Why Album Artwork No Longer has Backbone
http://sqwink.com/news/2008/02/04/why-album-artwork-no-longer-has-backbo...
This entry that the author has written talks about artwork and how its changing with the way music is being released. He first talks about how designers have to spend a ton of time trying to create just the spine of the album artwork. It takes a lot of time. He even goes as far as to say it should have some of the most time spent on. The interesting part is the second half of his entry. He talks about how artists release two types of their album artwork. One is the booklet for the physical world and second is the digital-booklet for the digital world. As he says, the physical world is not dead for cds, but it does appear that that day could come. The question becomes what will become of album artwork as we know it? Will we even have cds to buy that album artwork can be made for? A lot of the art of album artwork is not seen on just the front cover. All you see on iTunes is the front cover of the album.
I know growing up, I've loved buying the physical cd. There's just something about owning a cd. I love the artwork. I love to read all of the little things in the booklets. I like reading the lyrics to the songs. I like reading all the thanks and production information. I think its interesting too how he talks about the spine (backbone) of the artwork should have the most time spent on it, even thought its like a centimeter thick. That's probably the part I see most in my cd collection. When you have all your music stored on a shelf, you don't see the cover. You see the spine. There are some albums that I think I actually recognize the spine more than the cover itself. So at first, I thought it was weird that it would need the most time spent on, but then I realized how much people see the spine. Interesting thoughts...
I agree with you completely. I love to have the physical disk, not just a group of files on my computer. Whenever I buy an album from iTunes I always burn a copy and print out the front cover and put it in a case. This still isn’t the same as the real disk; you are missing out on so much of the artwork, the back cover, the booklet, and even the spine and other images inside. If I can help it I try to still buy the disk, but it is becoming harder to find disks at stores and some CD’s you are forced to download.
It may just be that I am reluctant to change and I still prefer the old way. But then again the new way isn’t always better.
Submitted by aculp on Wed, 02/13/2008 - 01:35.I never really realized how important the spine really is. Whenever I look for a CD of interest I always look at the cover art (front and back). I never really paid to much attention to the spine, I would just note it.
You made a good point though, "When you have all your music stored on a shelf, you don't see the cover. You see the spine." That concept is so important for a designer to keep in mind. I wonder though, usually at stores albums are sorted with the cover art facing the consumer, not so much the spine, but when the consumer brings it home and sorts it on a shelf they have the spine showing instead. I guess the front cover art is to help sell the album and the spine is to easily recognize the album quickly? I, myself, ritualistically just pull the CD from the shelf to look at the cover art (and to take the CD out of the case).
Submitted by colgrunt on Wed, 02/13/2008 - 03:26.There are several elements involved in album covers that I feel will never be ultimately replaced. Namely, the collector value, the design coherence, and the appeal.
Album covers go beyond simply being labels for music media. To some they're as important as mint condition collectibles are to collectors, and in some cases they are exactly that. As a memento to a valued work, I do not feel the album cover will ever be truly replaced. Perhaps digitized, but never replaced. The need to express a work of music in non-audible format to communicate ideas of appeal to targeted potential audience members, and to visually represent a message will always be prominent and sought in album covers. People look to album covers to suit this need, and while it may get to the point where we stop calling them spines, or even covers, promotional visuals can only evolve from here.
Submitted by bfawaz on Wed, 02/13/2008 - 09:13.Wow! I never realized how the spine can also play part in the design business. Thanks for bringing this up Zach.
Submitted by aalbert on Wed, 02/13/2008 - 12:04.I love to keep things organized. I agree with you when you point out how important it is to have the spine designed properly so that one can pull the CD out of the self quikly.
yes, I think the spine is as important as the cover itself, but I dont think they should spend a lot of time in designing the spine. Since its purpose is just to let the audience to easily recognize the album quickly.
I as well have never really paid that much attention to the spine of the album. At first glance it is not something one would think about first.
Submitted by XxscxX on Wed, 02/13/2008 - 12:57.It just goes to show that every single aspect of the design must be thought about and covered.