Cover art: The face of music

Physical formats of music may have fallen out of favour but this art continues to thrive in the digital age

Remember the vinyl disc shops of the yore where one would spend hours poring over the album covers and discovering new artistes. The vinyls may have become a rare sight and cassettes and CDs have come and gone but album covers have stayed, finding new home and styles with time.

This week, DHonSaturday speaks to the best in the industry about the place of cover art in the day and age of digital music and limited attention span.

‘It’s on your phone all time’

Bruce Lee Mani, lead vocalist of Bengaluru rock band Thermal and a Quarter, says, “Cover art is now carried around by anyone with a phone and a Spotify/Apple music subscription. People are staring at their phones all the time and a good cover will leave an impression.”

Bruce is no designer but he made the cover for his 2021 single ‘Coming Out’. He says the cover must convey an artistic impression of the music inside. “Can it provide a visual snapshot of the auditory goodness waiting to be heard? Can it take the listener on an emotional or a fun journey? Or, make a bold statement? Album covers can be all or some of these things.”

‘Key marketing tool’

Lahari Music is one of the few brands that have stayed in the race despite the churn in the industry and technology. Its director Lahari Velu believes album cover design is the most important aspect of making and marketing a music album.

“The design varies from cinematic to Carnatic and devotional music. But the ground rules about the use of attractive fonts and colours remain,” he says. For movies, they resort to loud designs but tone it down for Bhavageete, he adds.

‘Must capture the mood’

Ambi Subramaniam, son of violinist Dr L Subramaniam, designs the cover of his albums with his wife Shreya Suresh, a designer by profession. They tell us how the cover art for 2020 original composition ‘Winter Walks’ came along. It features a zoomed-out shot of a person strolling on a snowy street lined with fairy lights, befitting the calming instrumental piece Ambi had composed, says Shreya, who designed the cover and who works with a gamut of tools – Photoshop to create images, Canva to find templates and dimensions, and InDesign for the final look.

“We try to do two things. First, ensure that the mood of the song is captured, using colours and elements that complement the style of the album. Second, it should look catchy enough for the audience to select it,” Ambi pitches in.

Giving more examples, Ambi says that one can explore bright colours and bold designs for fusion and contemporary music. However, for classic music, a less-is-more approach is advised. “In the case of Indian classical music, we use the artiste’s face with the name of the song in bolder letters because listeners come looking for these elements primarily,” he shares.

The era of online music has thrown up new challenges. “Earlier, releases were more album-heavy. Today, artistes are releasing singles more frequently instead to showcase their versatility. Then to ensure that covers look different from each other each time, it is a challenge from the visual perspective,” he points to the problem.

‘Less is more’

Musician and digital creator Deepu Nair recently designed the cover for the album ‘Sangama’, which is based on Basavanna’s Vachanas. He believes in the philosophy of ‘less is more’.

“The cover design must always set the imagination rolling rather than convey everything in one go,” he explains. “I would even do a cover with just an instrument design on it,” he gives an example.

Design challenges

Conveying the essence of the album

Unique design for each single/album

Avoiding clutter

Steering clear of repetition

Complementing the font with colour

Design must suit all platforms and social media

Designer’s guide

Use visuals that are catchy but tell a story

Capture the cultural mood of the day

Fonts must be readable across all platforms

Use optimum dimensions for each platform

Ensure shareability on social media and streaming platforms

Tools used

InDesign

Adobe Photoshop

Canva

Iconic cover art

Music by artistes Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Dave Brubeck, and bands like Santana, The Moody Blues, The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, have had timeless covert art designs.

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