I've been asked to quote for one of my artworks to be used on a CD cover (yippppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee). I've done various individual commissions for work but never CD art and I haven't a clue how much to quote for this.....could anyone give me some approximations please?? Any help appreciated :-) Gill

I've done a number of CD covers. It all depends greatly on the venue. Is it a Music CD for an indy release, major label, corporate? I've done indy releases for $30, and I've corporate packages for $500. If you can supply some more details, I could give you a better idea. Thanks Toshi

Thanks for the info. Not much details to go on from the first email, but judging by the question "for free or do you charge a fee?" I'd say it's a pretty small job, but foot on ladder is at least a start. Thanks for the help Gill

I've done CD covers and jackets as well and I would agree with Toshi, it all depends on the job. I'd write back, ask what they are looking for, figure the time and their intent. I.E. Indy release? Anyway I'm rehashing what's already been said. Get some details and spec it out from there. Daniel

They are a pain! Beware of the details. The various parts have to fit the case precisely. Make sure you have a good template to work from. Harder than a brochure - charge accordingly.

I did a cover once for an online psychic. She traded me several psychic readings for it. (which were actually pretty insightful!) And I got my name on the credits.

I did one for my band a while back..get the cover off of and existing CD, and measure the front, back, and spine. These are your parameters. Anything that fits in there (well, subjet to your artistic representations) should work. You'll need to be able to affix text vertically for the spine, but everything else should be on the horizontal. Getting fonts to look good at the 'fine print' level can be a pain, you usually have to do the smallest stuff in some sort of 'sans-serif' font, or you can't read it.
Make sure that your design catches the eye, something that draws your attention; since it has to compete with other CDs for someones' dollar (or sheckle, or whatever..;). Since it's only about 5.25" (if'n I remember correctly, it's been about 8 years) square, a lot of the details may not show up at such a small size. It's something to think about.
I suppose you can do an inside sleeve to put in most of the textual info, but again, it's your design. I know this doesn't sound like help, but charge enough to let them know you're serious (you may want to discount slightly for the first one, then up the price later when you're 'established), but not so much that you scare them away..hope this helps.

Hello, All - new to Renderosity, and thought to throw in a suggestion about this, if it's ok.

From working on CD artwork and text in the software world (rather than music), I learned one important lesson...make sure your artwork isn't completely obscured by the reflective nature of the plastic box it sits in. Run some tests with high-quality printouts in an actual case, and see how well details come through the reflective plastic as you move it around. [you may already be aware of this - if so, no insult intended]

As for how much to charge, I have to chime in with the others - more details from the client beforehand will make it easier to cost out your work. Is it cover only or cover+back or cover+booklet+back? Any detail they can give you will give you a much better sense of the work involved.

Best of luck, and have fun with it!

jkc

Just a suggestion, also find out if they will supply the finished text. Will it have been proofread? Will you have to make calls to get the spellings of band members names. This kind of stuff can really add up timewise.

Quote - I did a cover once for an online psychic. She traded me several psychic readings for it. (which were actually pretty insightful!) And I got my name on the credits.

I love the barter system :)

Thanks everyone. A lot of useful info and some smiles along the way :-)

Be sure to get in writing what other uses will or will not be made of that art! If they also print it, or elements of it, on the CD itself, no big deal... part of the package... but if they use it in ads, on t-shirts, coffee-cups, billboards, whatever, that is all further use and needs additional compensation. I've done covers for both game and music CDs. There are templates, but you should find out what the printer requires. Sometimes you'll be lucky and only need to supply square-formatted art (tiff or png... non lossy!), but I prefer to do the layout of any titling (after one publisher used Helvetica-gag!). An experienced printer can not only save you grief and time, but will have the right paper for the job so that your art looks fresh. Another issue: CMYK! We are so used to seeing the tonal range of a monitor that it is easy to forget that printer's inks will not reproduce some of these colors quite as brilliantly. Blues and purples don't fare well at all. After you have your image, stand back about 6-8 feet if possible to determine legibility. Tiny details will get lost in the printing process and you'll want to catch the eye of anybody passing by a table or shop window. Sometimes you'll need to be intricate, and sometimes you'll need to be bold. Once the customer has the object in hand and is reading the back, half the sale is made. Our job is to get them to pick it up for closer examination. HTH, Carolly

Wow! I love that image! It would certainly have my attention.

Thanks, Tim! jpging to post here mushed the details, but even across a room it should be noticeable. The CD is full of songs about ghosts, bats, dead lovers, and women who run through the woods at night, but I'd hope that someone picking it up would already know what to expect before turning it over to read the songlist, and would be intrigued enough to buy it. With a book, the customer can read the intro or even a chapter or two while standing in the store, but with most games or music with sealed away contents the cover has to do the selling. Sometimes I've stood in the aisles covertly watching what boxes or books people pick up and what they avoid. One of the best games I ever worked on bombed because it had an ugly box... and nobody got to see the cool stuff we had done inside. Carolly