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Album Art Gets Smaller, We Get Sadder

Album Art Gets Smaller, We Get Sadder

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Scott over at My Thermos gives us an outsider’s view of the album art scene. He may not be an expert, but he has a keen eye.

There really is nothing like browsing through the record bins. I used to spend hours and hours flipping through the albums, looking at the classic cover art in a format where you can actually see it. I don’t have anything against the CD but the great album cover seems to be a lost art, one of the casualties of the rise of the single song download. Even if the design is good, the small format is lousy.

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Comments 14

  1. TobeOnFire wrote:

    Fully agreed! Show the people what you’ve got…

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 10:21 am
  2. Smick wrote:

    albums are large and (sometimes) arty enough to frame on the wall. i suppose you could frame a CD, too. you could put it next to the picture of your mom on your night stand.

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 10:38 am
  3. Jay wrote:

    Smick ftw…

    But seriously…good point. I dislike vinyl, but the art-size is number 1.

    I ordered two copies of the Hopesfall 10″ of No Wings the other day. Will sell one on ebay, will frame the other one.

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 10:52 am
  4. Philip wrote:

    I am so ashamed to say that I have never heard that album (No WIngs To Speak Of, that is)

    There is some great CD album art out there, and some fantastic designers producing it - this site is a testament to that - but it really just isn’t the same.

    *sigh

    Let’s just go back to the thinking that larger media is better versus small and sleek, and just have giant cds.

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 11:27 am
  5. radar wrote:

    There are only two possible solutions:
    1. put CD’s in vinyl-sized packaging
    2. make album artwork into vinyl-sized posters

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 12:16 pm
  6. radar wrote:

    And just for the record, I love this site. :)

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 12:16 pm
  7. Jay wrote:

    CD LONG BOXES DUDE

    Philip, check it out when you can. That CD inspired millions of bands to rip them off.

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 12:19 pm
  8. TobeOnFire wrote:

    I would welcome all three options with open arms:

    1. CD’s in vinyl-sized packaging
    2. album artwork into vinyl-sized posters
    3. standard CD long boxes (dude!)

    Only problem might be higher shipping costs because of the large format, if you buy your physical CDs online (for the retailers as well if you want).

    The importance of artwork simply must not die in the digital music revolution!

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 2:27 pm
  9. TobeOnFire wrote:

    Hey Philip, here’s two links for you to check out.

    “No Wings To Speak Of” on sale for $5.00 here: http://www.trustkill.com/webstore/music.php?id=500

    And a pretty good review about the EP here:
    http://www.lambgoat.com/albums/view.aspx?id=339

    Jay, where did you order the vinyl? Was that already a loooong time ago or is it still available?

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 2:38 pm
  10. Jay wrote:

    Man, I don’t know. There’s a lot of options. There has to be some sort of print solution, even if the album is sold digitally. Seeing the artwork on your screen, no matter how big, just isn’t the same as holding it on paper/cardboard.

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 3:29 pm
  11. Scott wrote:

    Heya - thanks for catching my article.

    I had forgotten all about the CD Long Boxes. I was originally saving them for some sort of grand project but tossed what I had when they stopped shipping them - which in retrospect was probably a mistake.

    I have tried various ways of hanging album art on the wall. In my college apartment I had a display area for 24 albums that was very cool - and I could swap it out and rearrange it based on mood or theme.

    I hadn’t thought about what will happen as we get more and more digital - I don’t even do the download thing because of the lack of packaging.

    SB

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 5:13 pm
  12. TobeOnFire wrote:

    Hey Jay, you still need to approve my Hopesfall comment with the links in it. You may delete this post once you did so : )

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 5:30 pm
  13. TobeOnFire wrote:

    Well Scott, I don’t do the digital thing yet either and for the same reason as you. But the horrible thing is that the younger generation doesn’t even really Care about packaging anymore. At least not as much as we do…

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 5:33 pm
  14. Jay wrote:

    Tobe, check it out here:

    http://www.onedaysavior.com/

    Hurry up and pre-order them. I did it a week ago, but there’s only 1000. Well worth it, though.

    Posted 25 Jan 2008 at 9:35 pm

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