That seems pretty easy...but why don't some people do it?
During the class discussion today we talked about authority. People are more likely to listen to people they believe are credible sources. It makes sense and it is a part of life. I thought an article from a designer’s perspective might provide insight on the process of design. While looking at some of the covers today, I wondered why the designer chose that design, how much freedom they had and what their overall concept was. After reading Patrick Duffy’s article, I was able to at least get an idea of what a designer is thinking and what tips he recommends.
When first reading the article I thought, “This seems like common sense”. After a second read-through I though, “Why do all people not take these tips into consideration”. My mind was taken back to high school. We had a punk band, which I will call DOH, that played at a local putt-putt establishment and also appeared in a luggage advertisement in our school newspaper. They had dreams of making it big; going on tour and selling enough CDs so that they could live the rockstar life they dreamed of. Unfortunately their first CD flopped in the nation, but received great reviews from the senior class.
The CD design, I believe did not take Huffy’s first tip into consideration—Be Resourceful, Not Cheap. Their CD was designed by one of the members. It was a collage of all their exes (and no there was not catchy title to go with it) I understand they are in high school and they do not have enough funds to pay for a designer, but I could name at least 20 people from the graduating class that could have done a better job. I can also name 10 people off the top of my head that could have made it look professional. That brings me to Huffy’s second point—Where do we find designers? I think that if they would have done their research they could have found a high schooler with no after-school job to design their cover.
Huffy makes some good points and I would have liked to see him rank his top 20 (or so) album covers. What I thought was the most interesting about the article was his discussion on how the concept should reflect the content. I thought it was interesting that a country music audience expected their artist on the cover—I had never thought about that (of course I haven’t seen a country album in awhile). He had also stated that if you are good-looking person, by all means, put yourself on the cover. I agree, sex sells, and as a young teen-bopper I would have been confused if there was a picture of a prism or a naked swimming baby in place of Lance Bass. So overall, audience analysis is key. By just reading this article I knew that whatever genre I chose in this project, it would probably be best to look at other examples currently in the field. What seems to be a common element? Colors? Etc?
Overall Duffy addresses some points that seem common sense, but sometimes people tend to design without purpose.
Although his tips did seem like common sense, some bands may just feel as though what's good enough for them, is good enough for everyone, even though most of the time this isn't the case. This is also true for the music as well. The band creates music that they like. If other people like the band's music then alright. If people don't like the music, then they don't have to listen to it. Therefore it is possible that they do not take their audience into consideration when designing a cover. I know that before being confronted with the design plan, if I was told to make an album cover for one of my favorite bands, I would probably have made something that I liked, without considering the audience or purpose.
Huffy also made the point of where to find a designer. If one of my favorite bands needed someone to design a cover for cheap, i would gladly volunteer. There is always someone out there competent enough at design to make a cover look somewhat professional without costing as much as a professional. One just has to know where to look and who to ask.
I also would have liked to see him rank his top album covers.
Submitted by XxscxX on Thu, 02/07/2008 - 02:28.I really like how he mentions that bands should at least put their name on the cover. There are so many times that I’m looking at CD’s and there isn’t even a name on it. So I have to look for it on the back cover. Most people won’t even do that; they will just pass over it. You should make your name stick out, if someone picks it up and is interested in it they won’t be able to find any other of your discs because they don’t even know who you are. It is just crazy how many common sense things he lists that you should do and so many people don’t consider it.
Submitted by aculp on Thu, 02/07/2008 - 23:28.Bands should really go to college campuses if they want successful album covers. There must be droves of malnourished but talented graphic designers just dying for a way to get out into the field.
*cough* *cough*
But seriously, Duffy makes a good point about not having to spend a huge amount of money to get a decent CD label. I personally don't think that a CD cover needs to have thousands of dollars worth of professional photography, computer graphics, etc. Like the original post says, album art should be put into context of the band and the music that it visually represents.
Any art, in it's most fundamental form, is a method of communication, and one of the most important parts of any communication process/model is the audience and the context within which the process occurs. Duffy makes another good point in that the album art should reflect the genre of the music, and therefore appeal to listeners who are into the genre.
I also like how Duffy mentioned that the cover should grab attention from a distance. I'm sure this wouldn't matter with the more mainstream and "famous" bands" (for instance, if I were looking for "Breaking Benjamin" albums, I would just head straight for the "B" section in the record store), but an eye catching cd cover could presumably make the difference between a hit and a flop with a band that's just starting out.
Submitted by Pan2 on Fri, 02/08/2008 - 11:45.I do agree with the idea that bands should get a professional designer to help with their album covers. However, I think it really all comes down to part of what we were working on for the last project. Each genre of music and band has a fairly good idea of what their average audience is like. They most likely have a good idea on an age group and other things. From this an artist can determine what their audience can handle, to what they would most likely react, and the information they are able to process based on their reactions to previous albums and songs (if the artist has put out a cd or two).
Any good album has a theme for the album. Generally it's not just a hodge podge of random music (excluding those specific hodge podgers "Now that's what I call music 24 billion," but they don't create songs anyways). Even so, most collections of songs like that have a general idea associated with them. This theme, no matter the nature of the theme (to inform, to convince, to inspire, etc.), can be translated into a statement of purpose
After a clear statement of purpose and an appropriate audience reading, the album cover should have a very clear direction. What does not look aesthetically pleasing may not be for a very good reason. It all comes down to the purpose of the album and what the audience can interpret.
Submitted by lcsnare on Fri, 02/08/2008 - 12:34.