Album Cover process

I have been asking my class mates for feedback on my album covers and multiple times i have been asked how i created those arrows so below is a picture of the Adobe Illustrator file that i used to create that pattern,

Album cover update

This is my second draft for my back cover design. I have added some more arrows, slanted the text across the page to take up more room and generally filled out more of the empty spaces i had before. I definitely think this is an improvement on my first design but i think i can still add to it yet.

Genre, Context & Audience

Everyone has their own tastes in music and there is a genre of music for everyone, all of which originate from different backgrounds and have evolved into something new caused by music fusions. These fusions and genres have mainly come about from ancient times across all four corners of the globe; Africa, India, America and Europe. Their music styles have been crossed and coupled with technology to create thousands of music genres and it's now got to the stage where music can barely even be put into a genre.

Bands have realised this and are now taking pride in breaking music genres pointless boundaries. However this does mean that there is something for everyone out there.

However in spite of this, bands still target a specific audience with their music, without an audience, there is no one to listen to their work and therefore no reason to do it. They will create their music to please their audience but unfortunately there is such thing as main stream. This means a style of music which can be listened to by literally anyone which is good for the artist as they have a huge fan base, and it brings different audiences together, however these artists normally get ahead of themselves and abuse their power and then create what main stream actually is; music becomes what they want it to be. Also to people who care about the music industry, they judge them as being "sell-outs" which in many cases is true; some artists are just in it for the money and the life style that comes with it.

I personally think that the best artists are the ones that stay true to themselves, they produce music they care about, they please their audience and they don't do literally anything just to get famous or to make money. For example Mumford And Sons. They are to true to their own music and have some form of morals and self respect and they gain my respect; I just wish there were more bands around like them and maybe this would save the tragic state of the music industry which I have mentioned in another post (Changes in the music industry)

Why I chose this artwork design...

The whole wild arrow design has just been a design the band have been using in as an icon to themselves; not a logo as such but an iconic design symbolising their name. Therefore i tried to incorporate that into the artwork for the album. I also felt the design was more important than the words which is why i kept that relatively small, but clear enough to read; I have seen alot of covers like this before so there is some logic behind it. The bright, vibrant colours will make it stand out on a shelf and catch consumers eyes.

The back cover i have just made much more simple, but carrying on the same theme. A few of the arrows are scattered about the border over the same colour background. The track list is set at a slant so it fills out more of the back; without it, an annoyingly big gap is left in the middle. I have included the legal statements and barcode which is needed and a small rabbit in the corner which is actually the bands logo.

Overall i think it includes much of what represents the band, and its style mirrors that of the bands music. At this stage I am pleased with it.

Star Image - Slash

Star Image - Slash

Album Back Cover - First idea

This is my first idea for the back cover. I don't think I'm as happy with it as the front cover but it is definitely a good place to start. I think a few more arrows around the outside would look cool. I have everything that is required on the back of an album such as the bar code, the legal statement and the track listings and from what i have seen, most album back covers are fairly bland, probably because thats not what is seen on the shelf in a shop. I think I shall get some feedback from friends and teachers and see what they say about it and then make the adjustments.

Album Cover - first design

This is my first finished design for my album cover. I am generally quite pleased with it all in all. I really like the wacky arrow design which i created in Adobe Illustrator. However I'm not too sure whether or not I like the font or the font colour; with so many colours going on in the background it is hard to find a colour which stands out. But with a few more attempts I'm sure I'll find something I like.