Recently, HP and Gwen Stefani teamed up to offer fans some pretty cool figures. The types of artwork range from just plain cute to plain cute – but I wasn’t going to be happy until I was doing everything with the same style.
In this guide we will use the basic art that was created in the previous dissection and add to it some elements that grace our CD label and CD case cover in a bold style – you will want to reach my page to find the guide. creating basic art. When you hit my page, if you have trouble finding the guide you’re looking for, try using “Ctrl” + “F” on your keyboard. This will bring up a search box. In the search box, type “Album Art” and click “Find”. He would pull it off, I promise.
To use this guide, you need a copy of Adobe Photoshop (versions 7 will work through the current CS3) or a comparable program like GIMP. Apart from this, all you need is a little time in your hands.
Design Album Art – Steps
For this guide, we have one look to rival Gwen Stefani’s, the red “Love My Homegirl” one. We are going to use the basic technique that we created in the previous dissection, just to save time.
1. Text: We start here because text is something that is added to each art album, so we might as well fix it now. It is very easy. You want to create a new canvas (File, New) that is 1000 x 1000 pixels in size, 300 pixels/inch resolution, in RGB mode with a white background. Then, using your favorite “fat” font, print out the slogan you want on each piece of your art list. You will want the text to be white, and add a 5-10 pixel black stroke to it. (For the stroke, go to “Layer”, choose “Style”, and “Stroke”. Change the color to black and the width somewhere between 5 & 10 pixels, depending on your font and what you want).
2. CD Labels: Moving up a notch in the “easy” department are CD Labels. If you don’t have a label maker that you can use in the base size, you can get one from Avery – just scroll up to the label.
Now let’s fill the canvas with color. The color can be any color you like, but since I’m trying to stick to the same look as Gwen Stefani’s work, I’ll be using #ed1c24. Next, label the outer edge of the circle with whatever shape you want to use as an accent in your basic art. I used hearts, so I circled the hearts around the edge of the label. Reference Illustration 01 .
It is not difficult. It is time consuming. You can save yourself a little time by making sure to blend each layer of shapes you make to the border, and then duplicate the final layer (right-click, select “Duplicate Layer)” to move it to your other label.
All that’s left is to cut your basic art and slogan. You’ll want to resize them to fit nicely and keep your finished labels without fraying lines. You can also add a pattern after the basic art that matches the shapes used throughout the design.
3. CD Cover: From this point, it’s easy and … well, choose a cliché. You will be able to follow the same steps – fill the canvas with your colored paint, drop in your artwork, and save.
To start CD Cover, open a new canvas with a size of 2849 x 1406 pixels, 300 pixels/inch resolution, in RGB mode with a white envelope. Fill the globe with the selected color and add the artwork to the right side of the canvas. Try adding a border around the artwork to really pull it off. This way, when you start, you can fold the piece in half and have a “booklet” cover that allows you to write the labels of the clothes in the middle, nice and neat.
4. CD Back: Finally, there is a backup inserted in the case of the CD… if needed. With all the slimline gem cases out there, it’s less and less appealing to have dozens of fat cases that just take up more space.
The back should be almost the same as the envelope – you don’t want to change anything about the design by making it smaller. This gives you room to jot down a few notes if you want, or just keep them looking professional. The size of the back should be 1772 x 1388 pixels, 300 pixels/inch resolution, in RGB mode. Other than that, just complete your design as you did the front.
