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I'm not an artist, but draftsman, quite a few years in electronics arena. A manipulator of content if you may. The photo was taken up behind our home in foothills few years ago. Cropped and touched up a bit. Am using Kunaki.com CD/DVD manufacturing site. The data displayed is not corrent, also do not have the titles entered. Do have the songs, but was concerned about the look. The shaded back is how they spit back the display, not sure if that is final print. Going to get one copy done, then a few more if OK. Wanted simple, but appealing. http://mp3cloud.mobi/SeekersCDart.zipThis is one of my sites hosted on Lunarpages, good security. They are all jpg's in the zip file. Appreciate any supporting comments, good or bad. Thanks in advance.
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Looks very professional, like something you'd see from Windham Hill, simple yet classy.
One small suggestion is to move the type up out of the trees as it is hard to read with the busy background.
Or maybe Title and Your name above trees and Country Instrumental below (where your name is now)?
Good that you added the Great Dance Music as first glance at that beautiful peaceful scene might indicate more easy listening.
You've got all the elements there, just needs a little tweaking.
Good job!
This thread might be a good place for others who have had their CD's produced to recommend or not where to have this done or give us their success or horror stories in doing so.
Have a good one,
Carkins
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Carkins,
Thanks for compliments. I have to explore the manufacturers custom
graphics a little more. Also wanted to change font colors, size and few
things like that. Could also do that as part of the picture.
This company Kunaki.com is completely automated.
You do all the text in a simple little form they have, load your Burned
CD in PC, execute finish, they upload all of it in one pass and the CD is
manufactured. Have more to finish, but excited to get this first one done.
Problem now is remove 5 of the 17 songs ready. It was suggested to me to
not place more than 12 songs. Had a nice alternating mix of tempo's and sounds
but will have to change that. Also want to add meta information with the wave
files so it is displayed.
This little project is so far away from anything attempted before, its "Great Sport".
Thanks again !
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Carkins already pointed out the issue of readability. If you've got an album cover that's 30% black, if you aren't using it for lettering, it's wasted space. It's also hard for me to get a feel for what type of music might be on the CD. The photo suggests the music will be mellow and relaxed, but the "Great Dance usic" disagrees. By "Country", do you mean contemporary country, or older music? Are the songs originals, or cover tunes? Is the guitar electric, or acoustic? For that matter, what does "Dance" music mean? Why is "Dance" capitalized, but "music" not? The "By:" tag is unnecessary. Similarly, your middle initial seems unnecessary, especially since Google doesn't seem to bring up a lot of other hits on your name. (I assume that you're the "Frank Blecha" in Oroville). What sort of impression do you want people to get about your music? Who's the target audience? I can't really figure it out from what you've got there. Hope this helps!
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David, You really opened up some doors for me... First my exposure to professional musicians was local Casino's near Oroville. Country Classic 95% thru and thru. As mentioned in my posting not an artist, but with the photo was intention to convey country feel. I have horse pictures, desert, woods, etc. This picture was woods with nice sunset. None of the music on the soon to be album is hot, rock stuff, all pretty mellow, but with nice beat for dancing. Songs are all originals, guitars are mix of quite a few different ones. The songs, all originals, just thought they had to be. Guitar types, again because of wide mix of them, didn't feel it was needed. Acoustic, electric, pedal steel, some of the electric guitars are different, don't know what to call them. I felt the country instrumental mix described the music. Wanted to convey easy going music to dance with. Dance capitalized music not, just screw up. Do not know how to describe genre for country music. classic country to me is older style, new country would be the crossover near rock/pop style popular in many corners. Beyond that do not know the genre to use. The "machine" adds the By: tag when creating the disk artwork and titling. There was couple of other things like that, didn't like. Not lotsa people with my last name, but Frank Blecha with first/last name combination is pretty common. Hence use of initial and habit. I went back to the site and found out there is ability to create 4 integrated photos/artwork under a custom button ability. I did not like the text on the first pass. With new artwork will embed text(nice stuff) in the photo and not insert it into the database. Will give me greater control. This link is gallery of CD,DVD's Data disk arts already published. http://www.kunaki.com/gallery.aspHave quite a few graphics tools, so will look into changing what was being used. Guess the music would be Country contemporary if forced into a genre, but doesn't seem right to me. Did use the Instrumental part to make sure folks would not get pig in a poke so to speak. Am completely open to suggestions for type of artwork or photos to use. Thought about Pictures of my mixer, PC and screen turned into a cartoon like special effects, but thats not Country. David every comment you made had good points. Target audience would be country fans who like guitars. Don't understand how to communicate that. Gotta catch my breath and rethink whats needed. Thank you very much, feel like youngster who didn't do his homework, but that OK. Its how a person can learn. Hows this, FrankB
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Well, Am asking again to run the gauntlet. Completely reworked all the ideas, last time forgot something. THE AUDIENCE. should have known better with all my presentation training. Never forget who your audience is. Back cover, changed to white to help read easier. Appreciate your constructive comments. This is my site. Lunarpages my host has excellent security. http://www.mp3cloud.mobi/CD_art.zipThank you in advance.
