Music Album Cover Design Psd
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. There are a few types of projects that most, if not all, designers will jump at the chance to work on. At the top of that list is album art (which, even in physical form, is ).
When done well, an album cover allows you to take one form of art (music), and reinterpret it as another form (visual). For this tutorial, I’ll go through some of the basics for how to make an album cover and provide a few of the techniques used to create the sample piece below in Photoshop CC. Think of these as guidelines for using certain tools to get a specific style — they can also apply to work incorporating photos, text, textures, or just about anything else. Step 1 Set your file up as a 1600 x 1600 px square, at 300 dpi. Remember to keep the square proportions, and always always work at 300 dpi or higher — this will make it suitable for print, and digital music distributors will resize your files according to their own specs. You can always save multiple versions at different lower sizes, but you can never resize up, so be sure to keep that in mind.
Step 2 Fill the document with a background color using the paint bucket tool (G). Creating a bright background will help the imagery pop, as well as adding a vibrant feel. You always want to build your piece from the base up, so whatever color or image you pick for your background, it will influence the choices you make as you continue to add elements. We’re going to be using a lot of basic shape alignments and symmetry here, so it’s smart to set your guides to divide the art board into four equal squares. This helps ensure that everything is aligned and exact.
Free Music Album Cover Design
Step 3 Add your next layer on top of the background. For this piece, I downloaded Shutterstock image. Center the art in the middle of your document. Step 4 Add a drop shadow to the art by double clicking the “fx” icon at the bottom of your layers palette. Go to “Drop Shadow” and set your opacity to 75% and your angle to 120 degrees.
As you can see, there are other options in the fx menu too — test out some of these other features, like bevels and strokes to see how they affect your composition. Have fun when you’re working on this. I’ve discovered a number of great tools by just clicking on something I’ve never tried and seeing what it does. Step 5 Duplicate the art layer by hitting Command+J, then use the transform tool (Command+T) to rotate the new square.
Step 6 This is where things get fun with color choices. We’re going to import some images of liquid from a lava lamp and give them a more “psychedelic” color palette to help our cover pop more.
First, however, we need to separate the lava from the background. I used Shutterstock image, because its solid background makes easy to separate the art. Open your file, and go to “Select Color Range.” When the Color Range box appears, click on the white of the document, adjust your fuzziness to 140, and click OK.
This will select all of the white in the document, but we want the lava droplets. Hit Shift+Command+I to select the inverse instead, which will be the droplets. Then hit Command+J to copy them onto a new layer.
Hide the bottom layer and you should see your droplets separated from the white background. From here, you can use the lasso tool (L) to draw around the ones you want to use. Note: This method can also be applied to silk screening. If you have any piece of art that needs color separations, this selection method can help you select and subtract colors from the piece. You can also select certain colors and make a new layer with them, so that you can prep your files for each color you want to print. Step 8 Drag your selected lava lamp droplets (or other selected imagery of your choice) into the album-cover file.
Now we’ll start playing with the colors to give this a more psychedelic look and feel. Hit Command+U to bring up the Hue/Saturation dialog box. Use the Hue slider to change the color of each lava lamp droplet. Adjust the colors however you like them, playing with how they interact with the background. Step 9 Make a new layer and use the marquee tool (M) to draw a square shape. Use the paint bucket tool (G) to fill the square shape with a bright color (I used hex #08ec59). Use the arrow tool (V) while holding Option to drag a copy of the square.
Move the two squares to align with the square shapes of your guides. Use the Layer Blending menu (located in the top left of the layers palette, next to the opacity slider) to select “Exclusion.” This pulls the darker colors from below the square and uses the difference between the two colors to create this interesting pink and green combo. Often, designers use this technique to overlay a sold shape over a photograph. You’ll see this a lot in high-end fashion magazines and elsewhere, where there will be a big, solid shape over an image, with color manipulation often used to show the image through the shape.
(See examples and.) Step 10 Typefaces can be tricky, so let’s talk type selections. For the uninitiated, there are two kinds of typefaces: serif (type with small flourishes at the ends of the letter strokes) and sans-serif (no flourishes); within those, there are also subcategories. I used Brandon Grotesque for this cover. It’s a sans-serif font with rounded edges that works well for the layout due to its modern and geometric feel.
Sans-serif fonts have a very contemporary look, so if you’re going for a more vintage feel, you could look to ’60s or ’70s serif fonts for that effect. I centered the type using the guides I created to help with the symmetry of the overall piece. I made it white, and added a 1px black stroke around it to help define/hold the shape of the letters. Of course, you may be going for something entirely different with your album art, but the methods used here will help with almost any composition. If you have any questions about any of the other tools or effects you can use, please let us know in the comments below! Images used in this tutorial: Top image: Check out for more great, and if can’t get enough album cover art, check out these great.
Why Make Albums In case you’re wondering why you should be bothered to even make albums, know that they can serve several purposes. An album is not only limited to a personal photo album with only your relatives to see them. There are also types of albums that can help boost your career or encourage you to take part in recreational activities. So here’s why it’s hard not love albums: Albums for Personal Use. Photos are forever.
Well, they last longer at least. There’s no telling whether your Facebook account will still be around by the time your grandchildren are grown up. Windows 8 theme for windows 7 professional 32 bit. Keeping a photo album is something you can cherish for a long time without having to rely on technology. You can keep them in your home and in the office. Albums tell your story.
