Terry Allan Hall
05-29-2002, 06:47 AM
(Got this in my e-mail, thought I'd share it...)
By: Christian Lange
Most CD purchases are made on impulse. People sift through
the display racks, a CD jumps into their hands, something snaps,
and the sale is made *sometimes without even knowing anything
about the artist.
People are influenced by the packaging of a CD because its
artwork almost always reflects the spirit and style of the
artist. It's the most important visual statement you'll make
about your music, and it is something that deserves a good
deal of thought. You don't want to shortsell or misrepresent
your music *on the contrary, you want fans to instantly recognize
it as "their own."
The best CD designs usually happen when a musical act has a
clear concept of who they are and the designer understands how to
interpret that on paper. Hopefully there is a shared respect for
the responsibility of each. To impose an "image" on a band is
disastrous; in the long run this inevitably backfires.
Find yourself a designer who understands music and let him
know what you're all about. Make sure he or she really listens
to your music. Tell him who your fans are, their demographics,
and what other music they listen to. If the designer doesn't
appear interested, stop the train and get out -this is not the
person we're looking for.
But how about a band that is blessed with a drummer who is
also a designer? Well, just make sure it IS a blessing. Maybe
there is a good reason why your drummer works as a surveyor and
not as an art director at an ad agency. If someone is going to
impact the commercial success (or failure) of your project, make
sure they've designed a dozen other music CDs before they work on
yours. And make sure they're familiar with the CD manufacturing
specifications for CD discs and inserts. Turning a job in for
replication that is incorrectly set-up can cause long and
costly delays.
How about having the duplication company do the design?
Depends! If it's a very big company focused on volume, probably
not. If they seem concerned about your individual needs, your
unique style requirements; if they ask a lot of questions about
these things *and have a nice portfolio to show, you're probably
in good hands. A designer doesn't need to sit across a table and
smell your mouthwash to do a good job *long distance
collaboration is easy in today's electronic environment.
Once you find a talented designer that understands your act,
cultivate that relationship and each new project you do together
will surpass the previous one. As with a good manager, recording
engineer, booking agent, music attorney, etc., building a solid
team around you will allow you to succeed and concentrate on your
real strength: making music.
Elements of a good cover design
While every genre has a different visual "style", there are a
few items that are common to all good CD packaging *things you
might keep in mind while you're brainstorming.
? The cover should be an eye stopper. You have only a second or
two to get someone's attention while they are flipping through
CDs in a music store.
? If the cover is conceptual, a traycard that reveals something
about the artist (like a compelling artist photograph) can really
nail it. It humanizes the whole thing. And when selling to
humans, that's not a bad idea!
? Use the interior of the CD (page 2, 3, and 4) to strike a
personal connection with your fans. Along with liner notes,
share written lyrics or a personal statement. Interior photos
(unlike the arresting, manipulated images on the outside) are
more for real. They tell you something about the lifestyle of
these performers.
? A great CD disc design has a layout and color scheme that
matches the rest of the packaging at a glance. Besides the
obvious practical reason for this, it gives the project a bold,
cohesive appearance.
? The last rule: there are no rules. Every project is unique.
Every design should be conceived from the ground up. You can
see a few projects I've designed at
http://www.kmusic.com/photos/
which I hope will help illustrate some of these points.
CD Replication
After your design is completed, the next step is replication.
500 is the minimum quantity most manufacturers will handle to
replicate your project, ie, "press" your job using a glass master
and silkcreened image on the disc (as opposed to "burning" CDRs
which is only practical on small quantities and look home-made).
Ultrared Multimedia offers a good price on quantities of
500 ($1,099) and 1000 ($1,450) which includes glass master,
replication, printing the 4/1 color four-page insert, traycard,
silkscreening on the disc, and poly-wrapped jewel cases. You can
contact Ultrared at 888-353-DISC or production@ultrared.com.
Scheduling
Finally, a note about scheduling. Allow sufficient time for
the design and production of your CD. Save the stress and
schedule the release party once you have the CDs in hand. You've
probably spent the better part of a year producing your music.
Don't rush the people working on this final stage *from mastering
to photography and design to manufacturing. You want these
individuals to be consciencious of every detail, attentive to
every possibility that could make your project better. When
quality is at stake it's really not that important whether your
release is out the first of August or the first of September
*the fans will still be there; better to give them an outstanding
product!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
About the author:
Christian Lange has produced award-winning designs and
photography for scores of acts in every genre of music. You may
see a portfolio of work at http://www.christianlange.com
You may contact his studio at x@christianlange.com
By: Christian Lange
Most CD purchases are made on impulse. People sift through
the display racks, a CD jumps into their hands, something snaps,
and the sale is made *sometimes without even knowing anything
about the artist.