Last edited by seeker; 02/14/12 05:23 PM.
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The following is my opinion and not meant to challenge your sympathy.
Some things that seem to be improvable:
Back cover:
Number period space title space duration
The periods should be vertically aligned.
The duration should be aligned at the colon (:).
The entire text block on the right side of the picture seems to be like it should be left-justified, but it appears not to. The glyphs farthest to the left are the 1s of 10, 11, 12 and the F of Fred. Everthing else is more or less indented to the right. (I'm not talking about the track numbers from 1 to 9 per se -- these should be aligned at the periods.)
Front cover:
I'm not quite sure about punctuation rules in English. But I believe that there should not be a blank left to an exclamation mark. (Listening! instead of Listening !)
What is the meaning of the crosses between the pictures?
CD open:
While you did the alignemt quite ok on the left side you should use -- if you have it available -- fixed space number glyphs. The ones you use are proportionally spaced. While they look good in text their appearance in a table is somewhat unsettled.
I understand that you just put the front cover picture on the cd itself. The text following a round path has a different curve than the boundary of the cd. It just does not look good to me,
1. You could put the text a little bit closer to the center of the cd until both curves are "parallel".
2. You also could bend the text a little bit more to achive a similar effect.
In both cases the layout for the cd needs a little more work to a) resemble the front picture and b) to look more harmonic.
What software did you use to create the art work?
Best regards
Guido
Desktop; i7-2600k, 8 GB mem., Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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Guido, http://www.thelogocreator.com/ was software used. Its got its limits. It will import fixed .jpg pictures, but inside the working library, it uses png files which is a nice plus, for you can simply treat them as another tool. I also own CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X$...takes a "Graphical Engineer" to run it, but it does the trick. Also Paint.Net is excellent program, not as broad but use it quite a bit. And several HTML graphics programs. I just selected your post and printed it. Will go down it step by step. 1. Back cover. The left justifications and texting alignment is not very good in the software. I will create the texting outside the program then import it. With black background will look much better. Will do same for other texting anomalies. Listening! got it, pun intended. Crosses/Daggers, no meaning, just liked them...interesting widgets. Will remove them. CD open will create Text externally and import in. For the "Print" for CD itself, it is the front but also changed the curve, will make it look closer to CD curve as you mentioned. Excellent points they all are, will install them prior to use. I am a draftsman more than an artist, able to manipulate tools, but unlike 2 of my children not a true artist. Not in my family, so came from my wife's side. BTW, my last name is not uncommon in your country. More of us in Austria, and other near regions. Thank you for your help.
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First, the good: it looks much better.  Guido's already talked about the ragged text justification and the interior. Front Cover:The space between "Listening" and the exclamation point is a bit odd. If you're doing low-level editing, you might also tweak the "p" in "contemporary". Actually, the calligraphic font is a bit fancy for anything other than a title and subtitle. You might consider choosing a san-serif font for the smaller text. The subtitle "Music for Driving, Listening!" is an interesting choice. Is there music that's not for listening? Putting the year on the cover might not be a great idea. Next year, it'll look like last year's music. Back Cover:I'd change: Fred A. Berheas for Photography" to "Photography: Fred A. Berheas". I'd change your credits to: "Writing, arranging, recording and mixing: Frank J. Blecha". No one really cares that it's a "final" mix, and it begs the question why there are no credits for the preliminary mixing and mastering. R.i.p. should be capitalized as R.I.P.; I'd change the dedication to: "Dedicated to Phyllis Blecha (Mom) and Wayland Blecha (Dad - R.I.P. 1992)"The "Copyright..." font seems unnecessarily fancy. Inside:Maybe I'm just old, but the font hard to read for the song listing. All in all, it's a huge improvement.
