVERTED INTO A POST FOR INDEXING PURPOSES

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Arcade Fire released their first self-titled EP (Arcade Fire EP) back in 2003 (Image 1). Since then, Arcade Fire have become a very successful band indeed, propelled by their first studio album FuneralNeon Bible (Image 2) in early 2005. Now, in 2007, they are set to release , an 11-track album which, judging by first single ‘Intervention‘, should only strengthen the support for this unique indie band.

Since Arcade Fires’ ‘Neon Bible’ CD won’t actually been released until March, I can only review the circulated image of the cover. The first thing that I noticed is that there is no text – No ‘Arcade Fire’ or ‘Neon Bible’ displayed at all on the album art. But as stated, the album hasn’t been released yet, so It’s entirely possible that the band name and title is to printed onto a transparent sticker, which is stuck onto a clear jewel case Supergrass Album (CD casing or tray case) for the retail stores (Many CD releases have used this method, look at the self-titled ‘‘ from 1999, for example). My first impressions of the CD Art was a bit of a mixed bag. I was at first rather impressed with the evident glowing Neon Bible imagery, but then totally uninspired by the unappealing white border imposed by the designer – I’ll get to that soon.

There are many other bands who have decided to have album art that is subjective to interpretation, illustrations to be mused over and photography that is so distressed you can’t make head nor tale of it. Neon Bible is not one of these designs:

The ‘meaning’ of the album art is self-evident. The album is named ‘Neon Bible’…and guess what? The album sleeve displays photographic imagery of a neon Bible – although there IS added significance to this imagery. Arcade Fires’ Neon Bible website “neonbible.com” displays a repetitive animation of the pages of the Neon Bible lighting-up in subsequent motion. The actual album sleeve simply displays 3 frames of this animation at the base, center and top of the CD Cover, which represents the animation in motion.
This in itself is visually pleasing; the actual conceptual base of the album sleeve is relatively sound. Yet it’s not the concept of any given art which is the sole reason for good design, rather the delivery of a concept. Sadly, the delivery of the ‘Neon Bible’ notion has been recklessly misguided by those terrible-looking, unsightly white lines. These lines adhere to some sort of framed-pattern, but do nothing for the concept of the art and nothing right for aesthetics! The lines also appear crudely ‘drawn’, with no anti-aliasing applied to them (I’m not suggesting that anti-aliasing is mandatory, but in this case, it would be suitable).

Conclusion:

So, what do these lines mean? Are they there to annoy the viewer or is there a hidden meaning here? They do nothing but detract from the conceptual base of the whole cover art – the three frames of animation of the Neon Bible. In conclusion, I’m perplexed at my own opinions on the cover. This is an Album sleeve that is a juxtaposition of cleverly implemented conceptual imagery and crude line-art. Although, when I ask myself what shines through the most – it’s the Design Concept. The concept being a clear representation of the name of the album…Neon Bible. I’ve said this in another album review of mine, but I’ll say it again anyway because it holds true: cover art is exactly that – ART. Art is subjective and open to interpretation, conjecture and opinion. To put my final opinion into one final sentence looks like this: Good concept, poor delivery.

On a final note, images 1& 2 in this article (above) show the Album Art for ‘Arcade Fire EP’ and ‘Funeral’. I quite like these album covers – and you can see the graphical progression from the earlier EP to ‘Funeral’. I’m wondering now why this progressional had moved from Illustration to controversial photographic cover art. The musical style of Arcade Fire, in my opinion, had stayed the same, so why has the album art evolved in such a way for ‘Neon Bible’?

For more information on Arcade Fire, there is a great blog on Arcade Fire at Steriogum.com for the latest news on ‘Neon Bible’ and related stories.

THIS IS A PAGE THAT I HAVE CONVERTED INTO A POST FOR INDEXING PURPOSES

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Are you in a Band or a Solo Artist? If so, I can professionally design the perfect CD Cover Design or Album Art to meet your needs. I can create a Music CD Design for almost any purpose, be it for promotional or commercial use. Even custom CD Case requirements can be met (such as a cardboard cd sleeve or gatefold) and designs for other specialised CD casings. This design Service is available worldwide—if you want Album Art to be designed for you, be rest assured that I can exceed you’re expectations – and make a CD Cover that’s Truly Yours. Why not fill out my Hire Me request form online?

Why my CD Cover Design services are unique

The Internet is abound with Graphic Design Services that offer Online Design in a very limited capacity. Simply put, you tell them your needs in a simple online questionnaire and then they get back to you. If the job is started, you get to review your design proofs via email. This is not very productive at all. At AndrewKelsall.com, you can expect to receive a Total Online Design Solution.

I PREVIOUSLY WROTE AND PUBLISHED THIS POST ON ANOTHER BLOG. I HAVE NOW MOVED IT HERE TO THIS PAGE, SO COMMENTS ARE NOT OPEN ON THIS POST

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

I found this story quite amazing…Beck’s album “The Information”, was banned from the UK charts because it incorporated, in my opinion, boundry-busting design! After a consumer purchases the album, a variety of stickers can be applied to the CD Sleeve art as seen fit. This is an original idea that truly pushes at the boundaries of modern design. It’s a shame that creative-thinking has been stumped by out-dated rules and regulations from the OCC.

The original article reads:
New album’s extra features breaks rules

Beck’s new album ‘The Information’ has been banned from the UK chart. The record, which was released on October 2, has fallen foul of the rules set by the Official Chart Company.

The packaging of the CD, which includes a DVD feature and stickers that allow fans to design their own artwork, has made the album illegible in Sunday’s [October 8] countdown. According to the OCC, the DVD of homemade videos for each song on the LP – plus four random sticker sets designed by artists handpicked by Beck – gives ‘The Information’ an “unfair advantage” over other releases…

The rest of this article can be found at NME.com (link lost)

I found this story quite amazing…Beck’s album “The Information”, was banned from the UK charts because it incorporated, in my opinion, boundry-busting design! After a consumer purchases the album, a variety of stickers can be applied to the cover art as seen fit. This is an original idea that truly pushes at the boundaries of modern design. It’s a shame that creative-thinking has been stumped by out-dated rules and regulations from the OCC.

I PREVIOUSLY WROTE AND PUBLISHED THIS POST ON ANOTHER BLOG. I HAVE NOW MOVED IT HERE TO THIS PAGE, SO COMMENTS ARE NOT OPEN ON THIS POST

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall