The Digital Designz Media Group has been involved with Mixtape cover design for years. The art of designing mixtape covers is very unique, edgy and it requires an open mind of creativity. Mixtape cover design has been a very popular art amongst the hip hop culture. It is very different from Album cover design. Mixtape cover design incorporates many objects, dark backgrounds, cool typography and the use of many photographs with various color techniques.
The focus of this article is to briefly explore the many techniques used to create the unique and very edgy art form of Mixtape cover design. We will display a list of excellent examples from a number of different designers that will show you how this design style is spread out by hundreds of graphic designers.
Creating The Concept
Before getting into the design of the Mixtape cover, like all designs you must create an idea. These ideas are sprung up from the title of the mixtape. The title means everything while creating mixtape covers. It could allow you to find various of objects that would accompany the art, the typographic style, and the general feel of the design. Below we will explain the process of creating the concept and gathering the resources to design the mixtape cover.
Color Scheme
The color scheme from the mixtape cover is important while creating the design. The colors generally complement each other with various types of that particular color, or they create the feel of the design. Most mixtape covers gives off a very dark feel. Colors like blacks, reds, blues, dark greens, are mostly used for these designs to give off the feel of dark, edgy, grunge, styles. This is used by the majority of mixtape graphic designers.
Background
Backgrounds used for Mixtape cover designs are generally dark themed backgrounds. Lots of the backgrounds include abandoned buildings, city skylines, streets, or anything that gives off that urban feel. The backgrounds are typically edited to display a grunge style or to blend within other backgrounds or objects. Here are examples of various background styles used in Mixtape cover design.
Theme
The theme of the mixtape cover is very important. As stated above, the theme is created based upon the title of the mixtape. The title and the theme goes hand and hand.
Using Objects
Using objects in Mixtape cover design is one of the most important parts while designing. Various of objects are used to show interaction within the art of the cover. Objects are placed in the background and forefront. Within the main photo or in general around the design itsself. Anything of these objects also depends on the theme of the cover design. Objects could include: Cars, money, explosions, just for example. But these objects are very important because they also brings out the theme of the cover design more.
PSD Resources
Lets be clear, its hundreds of mixtape covers produced daily. A lot of these covers obtain these objects by not cutting them out individually. There are many resources for obtaining these objects. One of them could be found right here on vectornpixel.com In our freebies section we release many .psd objects and we have our Ultimate Series which has dozens of photoshop objects for you to download free. Another great resource for photoshop objects are Official Psds.
Photography Techniques
There are many different photograph techniques used in Mixtape cover design. One of the most popular is HDR ( High Dynamic Range ). This photograph technique is so popular because it gives off that very intense dark feel. You can find this technique used in almost all of your cover designs. We will list various of resources that you could learn how to use this technique.
Typography
The typography techniques used are various of text effects. It depends on the theme also. Many bold letters, Huge titles, and various of text effects are used in cover design. The title is very important while it is the main focus on the mixtape cover. The musician name is smaller than the title, while the dj or host name is very light text at the very top or bottom of the cover. Here are some examples:
More Examples
Conclusion
Although it may seem simple. Mixtape cover design is a craft. It requires much creativity. Its so much more to designing mixtape covers. We wanted to touch on it briefly and just show you this unique design style. Its many articles to come. Soon we will release tutorials, showcases, various of techniques and even tips on how to design for this market. Until next time, we hope you enjoy reading.
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66 comments
8 pings
March 22, 2010 at 8:52 pm (UTC -7)
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March 23, 2010 at 3:19 pm (UTC -7)
Those are great designs…you should definitely release tutorials, I am sure it will help a lot of people looking for information like this.
March 25, 2010 at 12:40 pm (UTC -7)
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March 31, 2010 at 12:40 am (UTC -7)
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March 31, 2010 at 2:40 pm (UTC -7)
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April 2, 2010 at 10:05 am (UTC -7)
visit http://www.officialmixtapetutorials.com to learn more on how to design mixtape covers
April 2, 2010 at 4:57 pm (UTC -7)
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October 13, 2010 at 8:51 am (UTC -7)
Those mixtape cover graphics are ok. However not that great. You can see bad cropping, blurry images, bad color correction. I think there are better ones out there.
October 27, 2010 at 10:21 am (UTC -7)
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February 14, 2011 at 10:05 am (UTC -7)
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The focus of this article is to briefly explore the many techniques used to create the unique and very edgy art form of Mixtape cover design….
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