Al's comment over in the "let's talk music" thread reminded me of how album covers are responsible for RetouchPRO existing.

Not those little CD covers that you can't even see, but the big LP covers, especially those from the 70s. It was these covers that made me, as a pre-teen, decide that what I most wanted to do in life was make album covers. This led to my interest in photography, which led to my interest in restoration, which led me to investigate computers (pre-Photoshop), and...well, you know the rest.

They don't make decent album covers anymore. Actually, they may be making wonderful CD covers, but who can see them? My favorites were usually attributed to "Hipgnosis", who I later found out was one Skandanavian guy that's still working today. Lindqvist or something like that, I think.

Remember those fantasy covers by Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. You're right. They don't look the same at CD size.

Another cover that comes to mind is the Uriah Heep one where the model had stuck his head thru a spiders web. That could probably be easily simulated in PS nowdays, but then ... :eek:

Often when I remaster CD from LP, I get asked "What about the words" after I've spent ages fixing the noise from the LP and making a good-looking (well I think so anyway:)) cover. Imagine what the size of the words would be if I scanned it and shrunk it to fit on a CD size page. (BTW, it's definitely not worth remastering LP to CD for other people. They just don't realise how much time goes into it :()

ELP had some great covers...I remember sitting and just staring at the Tarkus cover for seemingly hours. Lots of great bands during that period, with great covers. Remember the cover for "Thick as a Brick"? I have the CD and the replica is just sad.

If it weren't a guaranteed litigation nightmare, I think a 'great album covers' would be an excellent website.

Are you referring to Jethro Tull's - Thick As A Brick? I thought the cover resembled a news paper? I have an extensive collection of Jethro Tull. I also loved Styx album covers. Pink Floyd albums were amazing. I have kept all my old albums. I even play them from time to time!

Lisa

I have the entire PF catalog, but discovered them post-CD, so haven't really been able to appreciate their cover design.

And yes, the Tull cover was made to look (and read) like a newspaper, which I found fabulous.

Hey Doug,

Let's have a fun challenge designing an album cover!

Lisa

Lisa, that is a fantastic idea! Maybe it could incorporate an old photo of some sort as a common starting point?

My younger brother is constantly making mix CDs of his vast music collection (500+ cds). A few months ago he wanted to make a mix cd, design a cool cover and give it to his girlfreind as a gift. He came to me with a bunch of photos and we came up with this design. We printed it on glossy photo paper and I swear you could have put it in the rack at the music store and no one would have known it was homemade!

That is an awesome, awesome cover. I knew I'd like this idea!!!!

Lisa

Lisa - great idea, it sounds like a really fun manipulation challenge!!

Greg- thats a really neat CD cover! how did you do that?

- David :)

Really cool Greg. Looks real Pro
DJ

Greg, that cover is awesome... I love it. You guys must have had a blast making it.

Sharon

Thanks for the nice compliments everyone.

Sharon - We did have a blast making it! That's why I thought Lisa's idea for an album cover challenge would be so much fun. I would love to see what people on here could come up with! Maybe we could set a few basic rules like 1 photo that has to be incorporated and maybe a name for the album like "Music to Restore by" :D Create the cd with a front, back and sides...anyone have a good cd template?

To get back to the original subject of the thread....I am a child of the CD era, so I was never exposed to much album art. (expect for the "Sesame Street Disco" album I had as a child:bigthmb: ) I can tell you it would be nice to have a little bit more real estate when it come to designing artwork for CD covers! It' hard to be very creative with such a small space.

There are many old jazz cds that I would love to have the album of...just for the cover art! Several Miles Davis albums come to mind...

Wow Greg that's great. I had to design a cd cover for my son's recording assignment( he's studying Ausio Engineering) a few weeks ago wish I had seen your cover first. Mine was simple but it looked ok for the time I had to do it, I was asked to do it 2 hours before it was to be handed in. :eek:

Greg, instead of a template I create new pages using the following measurements for the front and back covers in PS:
front single 12x12cm
front double 12x24cm
with the back, I start with the picture surface: 11.7x13.6cm. once that is finished, I create a transparent top layer, select all and stroke 1 pixel on that layer with a contrasting color to the rest of the cover for an outline to the side title areas.

