The cover art is the focal point of your music releases. It’s what listeners will see first before they hear anything but it’s only one part of a much bigger picture. Here’s how I can help you complete your visuals.
Cover Art
I’ve worked with music design for over a decade and I’ve created so many different styles of cover art; from complex mixtape covers to simpler radio-friendly (yes, it’s a thing). If you give me a brief of what you’re looking for, any assets such as high res photography, a logo and the track then I can provide you with cover art that hits all the specs of the distributors.
For this digital-first world, I can also turn your cover art into a looping motion cover which includes a snippet of the track and maybe even some sound effects if they suit it. So Instagrammable!
If you’re going old school then I can complete the artwork layout to become printed packaging – whether you’re doing a short run of cardboard sleeves or going all out with a jewel case and 12-page booklet. Print is not dead after all! Fans love something tangible, just look at the explosion of vinyl sales.
- Front cover / packshot
- Back cover / tracklist
- Motion cover with audio track (and sound effects)
- Packaging: sleeves or slipcases, ecopacks, jewelcases and booklets
Social Assets
Your release cycle should be thought of as a brand in itself. You need consistency not only throughout single and album covers but also through your social and marketing assets. Your social profile banners and display pictures should be created to match your releases and they should be available as various calls to action.
- Facebook banner
- Twitter banner
- YouTube banner
- Soundcloud banner
- Instagram post
- Spotify banner
- Apple Music banner
- Soundcloud banner
- Display pictures
Have a look at the Roisin O’Hagan case study to see all round visuals for her Americana releases.
Paid and Organic Social Content
Social content needs to be created to hype up and then promote your releases. Getting pre-saves can really help the algorithms put you forward on release day. This social content could be static or motion, I would push for the latter because the networks love video and you can give the users a taste of your new track. I can work with artwork, video clips, BTS and music videos. Some ideas for these are:
- Countdowns
- Lyric videos
- Snippets
- Pre-Save/Out Now campaigns
- Behind the scenes/song long form video
View the Sonnet Music case study to see more social media assets created for their music campaigns.
For your social content to work it needs to be part of a larger strategy. If you’re in need of that too check out www.cactusand.co
- Feed asset (1:1 or 4:5 and 16:9, <15 seconds)
- Story/TikTok asset (9:16, <15 seconds)
- Reels asset (9:16, <30 seconds)
Spotify Canvas
Spotify is giving users a more visual experience with the addition of Spotify Canvas. This can be a static, motion graphic or video edited to work within 8 seconds. All the top artists have them and you should too!
We could use the motion cover art which loops seamlessly or we could use a clip of your music video. So many possibilities… it just depends on the visuals of your release.
Merchandise
You need to create revenue for yourself especially if you’re heading on tour so merchandise can be a good addition to this. Here are some ideas:
- T-Shirts
- Stickers
- Posters
- Booklets
- Lanyards
- Tote bags
- Hoodies / crew necks
- Hats
I can help by designing them to suit you and your release. If needed I can handle the print sourcing and purchasing too.
I have years of experience here so I can point you in the right direction if you have questions, like… should I go for print on demand or get stock in? Always the latter if you’re able to front the initial cost, your profits and product quality will be much higher.
Check out the TEEZ case study for Album and EP releases which include merchandise and social assets.
You’ve spent all this time putting together the perfect tracks, now it’s time to bring your music releases visuals up to the same level. Get in touch to get started or view music design case studies.