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dcuny,
All your points are valid, just like Guido's.
Reason went back on was made his suggested fixes.
Will look into making yours also, then post the changed art.
Going to select your post, print it and "back to the drawing board".
Thanks.
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Guido, dcuny, Implemented suggestions best I could. Within the software all my pc fonts are not available, hence close substituions. Back page, could not decide how the left justification should work so put the track numbers on outside, thought it looked bit neater. http://www.mp3cloud.mobi/CD_art3.zipSurely hope this is pretty close, want to use in the morning. I value all of you folks suggestions, music, art, mix etc. Your help has put me so far ahead of DIY journey. Thanks again.
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It looks good! The only quibble is the graphic on the CD (as Guido mentioned), but the rest of it looks much nicer.
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I’ve completely skipped the early skirmishes in this thread so these comments relate to the version posted in post #353156.
Back
Text against black background is difficult to read.
The full stop after each track number appears to me to be superfluous.
Inversely, I would put a full stop after the J in your name! By all means leave the J if you feel it improves the rhythm of your name.
Could be just the scale, but I don’t think the guitar looks great.
I would have the wSp logo exactly centred (it appears to me to be slightly off centre).
I would vary the font size so that the song titles appear larger and the legal, copyright stuff smaller.
Isn’t the convention to leave conjunctions in lower case? (I really don’t know – perhaps a pro graphic designer will tell us)
The PG Music and Staff mention lacks context.
(proceed with “my thanks to..” ?)
You really must correct the glaring grammatical error (kudos).
Front
I quite like the front design and the fact that the colours of the frames match those of the guitars.
I would dispense with the tagline “Music for Driving, Relaxing!” which I feel devalues your work
sub-text ‘this cd is fine if you’re doing something else at the same time but will not stand up to just being listened to”
It’s very very strange not to present in big bold letters the name of the artist/creator on the front cover.
I would also dispense with the tagline “All Original Music”. Why would anyone think different?
U2 don’t put “all original songs" on their cds (do they?)
Frank, don’t take this badly, but get all of your text thoroughly checked for spelling/grammar accuracy.
Also beware of comments which indicate that your output appears to be of a professional standard – unless written by a professional in the relevant field.
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Frank,
it looks much better now.
Since this appears to be your first cd art, for your next cd it would be beneficial if you read some material about layout and typography. There is a lot of good material available in the web.
Also research lots of cd art answerig a few questions, like:
1. Would I buy this cd just for the cd art? (I did buy some lp albums just because I liked the cover.)
2. Does the text sell? (I bought some music just because of some session musicians.)
3. Why does this cd not appeal to me?
...
Just like others have noticed, there is still room for improvement. But, if you could do it right a way, a skilled craftsman would feel like being a jerk.
Best regards.
Guido
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Marc, Addressing you comments. http://www.mp3cloud.mobi/CD_art4.zipBlack was intentionally my background color choice. Did increase song title sizes. "full stop", that is a totally new term to me, but Uncle Google told me what it was. Did install the full stops where needed. I did rescale the guitar to improve its looks. My graphics work shows one thing, and the Kunaki.com software alters it a bit. Logo was centered better. Conjunctions, not intended. was a simple list to credit folks. Added "My thanks to" to two spots as you will see. "Music for Driving, Relaxing!" was added as a descriptor for type of music has on CD. Not exact words, but descriptor was suggested by another member. I intentionally did not place me name on the front. Am not a famous person in the music world. My name is on the back twice. Do have an Avatar name all over the net, Seeker. This word has religious connotations. Was not aware of this when first started to use it 92-93 time frame. Thought this might detract from CD type. My grandmother called me "Frankie", so many years ago. My confidence level in the product isn't up to the "Frankie" level, yet. Reason Frank J Blecha name is used, my notoriety under that moniker with Google. No I'm not the doctor. And I did not use the "Full Stop". That suggestion and descriptor made my whole day. The label "All Original" was a response to another members suggestion. Did a quick review of about a dozen CD labels. 2 or 3 did not identify tracks. 1 CD had titles with "." one part of label and none on the other. 3/4 of them had some kind of "demarcation" mark period, asterisk, and some were boxed. Will stick with the period for now. This journey of comments has been a like a gauntlet for me. But, all well worth it. All of the personality the CD case takes on is important. Spent many years in a highly critical, high pressure area. There are experts, professionals. There are also many well intended people who's comments are meant to be supportive. I don't know many of you very well, but all of your comments, were taken in the light of your spending valuable time to help me. Was fully aware when made the posting and asking for comments what was coming. End result is a much better product. For next one, will take into account many of the suggestions that were made. And Guido, the text was curved to match the outside of the CD. dcuny, you really set me off in the right direction. Was all enamored with the beautiful trees and sunset. Completely forgot the reason the Artwork was being created, the audience. Sheez, hope it pretty much there.