People are influenced by the packaging of a CD because its
artwork almost always reflects the spirit and style of the
artist. It's the most important visual statement you'll make
about your music, and it is something that deserves a good
deal of thought. You don't want to shortsell or misrepresent
your music *on the contrary, you want fans to instantly recognize
it as "their own."
The best CD designs usually happen when a musical act has a
clear concept of who they are and the designer understands how to
interpret that on paper. Hopefully there is a shared respect for
the responsibility of each. To impose an "image" on a band is
disastrous; in the long run this inevitably backfires.
Find yourself a designer who understands music and let him
know what you're all about. Make sure he or she really listens
to your music. Tell him who your fans are, their demographics,
and what other music they listen to. If the designer doesn't
appear interested, stop the train and get out -this is not the
person we're looking for.
But how about a band that is blessed with a drummer who is
also a designer? Well, just make sure it IS a blessing. Maybe
there is a good reason why your drummer works as a surveyor and
not as an art director at an ad agency. If someone is going to
impact the commercial success (or failure) of your project, make
sure they've designed a dozen other music CDs before they work on
yours. And make sure they're familiar with the CD manufacturing
specifications for CD discs and inserts. Turning a job in for
replication that is incorrectly set-up can cause long and
costly delays.
How about having the duplication company do the design?
Depends! If it's a very big company focused on volume, probably
not. If they seem concerned about your individual needs, your
unique style requirements; if they ask a lot of questions about
these things *and have a nice portfolio to show, you're probably
in good hands. A designer doesn't need to sit across a table and
smell your mouthwash to do a good job *long distance
collaboration is easy in today's electronic environment.
Once you find a talented designer that understands your act,
cultivate that relationship and each new project you do together
will surpass the previous one. As with a good manager, recording
engineer, booking agent, music attorney, etc., building a solid
team around you will allow you to succeed and concentrate on your
real strength: making music.
Elements of a good cover design
While every genre has a different visual "style", there are a
few items that are common to all good CD packaging *things you
might keep in mind while you're brainstorming.
? The cover should be an eye stopper. You have only a second or
two to get someone's attention while they are flipping through
CDs in a music store.
? If the cover is conceptual, a traycard that reveals something
about the artist (like a compelling artist photograph) can really
nail it. It humanizes the whole thing. And when selling to
humans, that's not a bad idea!
? Use the interior of the CD (page 2, 3, and 4) to strike a
personal connection with your fans. Along with liner notes,
share written lyrics or a personal statement. Interior photos
(unlike the arresting, manipulated images on the outside) are
more for real. They tell you something about the lifestyle of
these performers.
? A great CD disc design has a layout and color scheme that
matches the rest of the packaging at a glance. Besides the
obvious practical reason for this, it gives the project a bold,
cohesive appearance.
? The last rule: there are no rules. Every project is unique.
Every design should be conceived from the ground up. You can
see a few projects I've designed at
http://www.kmusic.com/photos/
which I hope will help illustrate some of these points.
CD Replication
After your design is completed, the next step is replication.
500 is the minimum quantity most manufacturers will handle to
replicate your project, ie, "press" your job using a glass master
and silkcreened image on the disc (as opposed to "burning" CDRs
which is only practical on small quantities and look home-made).
Ultrared Multimedia offers a good price on quantities of
500 ($1,099) and 1000 ($1,450) which includes glass master,
replication, printing the 4/1 color four-page insert, traycard,
silkscreening on the disc, and poly-wrapped jewel cases. You can
contact Ultrared at 888-353-DISC or production@ultrared.com.
Scheduling
Finally, a note about scheduling. Allow sufficient time for
the design and production of your CD. Save the stress and
schedule the release party once you have the CDs in hand. You've
probably spent the better part of a year producing your music.
Don't rush the people working on this final stage *from mastering
to photography and design to manufacturing. You want these
individuals to be consciencious of every detail, attentive to
every possibility that could make your project better. When
quality is at stake it's really not that important whether your
release is out the first of August or the first of September
*the fans will still be there; better to give them an outstanding
product!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
About the author:
Christian Lange has produced award-winning designs and
photography for scores of acts in every genre of music. You may
see a portfolio of work at http://www.christianlange.com
You may contact his studio at x@christianlange.com