You must have heard the phrase, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ While it sounds great to hear, in reality, a lot of people actually do end up judging a book by its cover, a movie by its case, or an album by its cover art. Not only does this make it essential to have a striking album cover, but also to have one that is accurately representative of your album’s content – that is, the songs.
Here’s how you can design a striking album cover art in 4 easy steps:
- Understand the Mood and the Themes
When it comes to designing an album cover, the first step is far away from the design itself. Instead, it’s actually listening to the album. While every person has their own listening process, one way to go about it is to give the entire album a listen and jot down your initial thoughts. This will provide you with a backdrop to the album which you can use as a foundation to build on.
As the next step, you can break down the album into individual songs and do a deep dive into the moods and themes present in each, forming connections where possible. By the end of this, you should have a good idea about the album and its contents, which help you draw inspiration for your album design.
- Research the Genre
The second thing on your list should be gaining more information on the genre of the album. Again, determining the genre will require you to give a listen to the album, and you will probably have already thought of the genre while carrying out the first step. Of course, another way to determine the genre is to simply ask the artist how they classify it, but it is worth combining even that with your own interpretation for a fresh take.
Once you have a genre – or multiple – decided, you can explore further by dividing them into subgenres. The next step is to find elements that these genres are associated with. For instance, a romance genre might be associated with shades of pink and red and elements such as flowers. Although you can deviate from these, thinking of associated elements will give you a starting point for your design process.
- Identify the Target Audience
The type of album cover you design will vary depending on who your target audience is. A different design style would work better for a kids’ album than one targeted towards the older generations. To determine the target audience for your album, you can revert back to your earlier analysis, using the themes and moods deducted to deduce your audience.
Alternatively, you can also conduct secondary market research and look into the target audience for albums that have a similar sound and thematic composition. You can even go a step further and conduct focus groups and questionnaires to see which audience segmentation responds best to the album, and proceed with the design accordingly.
- Decide on the Design Elements
With all of your research and sound analysis completed, it’s now onto the actual design. Here, you can turn to PosterMyWall’s wide range of album cover templates. With hundreds of options to choose from on a platform that is beginner-friendly, you will surely find a template or two that catches your eye. And the best part is that you can do all of this for free, helping you save some bucks to spend elsewhere.
Simply select a template that you like, customize it according to your album, and voila! There’s your album cover art done. Within the design, there are certain elements to keep in mind such as the color scheme and typography – essentially things that will make your album cover art stand out. Another important thing to think of during design is to make sure that you have room for typography, and that’s a threat. Once you have these nailed, your album cover art is more or less done.
So, if you’re looking to design a striking album cover art, then these design tips and tricks are a move in the right decision. Just make sure to make adjustments according to your album and audience, and you’ll be good to go!
