i've never tried making cover art before, but i got some sudden inspiration today after my migraine fled. i like what happened when i turned down the opacity on the artist names, i think it gives a nice contrast to the harsher text i used for the song title.

Well, it's............................interesting.

I find it very one dimensional, which means I think it would look much better with more colour values instead of them all being the same. That would give it more depth. just my two cents.

I like the background, if I had made it I would have added contrast so the blacks were blacker, but then I don't know what your purpose is and what you have might lend itself better to that.

Yeah AnMal, what is the idea behind all of this ?

It seems all very foggy and fuzzy, but i have seen you do this before, so maybe its all on purpose ?
What do want as the main attraction ?
The background, the indian font or the brown title ?

I love the kaleidoscopic pattern but the colors are way too weak, in my opinion.
I love the indian font, but it needs more presence.

How about making the background more colorful and less nebulous, make 'cornershop' and 'bubbly kaur' bigger and put each word on top and bottom ?
Move the title into the middle, and use the text with less effects.

IMO, a cover has to be readable. Thats the most important thing.

I would like to see the artist's names have more saturation....and the title stand out more, maybe a drop shadow would work?

this is funny, when i made the thing i had so much problems getting rid of the irritating contrasts that grated on my eyes and if i get you people correctly everyone of you wants some more contrast . i'll hopefully get some time for this later today and then i'll work with your suggestions. it struck me that maybe this has something to do with my migraine yesterday, looking at the computer screen after a migraine is never pleasant and high contrast of any kind is very unpleasant, so maybe i'll want more contrasts myself when i take another look at this.

Personnally, I like it.

I didn't see your other post to me, send it to me in pm if you want to. I think like me, you have a different kind of sense of humor.

Excellent work. Background and artists names are perfect though I would make the orange letters a little stronger - not too much - but then I'm a coffee drinker so what would I know?

i'll be too busy this weekend to get anything done on this, it seems . could have had some free time today - but i went to the movies instead, what else can you do when there's thousands of things you should be doing ?

he4rty: thank you - i like it myself. i'll give the contrasts a try first and decide later what was best.
erisian: exactly! but i can't completely ignore your opinions since you also like celtic knotwork and gulab jamuns - so i will consider the possibility that you're right in this case .

hah! i did get something done on this after all .
i started out making rather radical changes and i thought a lot about what i really wanted as the main attraction, since my problem is usually that i want to do too much at once, but it was harder than i thought. i'm so in love with this background, so i hated the thought of text taking over. and i liked the contrast work of the original text a bit too much too. in the end, and after a lot of experimenting, i made some small changes. i pulled up the saturation level of the pattern a tiny bit, darkened the subtle edge pattern a little, pulled up saturation and brightness on the orange text another tiny bit and pulling the opacity level on the artist's name text back up again. here's smaller versions of the original (left) and the edited version (right) for comparison - and looking at them i think the edit is slightly more readable and now that i don't have a migraine i don't mind more saturation and a little more contrast. but all in all i still prefer my original, i like it better the more i look at it.

that is much better !
maybe add a dropshadow ? i think the background has a nice 3D-ish look, and the whole cover has a feel as if the background is some form of jungle, so maybe a drowshadow would make the text floating in that kaleidoscopic "jungle"


out of interest do you decide making your art non-symmetrical, low contrast, all colors blended, non-centered on purpose ?

on several occasions you pointed my obsession with symmetry out and i was never sure if it was something you critisized or if its something that you feel should be avoided

not complaining, just asking

I like the one on the right much better. I find the one on the left very flat.

molly: thank you! yes, the left one is a lot flatter - i find i like that look though .
esper: no, i decided against dropshadows, i tried but it changed the whole thing too much.
yes, in the cases where i do that, it's on purpose. in the cases where i don't do it, that's on purpose too. i like so many different things and try so many different effects - though i probably tend to use low contrast a lot.
just stating a fact. you definitely have a thing for symmetry - and you work well with symmetry, just like photo comix does. i tend to like symmetry too, i just don't use it as often as the two of you. i see it like this: symmetry is one tool, asymmetry is another tool - i want to be able to use both tools and do it well. i make jewellery and my early stuff is really symmetrical. then i went to crafts and design school and was forced to learn asymmetry and now i can choose what's right for every project. but for example, i used to string all my bead strings in exact and symmetrical patterns before - to learn to string them randomly i had to pour the different kinds of beads into one bowl and pick them up with my eyes closed and so quickly i didn't have time to guess the size and texture by touch, otherwise i'd just end up making symmetrical patterns again .

I still prefer the original. i just think the orange letters could be darkened just a touch. (a very subtle touch)

erisian: well, i prefer the original too, but i'm not darkening the title text - i might go as far as pulling the saturation up a little, but that's it. i'm a tea drinker, after all, and we know best .

I prefer the original too and if you like it then go with your instincts. It YOUR design, make it the way you like it.

I agree. Advice is to be considered not blindly taken. The artist is always right about his/her own work.

AnMal, I think its gorgeous.