I then increase the canvas size to 11.7x15cm for the side title areas and do the necessary titling and rotations (PS kindly centres the picture area on the new canvas).

I print these on a matt Epson paper (Photo quality ink jet paper - S041061). One trick to get the side title areas to fold properly is to lightly score the stroke lines with a knife and a ruler as a guide (take care not to cut thru the paper tho' :) you only need to break thru' the coating on the paper).

HTH.

ps: does the barcode on your cover mean anything ;)
pps: this is probably OT, Doug and should be on the tips forum!

Doug, I recently did a "History of Santana" compilation where I used the lion's head cover as part of my cover. That collage of faces was a stunningly clever bit of artwork, which is almost totally lost on reducing it to CD size.

That is one cover that I remember staring at for ages trying to pick out all the little faces.

Lisa, I'm all for your challenge. (I can cheat and use some of the covers I've already created :devious: )

I'm with Al, Yes come to mind for cool album covers. I believe Yes' covers were designed by Roger Dean. He was a giant in the fantasy art of the 70s. Tales From Topographic Oceans and Close To The Edge were 2 of my favs. I have kept "We're Only In It For The Money" by Zappa just for the cover art which is a parody of Sgt. Pepper. Gerry

Al - I figured out the scoring of the paper the hard way! I went through 2 prints before I discovered that little trick. The barcode was a joke...just random numbers. After we made it, we realized we should have put his girlfriend's birthday as the number, since it was a gift!

Thanks BigAl for the dimensions and tips. I found a nice website with a PDF with templates on it. I attempted to upload the file here but found out it won't allow PDF. So, here is the web URL

http://www.graphic-design.com/DTG/DTG-Solutions/cd/cdjacket.pdf


Lisa
P.S. I have another template attached in the right file format.

That is a great looking CD Cover Greg.

I found some inspiration!

http://www.superseventies.com/greatestalbumcovers.html

Thanks for the site Lisa (I like your new 70s avatar ;) ).

Some other clever covers were by the Moody Blues, especially "Days of Future Past" (which I think is one of my only surviving LPs from the 60s). Some of Cat Steven's covers were also interesting.

OK BigAl,

I had to laugh. My avatar is a recent pic I took of myself with my new digital camera. I guess I'm stuck in the 70's - cause that's how I dress normally (still laughing).

Lisa

I think "Big hair" Al's avatar would make a good 70's album cover! :D

OK.... now I'm laughin' more!

Got no response to that one Greg :D

BigAl's new LP: "Road to nowhere" with Greg on the drums and Lisa on keyboard and backing vocals. Barbershop harmonies by the RetouchPro Gang.

Produced by DJ Dubovsky.

Cover design & sleeve notes by Doug Nelson.

:lol:

Hey, looks like I got a promotion. Do I get a big raise too? You can keep the royalties I"ll just take a flat fee. :lol:
DJ

I see the "Al" album as more of a funk style...and I got really, really bored this afternoon...it was a slow day.... ;)

I sort of "borrowed" a picture off your website and "altered" the hair a bit....you know, just exagerated what was already there...

This is my official entry into the Lisa Retouch Pro Album Cover Challenge.

OK - this is way too funny! You have a calling Greg!

This sure put a smile on my face. I love the font! Which one did you use!

Lisa

OK - my turn. A little more serious - but the album cover is in honor of BigAl.

Lisa :D

That is fantastic Lisa...and it's in stereo! I love the "posterized" look and the color scheme. Great font as well! Big Al is becoming famous!

The font I used was called "actionis".

Thanks - I went in search earlier for the font and found it at this URL.

http://www.eliteentertainment.net/famousfonts/music/

Lisa

Very cool link

Lisa, that was extremely cool..love it.

Sharon

I meant your cd cover by the way....

Thanks Greg & Sharon. I hope to see more submissions! I thinks this is a fun challenge.

I have another one to add....

Lisa

I like it! :)

Thought you might :wink:

That's my daughter's hands and my crystal ball.

Lisa

Good one Lisa! I love that font site as well..I can just see the possible album covers in my head..

I did one more as well while I was working on the "Funky Big Al" cover. This one is more of an 80's style and uses Doug's avatar....sorry Doug. Last one....promise! :D

It's an album in honor of all your hard work...

