How to Create Album Art
Album art is the artwork that graces not only the cover of a CD, but the inside, as well. Many freelance graphic design artists make a living designing album art for bands. Creating successful cover art is a combination of good communication and art skills. An artist who successfully creates album art can very quickly find himself busy on a regular basis through both word of mouth and by the business his cover art generates.
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Instructions
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Consult with the band or musician you have been contracted to work for. Good communication skills are a must when designing cover art for an album. Most times, a band will have a concept in mind regarding the cover art for their album. It's up to you to listen to what they have to say, make suggestions, and then come up with something you believe fits the concept the band has in mind.
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Sketch a few ideas revolving around what you and the band have discussed. Do a couple of variations on the album cover theme and present them to the band. Two or three choices are always a good idea. Let the band members decide which one they like best.
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Create the artwork the band chooses. You can do this by hand, using whatever medium you prefer, or with graphics software like Adobe Photoshop if you prefer to work on the computer. You will eventually have to scan any artwork done by hand onto the computer for delivery to your client (the band).
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Stick to the agreed upon design once the client has made a decision. You don't want to get experimental and risk having to start a project over. Allow the band to see the art work at various intervals during the creation process to avoid any time-consuming setbacks or misunderstandings.
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Save your finished work as a high-resolution JPEG and GIF file and present it to the band on a CD-R.
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