Design your album cover
Every band needs a great cover for their debut album. Graphic designers and photographers will help to make a great CD stand out on the shelf.
Name Your CD will need a memorable title.
- Some are really funky- Amy Winehouse opted for the alliterative 'Back to Black'.
- Some are just plain weird- Mika's debut album is called 'Life in Cartoon Motion', what does he mean by that?
- Some use the title of one of the CD's key songs- Gwen Stefani's new album is called 'The Sweet Escape', the same name as her collaboration with Akon.
- Many artists simply use their name for the title of their first CD- Razorlight have called their album 'Razorlight', simple, yet effective.
Styles Some acts or bands create an image and brand around their name so that people will remember them or recognise the band simply by the style or their logo. Other bands change the way that their name is written and the pictures they use to re-create their ‘style’ at that time.
Pictures Many acts use a picture of themselves on the album cover but others prefer to use animation or an abstract photo. Perhaps they feel that their face will not sell songs, or perhaps they prefer the anonymity.
Once you have decided what to put on your album, you can start designing. You could create your design on the computer or you could print the template out and get crafty with some glue, scissors and some funky cutouts from magazines.