Keep'em coming, I love these. Plus the Alan Parsons Project was my favorite 'band' during the late 70s/early 80s.

Great stuff guys. I can't wait to get home now to add my contribution(s) :D

I love it Greg! Neat background. Great concept. I wish I had your talent/creativity.

I'd love to see more.

Lisa

I forgot to mention... One of my favorite bands in the 70's was Alan Parsons. I loved Eye In The Sky & I Robot. Ooops, I'm aging myself again!

Lisa

I also loved Roxy Music. Favorite CD - Avalon 80-81. I loved the song More Than This. I recently heard a remake of this song by Norah Jones: she has a bit of a blues like sound (I think she sounds like Janis Ian) and for all your youngins' don't ask who Janis Ian is.... anyhow, you might like her.

Lisa

This thread is a perfect example of unrestrained talent. I love them all. Now if only you guys could come up with the sound track, other than Doug's head hitting that keyboard to a beat. :D
DJ

Thanks for the link. I will check it out further. I can't see anything about fonts for Macintosh. Bummer. I could always scan the alphabets & build logos & words the old fashon way.

Gerry

Gerry - Have you ever used TransType? It will convert fonts between platforms. I'm not sure how well it works but I looked into getting it back when I had an imac. Their website says you can download a 3 day trial version...

FontLab (http://www.fontlab.com/html/transtype.html)

Another one for early Saturday morning. (Sorry about the blurred text!)

I love it!!! That is so cool...I almost feel bad about turning you into a funk star and giving you an afro.... you made us into sophisticated musicians. :) Plus you used my favorite planet, Jupiter! (outside of Saturn, it's the only planet my little 4" telescope can see with any detail)

Great photo. Where is that taken?

Well speaking of album covers...

I visited a photo exhibition today by a well known photographer by the name of Henry Diltz. PBS did a documentry of his work and it is entitled "Under The Covers"

Henry has photographed some of the greatest classic rock bands out there. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Doors, The Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Paul McCartney, Janice Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Mamas & The Papas to name a few. Many of the pictures he shot became album covers. Others were featured in Life magazine, Rolling Stone and other publications.

It was really nice to meet him today and see larger size prints of the fine work he has done over the years.

If you want to take a look at some of the better known pictures and album covers he has done go here....

http://www.henrysgallery.com/mainframe.html

Greg, I assume you're referring to the main photo and not Jupiter ;) The main photo was taken in the extreme north west corner of Namibia (I'm busy building a montage of that area for the gallery). If it was Jupiter you were referring to, well...


(I pinched it off the Web :D )

I knew you'd appreciate the fact that it was produced by Jupiter Productions :lol:

Awesome job BigAl!! It does look very sophistocated - appropriate for a jazz album cover. Look out Diana Krall.

Greg, I don't think you need to apologize for your "Big Hair" Album. Personally - I loved it! It kind of reminds me of something Bob Marley would do.

Thanks for the link cendres - wonderful photography, I especially like the Eagles work. Another favorite band in the early 70's has to be America.

Lisa:D

I'm still waiting to find more entries! Here's another one I worked on today.

Lisa

How did you get that effect on the trees? It reminds of a woodcut print...I really like it! Great color scheme as well. I can see this in a cd rack at the store. :D

Maybe we should start a seperate thread (In the gallery?)? I really like this idea of designing album covers!

Hey Greg,

I used Filter, Artistic and then Poster Edges. I fooled around with the thickness. I think it looks great on an outdoor shot like this. I also tried using Cutout and it was equally as nice. I'll attach the results.

I like the concept of designing covers as well. I wish more would participate.

Lisa

Wonderful effect on those trees Lisa. :thumbsup:

A lot of folks have been following this thread, but don't seem to want to try their artistic talents :(

Thanks for the link Cendres. A bit disappointing that Cosby and Cat was in BW. I used that same pic, in color, (off Daylight Again) on a CSNY compilation I made.

Wow, those are really neat album covers you're making!! now, here's is my lame attempt at making an album cover. It REALLY didn't work out very well but I'll post it anyway.

- David

P.S. notice the "fork" in the road on the right hand side? yeah, thats what happens when I try to do photo manipulation really late at night when I'm bored and half asleep.