They are the visual presentation of you growing up and experiencing life. You can narrate defining moments in your life in great detail, but photos can capture all the unexplained emotions from those moments. A personal photo album serves as the tangible proof of certain landmarks in your life. Should you wish, you can go back to the past with just a single photo in your hands. They are nostalgic and leave a cloud of wistfulness over your head. You are transported to a different time and place.
is perfect for sentimental people. Uploading bulk photos online take the fun out of carefully choosing your favorite shots to be featured in an album. These days no one wants to scroll through hundreds of unorganized photos online, especially when caught in a hectic schedule. Personal photo albums, however, can take your mind off of things when you take the time to design them, or when you’re simply the spectator of someone else’s life. Albums for Professional Use There are different types of albums for different fields of profession. Essentially, albums for your profession tell the client, employer, or potential employee everything there is to know about you.
Whether you are making a portfolio of your works, a, or album covers for CD’s, an album design should represent who you are. Your aesthetics, your creative skills, and your artistry are key elements that should be presented well in your album. Albums are like an extension of your logo. They give an in-depth and focused look on certain aspects about your profession. Creating an album is one way of branding yourself, and setting a lasting image on the people who will see them. How you treat the design aspects of your album and its overall presentation can be telling of your work ethic—if you are hardworking, creative, or are actually a slacker.
It’s basically like an of yourself, but with more pictures than text. Albums really do play a significant role in our lives, either personally or professionally. Essentially, taking the the time to design albums is our way of expressing ourselves and showing who we are to the public. They are tangible proofs of past memories, or symbols of passion and hard work. Album Cover Design Music Album Cover Design.
Themes for Album Designing In designing your personal or professional albums, you can incorporate themes and formats you think can best exhibit the beauty of your photographs. Take the time to plan out your designs and create a clear version of your album’s ideal look inside your head. If you want to breeze through a series of options, grab inspiration and design ideas from various platforms.
We have also prepared a short list of theme ideas you can try out to make album designing easier for you:. Elegant Album Design – An elegant album design doesn’t have to be too loud in colors to attract attention. They are subtle but with bold colors and patterns. You can make use of and delicate but to maintain the sophistication of your images. Classic Album Design – Classic album designs bring the fun out of the traditional.
There’s definitely nothing boring about going old-school when there’s plenty of ways you can get creative with a traditional look. A classic album would usually require the basics: photos, borders, and a few patterns here and there. Play it up once in a while and choose distinct design elements no one’s seen before, while keeping things neat and simple. Use unique, for example, for a travel portfolio or a destination wedding album. Urban Album Design – An urban design for your album proves how you like to keep up with the times, and that you are stylish enough to incorporate it in your works. Urban designs call for edgy patterns, one of a kind fonts, and an overall electric vibe. Keep your album design unique and fresh with awesome, hipster fonts, and asymmetrical geometric shapes.
You don’t have to keep your page designs uniformed, but there should be an overall harmonious finish. Minimalist Album Design – There’s absolutely nothing dull and safe about minimalism. There’s certain skill required to make simple and almost bare portfolios completely profound.
Once you can achieve that, you can design almost anything. With a minimalist album design, keep in mind only the essentials and how you can enhance them with only a few design options. Those design options should look like an extension of your photos. They could be lines, shapes, or even just a single color. Make everything seem like there is more by showing less. Vintage Themed Album Design – A vintage theme for an album is a bold choice. When everyone is hellbent on going for the contemporary look, go to the opposite direction. Vintage patterns and fonts have proven to be a favorite choice for people who like to stand out.
Flowers, wooden textures, and letterhead fonts will make you album look like an antique from the 50’s. Minimalist Album Design Minimal Photo Album Design. Different Types of Albums Note that there are several types of albums with just as many ways for you to design them. It’s not just personal photo albums that need time and effort to look amazing. Professional albums like CD’s, portfolios, and vinyl records rely on their designs to get the attention and recognition they deserve. Start thinking of ways to make any album look priceless.
Personal Photo Albums – Personal photo albums can be categorized according to different occasions in you life. You can design a photo album for your newborn baby to document his or her growth. You can also have a collection of all your vacations and holiday travels with the family. One other event that will surely need its own album is a wedding.
A wedding album, complete with its own personalized, marks one of your life-changing experiences and should be treated with a lot of sentiment in terms of design. CD Album Cover – A CD album cover for singers and bands should be able to bring out the soul of the artist. Album covers are designed according to the music genre of the singer. And the best album cover designs are those that can provide an overview of the whole album with the front cover alone. Get to know the artist and everything that led them to create that type of music. Incorporate that on the album cover design- if you should go for black and white, or a unique symbol in the middle, or a simple portrait of the artist.
Photography Portfolio – A portfolio is a photographer’s version of a resume. The photographer produces images, therefore potential clients have to see what they might be getting.
If you’re a photographer who delves into different themes and shots, customize and categorize your photographs by setting a theme for every portfolio. You can make separate portfolios for different types of events you cover like weddings, birthdays, or festivals. Your can belong in a different portfolio from your landscapes and so on. You can keep your album designs minimal and let the images do the talking.
Music Album Cover Design With Contrast In Shape
A short description here and there is acceptable too. Fashion Album Design – Fashion catalogs feature all the brand’s products complete with a short description and methods of purchasing. The images should be accurate and of high quality if you want shoppers buying your products in every color. Great fashion catalogs are those that feature their products being worn by models to see the fit. Although fashion catalogs tend to be more visual, make your text clear and visible to have informed buyers. There’s a lot that goes in designing your albums. It takes time to plan out your design especially if they are for your profession.
CD Cover Template
You have to make sure they give a clear image of who you are. The rest is up to our creativity. Overall, they’re pretty fun to work on once you’ve got everything prepared. Our list is here to make sure you’l never run out of ideas and inspiration when making CD album covers.