I have had the oppertunity to create two CD Albums so far and hope to work on more in the future. I find this particular media very exciting and rewarding. I have gathered some tips for how to design these.

• Decide early on whether you’ll be listing Lyrics or just credit information. This determines the type of booklet or insert you’ll use and how many pages you’ll need.
• Provide information to your designer about document dimensions, accepted formats, bleed marks and other requirments that the printing or production company requires of your artwork.
• Prepare a list of all the credits and lyrics in the order you’d like them to appear. Proof these carefully as they are often cut-and-pasted.
• Double check all spelling for names of people to be credited. There’s nothing worse than the guilt of spelling the drummer’s name wrong.
• Take high resolution photographs for the album artwork and supply them in .jpg format. These photos can be manipulated to include colour filters, effects and added graphics.
• Include important information such as Catalog Number, Producer, “Made in” Country, and copyright information for the back of the CD Tray as this is the most recognized place for it. Logos for Compact Disc and other industry markings are essential as well.

Let the album booklet become a treasured part of your CD! It can relay to your listeners the style and soul of your music and pull them in before they even hit play. The themes or styles should reflect your sound and the band’s individual personalities. Put effort into it and let your designer unlock their imaginations and you could come up with a design that rocks the industry!

Tags: cd album, music