The first disc records, ones that we would recognize as such, appeared around 1910. Most often these were packaged in plain brown Paper or cardboard sleeves. Occasionally and enterprising retailer would print his store name on the sleeve but generally they were unadorned.
In the early 1920's retailers started gathering many of these cardboard sleeves and binding them together with heavy paperboard or leather covers. These looked similar to large photo albums and, borrowing the name, were sold as record albums. These albums offered much greater protection for the discs than the original packaging and were seen as indispensible to disc owners that had seen too many of their fragile records broken.
Beginning in the 1930s the record companies started using these record albums to distribute bundles of records from one performer or a collection of performers with similar musical styles. Some of the first cover designs can be traced to these albums and the record company’s desire to graphically communicate the music each album held.
Alex Steinweiss the art director for Columbia Records is given credit for the concept of modern cover art. He experimented with different concepts and images through the late 1930s and into the early 1940s. During this time Columbia Records rebounded from the terrible years they had suffered during the depression to become one of the most prominent record companies in the United States. Much of this was due to their ground breaking use of graphical design. (Of course signing Frank Sinatra may have helped a little too).By the close of the decade all major recording companies had graphic design professionals on staff.
The golden era of cover art design began in the early to mid 1960s and lasted into the early 1980s. During this time the major format for music was the 12 inch, long play disc or LP. Cover art became a part of the musical culture of the time. Often used to express graphically the musician’s artistic intent, it helped connect and communicate to listeners the message or underlying theme of the album.
Designers, photographers, and illustrators sometimes became famous for their cover art creations. Such notables as Andy Warhol and Frank Frazetta were taken from being known in their industry to becoming household names due to their cover art graphic design work. So respected and desired are the designs and illustrations found in cover art that there are numerous art galleries that specialize in helping collectors find rare album covers.
As the medium for recording transitioned from the LP to the compact disc many graphic designers failed to transition with it. Having worked for so long with the much larger canvas of the LP cover, switching to the smaller CD case left most designers dissatisfied with their results. Often artist and record companies simply tried to shrink the LP size art to fit the CD.
Album cover art, now almost exclusively CD and CD packaging artwork, went through a period of change and rebirth in the 1990s. Designers learned to capture snapshots and portions of the artist’s musical intent rather than trying to convey the entire message. Also designers started conveying the emotion of the music rather than the musical intent.
In the late 90s computer design programs started to overcome the physical limitations of the smaller CD packaging. With the ability to draw much tighter, finer lines and have even small details look crisp and sharp, once again designers were free to explore a larger variety of design options. As the technology continued to improve graphic designers adapted and were once again producing world class artwork.
In the present, CD design is undergoing a true renaissance. Rather than becoming obsolete in the digital age as many thought it would, graphic design is once again proving itself as the difference maker. The internet is now the largest record store imaginable. Now rather than browsing a few hundred albums or songs at a time you may be exposed to thousands and thousands. Since it would be impossible to listen to portions of all those thousands of songs the design of the accompanying artwork must cause potential listeners to stop and take notice and give this album a try."
RESEARCH: WHAT WE LEARN FROM ALBUM COVERS
Below was the album cover that i decide to look at and analyse. This album is by Ross Milligan and the album is called passing places. From looking at this for the first time i can clearly see that the album is quite a sad and emotional album. One of the ways i know this is because i can tell from the front cover of a clearly desolate area which is leading onto a sunset which could emphases the feeling of loneliness. Also another way to emphasis loneliness is because he is by himself on the bench with quite a dull expression on his face. Another piece of information i get from the album cover is that the album will be very much dominated by a guitar, one of the reasons why i know this is because i guitar is the only instrument that is on the cover as well as the track list mentions a guitar too.
