cd covers . . . creating a good one . . . help!!!!

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gullyjewelz

gullyjewelz

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I have talked about this before, but reviewing a "history" of BadBoy releases makes me want to bring it up again.

You can go for any type of cover you feel fits you as an artist. But what I noticed with nearly all of the badboy releases is . . . for lack of a better word . . . "intimate photography" as the cd cover.


I mean, from Craig Mack (94) to Mario Winans (2004) nearlly every cd cover has a basic snapshot of the artist. Of course, the level of photography is truly UPSCALE, but the cover is still a picture of the artist, up close and personal. Granted there are a few where there is some type of significant background, GDep and Loon are "foregrounded" over a picture of the ghetto, but even Mase appears just "posing" in front of the camera.

I guess the reason it strikes me so much is because that is basically what I wanted to do for my cover. Just a pic of me, maybe located somewhere in a familiar part of my city, maybe posing or what not. But nothing dramatically glamorous or overly violent (like being strapped up like a walking arsenal).

However I have had some feedback from another website about such a portrait cover. Most of the feedback said the cover looked "cheap" and not "professional."

Most of the feedback givers then showed me their cd covers, nearly all of which looked like Cash Money style covers (the artist amidst diamonds, cars, blunts, etc.)

While I do want a broad audience, if the music does not fit that type of aura, should I not avoid such a cover?
 
Forget all that "rocks and blunts" nonsense. Look at releases by Talib Kweli, Common, The Roots...all have either meaningful cover art or shots up close and personal of the artist.

I'd go with the design you originally wanted. Just shoot a good picture. Find a scenic place in your neighborhood, have you leaning against a wall, something like that. The background cover could be the same cityscape without you in it, or a club shot with you rapping, something of that nature.

The suggestions you got from the other website remind me of the "What they do" video from the Roots where they mock the current state of the culture. "Obligatory champagne pour here"...."This is a rented car"....then they finish up the video with "Keeping it real?". Priceless.
 
Without seeing your cover art, it's hard to say why people would call it cheap. Where did you get the photo? Was it professional, or did you do it yourself? A lot of subtlety goes into stuff like that. Designing cover art is no different than recording music; any idea can work if it's done well. Even a good idea can be poorly executed, though.

All that to say, if you like your idea-- and you have significant industry precedent to justify that it's a good idea-- take a look at the execution of it, rather than worrying about whether you need a different idea or not.
 
Just pick something that you think is cool and don't worry about your image. Just keep it real dawg!
 
Cash Money album covers are what is known as "amature use of Photoshop".

The whole "bling bling" shiney chrome "text" (known as "copy" in the industry) is just a few simple photshop filters with absolutly no creativity. -bar the first use of it...that one was probably cool at first...anyways...
 
thanks for the info/advise/support/suggestions . . .


THE BASIS OF my original idea can be found here: http://www.geocities.com/gpgully/

--basically just a pic of me in front of/with some of my equipment (though some of the equip can't be seen) i had also played with the idea of using just one of the photos for the whole cover, instead of three together

once there, check out the links SAMPLE CD COVER2 and SAMPLE CD COVER3

GEOCITIES DOESNT LET ME "DEEP LINK" IF THATS WHAT ITS CALLED SO POSTING THE ACTUAL LINK PROBABLY WONT WORK
HERE GOES NOTHIN
http://www.geocities.com/gpgully/qs2.bmp
http://www.geocities.com/gpgully/qs3.bmp
 
I saw the first one on your direct link, but then geocities stopped the data transfer on the rest of them.

Can't even link to your site.


The one I saw wasn't half bad.

I would ditch the white box with you name it and extent the picture box. In its place I would put something else for the name.

Maybe handwritten white letters with a drop shadow?

But I think that is a good place for the name.

(check your PM)
 
I'll admit that your application of the concept looks amatuerish, but I think the idea with the 3 pictures for the cover is a good one. It's now just a matter of getting 3 good pics that you like and have them laid out correctly.

One thing you might want to try is putting a black border of about 10% on the top and bottom of the cover. Kinda "frames" the pictures in a bit, a little more artistic. And don't worry about the "explicit lyrics" tag ;)
 
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