5 Key Tips For Designing Album Art In The Digital Age

It’s important to know how to design your album art in the digital age. Keep reading for 5 key tips for designing album art in the digital age.

It has become easier than ever for musicians to be able to create their own album. You don’t need a record deal with a huge label to get your talent out there. Everything can be done inhouse if you have the right equipment and know-how to do it.

One of the biggest decisions to make when marketing your new album is what to put on the album cover. Album Art is not only a pretty design to catch the attention of fans but can also be a collector’s item in its own right.

Keep reading for 5 tips for designing album art in this digital age.

1. What’s the Thumbnail Look Like?

Your digital art album cover will appear as a thumbnail more than anything else when people are viewing music choices online. How does your album art appear as a thumbnail? You’ll want to consider this when designing your album cover for online sales. Some artwork will look great when printing an album cover or creating a concert poster but end up looking distorted or lackluster in a small thumbnail icon.

2. More Art Fewer Words

Album covers of the past often were filled with lyrics and URLs as an artistic statement or for added flare but in the digital age, it doesn’t always translate well into a thumbnail.

There are now millions of CDs with outdated Myspace addresses and website URLs that are long gone. It’s always good to ensure you have a stable and accessible site and social media profiles to include so when fans visit the page five years from now they’ll still find their favorite band rather than an error page saying the site doesn’t exist.

You, of course, want to include your band website somewhere on your album but it’ll be most effective if you include something to entice fans to interact with you on social media and your website as well.

Rather than filling your cover with lyrics you could direct them to your website with all your lyrics on it. Taking up the whole inside or back of your cover with lyrics may be counterproductive since they can be easily accessed online and there may be more pertinent information you could include.

3. Think About the Print

Even though many of your listeners will buy and access the digital copy of your album you’ll still want to ensure it looks good on a CD and LP cover too.

Many music aficionados have returned to vinyl and CDs for their music collection and finding the best album art is a big part of that.

But for CDs and albums sitting on a shelf, you’ll want to make sure your album and band name are clearly displayed on the spine so that fans can easily find your music when they’re in the mood to hear your tunes.

4. Offer More

You can use your album art and design to encourage fans to interact with you online. The more striking and unique your album cover is, the more interest it will drum up. You may get free publicity simply by designing album art that sparks interest and is so intriguing fans share and promote it to their followers and friends.

Many artists are offering bonus songs, activities, and promotions on their website and will give exclusive access to digital downloads and other bonuses for fans who buy their album.

5. Get Creative

You don’t have to stick to the classic photo of the band when the only thing limiting your creativity is your imagination itself. Hold a brainstorming session with everyone involved. You could even gain popularity and publicity through a contest asking fans to choose or submit suggestions for your next album cover.

Think Hard About Your Album Art

The artwork you choose as your album art cover will forever represent that body of work for you. It can make or break the overall success of an album for collectors and can impact your future as an artist.

Take your time and think about what you want to represent your work and get the opinions of those you trust. This is not a decision you want to rush into because it is one that lasts forever. Be sure to bookmark our site today for easy access to all our music tips and knowledge.