RESEARCH: ANALYSING CODES AND CONVENTIONS
Below was the album cover that i decide to look at and analyse. This album is by Ross Milligan and the album is called passing places. From looking at this for the first time i can clearly see that the album is quite a sad and emotional album. One of the ways i know this is because i can tell from the front cover of a clearly desolate area which is leading onto a sunset which could emphases the feeling of loneliness. Also another way to emphasis loneliness is because he is by himself on the bench with quite a dull expression on his face. Another piece of information i get from the album cover is that the album will be very much dominated by a guitar, one of the reasons why i know this is because i guitar is the only instrument that is on the cover as well as the track list mentions a guitar too.
RESEARCH: ANALYSING CODES AND CONVENTIONS
In todays lesson we looked at the typical codes and conventions that we would find within a CD dual case. Firstly we looked at the front case of multiple CD dual cases as you can see from the pictures on the left so we could get a better variety instead of just looking at either one or two. From looking at the from cover we found things such as they are almost always dominated by the albums artwork which is pretty much taking up the whole front cover, as well as emphasising the genre of the albums music. On the front cover you would also typically find the artists name in smaller font and near the top this does not really stand out but is usually found on the front. Another thing which is usually on the front cover is the albums title. This usually varies into where it is positioned and how it is looking it is done in many different ways so that it is best suited and found appealing by its target audience.
We then went to look at the back covers of the CD dual cases and this had a lot more conventions and codes then the front cover. The most common one that we found was the barcode would be positioned bottom right hand corner but then sometimes we would find out placed somewhere else but this was the main place in which we would find it. Another thing we found is the albums tracks will usually be shown in a listed order on the left hand side. Also another common thing was that we found was that the artwork from the front cover would then go and lead onto the back cover creating one big image when laid flat out. There were also some codes and conventions that were found on some but not all CD dual cases such as music industry logos, information about cony right etc.
Usually on the inside front cover you will find a picture of the albums are work which will then go on and link with the inside back covers photo again making one large picture. Also in some of the albums we found it quite common to find random lyrics from within the album dotted around the page.
The inside back cover was basically the same for every album. As it is not seen as much as the other sides as the cd will be covering it there is usually a picture on the back that links with the inside front cover but other then that, that is basically the only thing that is on it.
Below is a picture that me and my partner created for the typical codes and conventions. -
RESEARCH: ANALYSING A DUAL CASE CD DIGI PACK
Below is four different images from a presentation that i made based around an album by "Means Nothing". Throughout the presentation i looked at each cover of the album and spoke about the typical codes and conventions that will be found from this.
RESEARCH: CREATING PRACTISE DIGI PACK ON PHOTOSHOP
After looking through the codes and conventions i then went onto creating my own 4 panel CD Digi-pack. The way i went about doing this is that i first started off with a simple template of a CD divi pack which was empty and imported this onto Photoshop CS6. As you can see in the picture below.
I then got a picture of some graffiti and spread it across the front and back side of my template, once i had done this i then lowered the opacity so that there was no dead space and something happening on every part of the front template. I then got the same picture of graffiti i used and put it on the front cover of my template. Once i done this i went onto the filter tab and clicked into filter gallery, once here i added quite a strong charcoal effect filter to my front cover. As well as doing this i also then started on the outside back cover. the ways i went about doing this was firstly including the typical codes and conventions that you will find on a back cover which from what i found was a barcode, a copyright text and the label the artists have signed to. I wrote the text myself by looking at examples and then went onto google and imported pictures of a barcode and a record label to make the digi pack look as real as possible. Below is a picture of what i have spoken about.
The next step i went onto doing was completely completing the back cover of my CD Digi pack. The way i completed this was making a list of songs which i thought would link in with the rest album cover. Once i listed ten random songs i made up i then chose a font in which i thought would be most suitable for the album and match the albums artwork. I then inserted another picture which i thought would match the rest of the album and be suitable enough for the inside covers of my Digi Pack. I chose a graffiti that was done by Banksy and i then again lowered the opacity so it would get put behind both back covers and then this resulted in no dead space being shown on the inside cover. Below is a screen print of what was mentioned above.
