An Indie Musician's Diary Vol 2

Album Cover Art Tips

I am still looking at my options for album art. The album cover I used on the demo was not professional and needs to be replaced. I contacted a graphical designer but the process stalled. So now I am looking into how to create a great album cover for free all by myself. Some of these graphic designers charge up to $150 per design. With a little info you and I can do it for free if we are good at design. If not, be able to communicate what you want from a graphical designer and pay the fee. Whatever you do, don't post crap. Your album cover tells the world what's inside. It has to be top notch!

Be aware of the trend(s) within your genre

Album art goes in trends. I have been analysing this. Lately I have seen that these trends trend differently  within each genre too. You don't want to do the same type of cover for a country album as for a House album. So think about what genre you are pitching to and keep your art relevant to what is trending there. 

I have a problem with the Change My Mind album. It is multiple genres and I'm not sure how to address that.  

Using your own art

If you are a visual artist and an indie musician, why not paint or draw your own album cover design? Uniqueness sticks out among the photoshopped perfectionistic album covers. 

I am doing some sketches for my new album. It is a secret for now...

The elements of good design no matter what art you use

- clarity - you should be able to see the motive and or the name of the artist and the name of the album even when it is a small Spotify cube. And it should be just as clear on a wide computer screen. HD and nothing else. 

Uniqueness - don't copy someone else! Be yourself and let your album reflect who you are, your story and your music. 

Simplicity . less is more...

One path: your eyes should travel into the middle of the cover or go along a path from one point to another. (Pink Floyd, Dark side of the moon. Clear black background, on path through the prism.)

Colours that represent you as an artist 

I have chosen deep jewel tones. I am a blonde and that's what I wear. They are my favourite colours and let them tint everything. It captures people's attention and it looks good on white and black backgrounds too. 

How to find high quality art for your album cover

There has never been a time in the history of mankind when such a large amount of HD free pictures for use in creating album art  Read the links and get tips about Canva, Unsplash, Free Images, Splashburst

Here are some specifications from the Landr article below that are good to keep in mind. 

Album cover size:Minimum 3000 x 3000 pixelsA squareMinimum 72 DPIJPG or PNG formatAlbum cover specs:No blurriness or pixelationNo URLs, hashtags or handlesNo pornographic imagesNo references to brands

Links: 

Great article for any indie artist trying to make a great album cover. Links to many editing services and more https://blog.landr.com/how-to-make-your-own-album-cover/