What makes a good album cover?

Music shares many common ideas and themes with the visual arts. For example, repetition, rhythm, harmony, tone, shape, space, scale, line, texture and colour are terms common to both the musical and visual language and this project was focused around these points.

When someone is flicking through albums at a record store the first thing they are going to notice is the graphics. If the graphics aren't eye catching then they are going to go right past that record until they find one that grabs their attention. If they're interested then they will listen to, and hopefully buy that record. So it is key that when you're putting together your artwork that you make it as noticeable as possible.

Typograpgy

When adding text to your design, whether it be the main title and band name on the front or track listings on the inside you want to make sure that the text isn't too cluttered or difficult to read. Also limit the number of different type faces that you use. The design can become overly complicated and in-consistent by using too many fonts. In addition, it strains the eyes. The main title and your band name should be easily recognizable so that someone who is viewing your album knows exactly who they're looking at.

Type of music

Think about what the music on the album is saying. Does it tell a story? Are there characters in your songs? What atmosphere does your music project? Based off of the answers to these questions take the time to come up with some kind of imagery that really conveys your message. Also, make sure that your cover fits into your genre of music, otherwise a potential listener may pass it by thinking that it isn't going to be their taste in music.

Layout

You don't want to over complicate the design, too much detail text, images can look messy and not professional. It's important to have a specific layout simple can be more effective. Make sure any images or text are aligned with each other so nothing looks out of place. Make sure if something is meant to be in the center it is centered exactly to the middle this will make your cover look more appealing and attractive to consumers.

Colours

Your band name should stand out. If your readers can't see your band name at a glance, your album cover isn't going to help your sales. Make it striking. Bear in mind that your CD will be sitting on the shelf among many other discs, and it needs to be eye-catching.Don't be afraid of "white space." The human brain can get overloaded with too much detail and image. White space allows the brain to focus more on the images that are there. Choose colours that reflects your music. If you play rock, you'd hardly want the bright, summery colours you usually see on a children's pop music cover, more dark,black, grey colours represent this genre.