The last steps i went in creating my Digi pack was that i went to complete the last screen which was bottom left which is area in which the CD will go on. The reason why i left my bottom right screen clear is because on most album covers the only thing that gets put in this section is either artwork from the album or an example of some of the lyrics that are included within the album. I then inserted to circles as an example of where the CD disk tray will be place.
From doing this i learnt quite a lot throughout the process. I learnt clearly where the codes and conventions will go and be placed for a four panel Digi pack. The main things in which i learnt that will help me with the creation of my own album cover is how to use Photoshop CS6. From this task i learnt how to do multiple things with Photoshop such as importing pictures, higher and lowering the opacity, filters, texts and quite a few useful things in which will help me with my album.
My Finished CD Digi Pack
Below is the final edit of my CD Digi Pack. The software in which i used to go about completing my final edit was Adobe Photoshop CS6.
The Process of creating the CD Digi Pack
Below will be a step by step process in how I went completing the CD Digi Pack. Firstly as you can see from the screenshot shown below I imported a template for my CD digi pack. This was very helpful in the creation of the digi pack as it has clear labels on it for which side will show what. Once this was imported i then had a basis in which i could then imported my own images on to and create a more professional outcome.
Once I had my template I firstly imported back cover. Once imported i the readjusted the size so it fitted in with the template. Once i was happy with the positioning i then clicked on the image and went onto the tabs Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation. Once on here i then adjusted the brightness to make it dimmer and the increase the hue value so that the stronger colours within the image stood out giving it a much better effect. Once i had completed this with the back cover page i then also did this with the three other pages. This allowed the pages to match with the darkness and hue levels and made a much better effect then a simple picture. As you can see from the four screenshots below in which shows the images and the colour changes. The only difference from the four images is that on the inside back cover i created a circular ring to show and give an indication of where the CD will be placed.
Once i was happy with the images positioning and how they looked i then went onto the titles. I started with the front cover in which I added to simple titles, they were the artists name and the album name. Once i knew what titles i was going to add i then adjusted how the titles looked. I double clicked on the layers of the titles and changed the stroke level. This gave a basic black border in which was quite affective for the title. I did this for both titles on the front cover. After I had done this i then again double clicked on the title layer and changed the opacity levels down slightly. This allowed for the whole picture to be shown and allowed the titles to blend in with the image giving a greater effect. Once I had added these titles onto my front cover i then did this for four other titles on my back cover. These titles simple shown a couple song names from the album.
The next step I went onto after completing the titles on the two outer pages was to then add a barcode to the back cover of my page. This was to give it a realistic feel and make it seem like a proper CD Digi pack. I also added some more formal writing in which shows the licensing and who the album is signed to so no copyright can take place. Also I added information onto the spine of the Digi Pack. I firstly added the artists names and the album name. Once this was on i also imported and added a image showing virgin records in whom the artists are signed too.
Below are the four different images showing the different sides of the CD Digi Pack. The first image in which is shown is my inside back cover. This photo shows my two artists walking of through an alley way in which some of the music video was shot. It has a circular ring to represent where the CD will be placed.
The next image in which is show below is the inside front cover. This image shows the main artist standing in a more central position to emphasis his dominance within the group and the other artist is more in the background to represent his position out of the two. I have also added a small message in what the two artists have said to make the page a lot more interesting. I managed to place this where the white sky is so it removed the dead space and made the slide look a lot more interesting then it previously was.
The third image in which is displayed below is my back cover of my CD Digi Pack. This is my favourite of the four different slides. This shows an empty alley way in which the two artists were currently stood. I think by having this it is quite effective. I then added titles in which show a couple of different songs in which are within the album. From the popularity in the songs i changed the size of the text to show which were the main songs. There is also a barcode and information about copyright and who the artists are signed to.
The last slide of the four is my main front cover and spine of the CD Digi Pack. This shows both artists and has titles on them to show the artists name and the albums name. Also on the spine i have the albums name and artists name along with a logo from virgin records whom they are signed to.
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