Cool stuff David :thumbsup: especially the fork :D

I like it David - the fork is symbolic! I wish I could work on more collages and understand them better. Love the font! Keep em' coming :)

Lisa

David - That's not lame..I really like it. It's pretty good for being half asleep. :) I always seem to do my best work late at night!

I love the saturated skys and the fact that the car is extends out of the picture and onto the border. Is that a Yugo? ;)

I got bored again today... ;)

This is a Retouch Pro jazz album from the late 1950's. It's done in the classic Blue Note Records style. I decide to use a few more Retouch Pro names as musicians...

I love what boredom can do! It does remind me of a 50's Jazz album. I have a ton of 1950 albums I inherited. I wonder if I should scan them. Might give us a few ideas and would be fun?

Lisa

thanks everybody!
Greg- :D yup, it's a yugo! and its probably too small and blurry to tell, but it says retouchpro on the license plate. and another great album cover! you are really talented at making those things.

Lisa - that'd be great if you'd scan some of your old album covers, I'd love to see them!

- David :)

Is that supposed to be Doug's car? :lol:

haha, no no no! definitely not. but actually, it looks quite a bit like my car (even though it's not a yugo) :D

- David

Well, Doug should at least look into getting a RetouchPro license plate, or maybe a bumper sticker. :D

Actually it would be rather cool to have a Yugo...sort of a rolling (notice I did not say running!) cold war icon.

Lisa - Anything good in that stack of albums?

-Greg

I forgot to post my inspiration for that last album cover I made. I was listening Eric Dolphy's "Out to Lunch" yesterday and admiring the cover. Out To Lunch (http://www.bluenote.com/detail.asp?SelectionID=9423)

Reid Miles was the designer for this and several hundred other Jazz albums during the 50's and 60's. One of my favorite designers!

I scanned a neat album cover I thought you might like. It sure taught me something. The album was larger than my scanner. Hopefully, you can't tell where I pieced it together! I have a high res scan of this, but can't upload it here.

Lisa

I know I'm like "don't link, attach!!!"...but when it comes to copyrighted material I think I'd prefer a link.

I do like that cover Lisa. It reminds me of something Warhol would do...very Pop art! I like covers that are more than "just" a photo. I enjoy the sense of abstract design the covers from the 50's and 60's had.

Oh boy, I sound like a martinet or sermonette or some -ette, but just because the pics were on the web doesn't imply copyright transfer for uploading here.

I'm being overreactionary, and its a 99% chance its harmless, but from this thread alone there are probably over 20 people that would have every right to threaten the closure of RetouchPRO if I didn't remove their copyrighted artwork.

You have every right to feel that way. I understand where you are coming from and do not want the site to be liable in any way. We will stick to our homemade covers.

Lisa

Is it still ok to link to the record company itself...or the "All Music Guide"?...or should we just stick to naming the band and album?

Feel free to link to anything you want :)
(I've had a nap now, less cranky)

A nap!? What happened...did you run out of coffee? ;)

ooo...coffee! Thanks for reminding me :)

Lisa, look what you have caused now!!!! ;)

...anybody have bail money?

:D good one Greg!

- David

Hee hee :)

Oh my members all up and lef' me
To deal wit mah legal issues
We all meant well
But it soon went to hell
Now ah gots dem infringement blues
(harmonica solo)

:cool:

hahahaha :lol:

That is good, Doug...you should record it!

wow Doug! I never knew you were such a talented song writer ;) the secret's out, you're gonna have to put out a retouch blues album now :D

- David

A couple yrs ago when I first got this puter and all abilities, I decided to make CDs with real cover art. I wanted to make the classics of my youth, from the '60s.
I did the Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillow, and the Beach Boys Pet Sounds, but I really wanted the Santana album, but all the cover art on line sucked. So eventually I found the album in a thrift store, scanned it and did extensive repair work before it was ready. I had a load of fun making CDs, even made a '50 comp album.
Don't do that anymore, now it's just painting, boring old painting with 3 of the best programs extant.

greg

the other one.

Well after going thru this thread I feel that i is time to invite you all to see this link that provides, Photo Albums, DVD cover art designs, Studio Backgrounds etc
Visit www.iphotovideo.com

Regards
Rob