Create album art for MP3 and CD formats

In this tutorial I'll explain how you can use InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop to create album art that works as a CD cover and scaled down to accompany an MP3 purchased from an online music store such as iTunes. I'll do this by walking you through my cover for Balls, the third album from British group The Broken Family Band.

The design was something of a challenge: on the one hand it had to be bold and clear so it would stand out when made small, but on the other it couldn't be so simple that it didn't work at a larger scale as CD artwork.

As for the theme, before creating the illustration I met the band's lead singer, Steve Adams, in a pub in Kings Cross to discuss what they wanted. After some brainstorming we decided on a Victorian style with a slightly naughty twist!

Click here to download the support files (2.62MB)

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