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Like music, an album cover never gets "there"... You just run out of time, money or patience! The good thing is that it's getting better with every iteration. Marc's got a better eye than me, and he caught a lot of stuff! The only thing that jumps out is the alignment of the credits. I'd set them flush left along with the numbers "11" and "12", not with the song titles. The baseline for the credit text seems to be jumping around. I assume it'll look better at higher resolution. I think the square border on round CD looks odd. If you left that off, and just used the single gradient fill, it would look better. The guitars still have a rectangular border, but it softens the effect. On reflection, I think Marc is right about putting your name on the front. I think the back sufficiently describes that the compositions are your own, so you can drop it from the front. Looking at Amazon under "country guitar instrumentals", you can tell the difference between a known and unknown artist by whether they put their name or title in large letters. I should confess one of my favorite covers goes against my prior complaint:  Since it's subtitled "For swingin', dancing and listening"You might also raise "Contemporary Country Instrumentals" up a bit, so it's not on the edge of graphic. It looks a bit cramped down there. On the other hand, it seems there's some redundancy - "Easy" and "Relaxing", "Country" and "Country", "Guitars" and "Instrumentals". "Music" seems unnecessary. If you had a title that captured some of that information, you could reduce things down a bit. Maybe even free up enough space for your name!
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dcuny, Was waiting on Marc, but he's busy elsewhere. http://www.mp3cloud.mobi/CD_art5.zipI added my Name, disagreed with both of you, but was outvoted. Redid the CD print label. Don't like it as well, thought the other one had more character. Added my name also. It is simpler looking. On back changed the alignment for lower text with 11,12 left numbers. AHA!, "complaint", thought they were comments. Took the word music off, but added back listening. The title will stay, its a good descriptor of the content. The subtitle suggests how to use the CD. Am satisfied with it. The 12 tracks, personal data and all artwork uploaded to Manufacturer.
Am going to make a new posting. Later !
Last edited by seeker; 02/16/12 12:54 PM.
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Your graphics look much more eye pleasing than before. You have addressed many of the mentioned issues.
I'd say leave it as is.
Something ready but imperfect is better than something not ready yet but aimed to be perfect. There is lots of bad cover art on the market done by professionals. It is not about to be an perfectionist but to achieve the best possible result within given ressources (time, space and money).
But for fine tuning on your next project:
Make sure that the margins do not make it appear like it is cut off because of not enough room. (The back cover art could use a little more head room.)
The picture on the cd should be centered for all elements or groups of elements.
(The picture on the cd is slightly off the center. The reason is that the picture of solid body is wider than the picture op the archtop. The ratio is about 7.5 to 8.
As David said, the gradient fill would have taken the square design to the round design.
Never the less, it is much, much better than your first try.
Guido
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Laptop: i5-2410M, 4 GB mem, Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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Quote:
Looking at Amazon under "country guitar instrumentals", you can tell the difference between a known and unknown artist by whether they put their name or title in large letters.
I should confess one of my favorite covers goes against my prior complaint:
Since it's subtitled "For swingin', dancing and listening"
I really like that Roy Clark album, didn't know him when I bought that album in the 1970s. It was not the last one by Roy Clark that I bought.
Guido
Desktop; i7-2600k, 8 GB mem., Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
Laptop: i5-2410M, 4 GB mem, Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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