Music covers offer a wide scope for design. Designers are free to select any type of music in which to create their covers. It can be your favourite music or just one you think has a broad creativity platform.

So what makes a good design?

Any of you will be right in saying 'If I like It - it's a good design' so deciding what's looks good is always difficult. This page outlines a few things that will aid you when designing a cover. These include:

Use interesting media Colour scheming Eye catching composition

Interesting Media

Have any good photos tucked away? Have a piece of art you're proud of?
Any of the above make for good media. Black and white photos can offer exceptional composition and create convincing moods. Art work can depict practically anything which makes it applicable to cover design in every aspect. If you would like to send us scans of your art work or photographs then please proceed to the upload centre.

Eye catching composition

Composition is the 'make up' of your cover. If you are using black and white lines then vary the thickness depending on whether or not the object is in the foreground or background. This adds depth to what would otherwise be a flat black and white line drawing.If the focus of your cover is an image or pattern then make sure this is noticed as the focus. Contrasting colours elsewhere may take the interest away from it. All in all, the best method of getting what you think is right is experimenting. Try different colour combinations and get experienced with what looks good.

Here are some of examples of how colours are used in design. Notice how any two colours (at any depth) can work together to produce great effects. Colour will attract the viewer in a number of ways by highlighting features and creating a mood.

CD covers

Our the largest of the three mediums. Note that the second part (138mm long) is longer than the first. This is because there is a plastic margin on the front of all CD boxes.

CD labels

The circular CD/DVD label can be drafted using the dimensions below. A good way to create this is to create a canvas at 118mm wide and draw a circle that touches all sides.

Tape Covers

Next size down is the tape cover. There are two types of tape cover. At covermymusic.com we deal with the most common. Our template can be used in both cases.

MiniDisc covers

Minidisc covers are designed to fit the small plastic containers that hold the minidisc.