In 1940, at the age of 23, graphic designer Alex Steinweiss revolutionized the way records were packaged and marketed. He achieved this as the first art director for the recently formed Columbia Records. The company took a chance, and within months record sales increased by over 800 percent. His covers for Columbia—combining bold typography with modern, elegant illustrations—took the industry by storm and revolutionized the way records were sold. Before the album cover was invented, all albums came in plain brown wrappers. The idea was to create something visual on the outside to lure the consumer. As time went on, the album cover developed into a multitude of styles, each identified with a different type of music. Album covers have been a good cultural barometer, a glimpse into the social climate of a time period.

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The Assignment:

You will be creating your very own CD album artwork. Start by listening to your favorite type of music and compile a list of songs that you would put on a CD. Then, write down any words that come to mind when listening to the music. For example: love, power, high energy, relaxing, party, soft, etc… The words you write down can then be incorporated into the artwork and even function as a title for the front cover. The key to this assignment is to make the artwork reference the type of music found on the CD.  Let the music guide the artwork!

Requirements:

This is where you utilize all of the tools, techniques, and tricks that we have learned in Photoshop and Illustrator throughout the 1st semester to create an original work of art. This art work should be unique to you as well as communicate a mood/emotion through the visual imagery and music you choose.

  • Use the templates. Click
  • 5 compositions:
    • Front cover
    • Inside cover
    • Back cover
    • Back inside cover
    • CD label
  • Unity within all compositions (same color scheme and theme used throughout)
  • Text: title of album, playlist, effects
  • Internet images should be significantly altered
  • Images should evoke the mood of the playlist (hip hop, love songs, party mix, road trip mix, etc.)
  • Use Design Principles
    • Alignment of text and images
    • Proximity, white space is OK
    • Contrast of the text size and font
    • Repetition of colors, fonts, content, theme
  • You may use Photoshop and/or Illustrator

Inspirational Websites:

Examples: