---
name: album_cover_design
description: Design album and single cover art plus release visual identity, from concept through composition, typography, and digital/print export specs. Use when an artist or agent needs a cover designed, a release checklist run, cover files validated, or a visual identity system for an EP, album, or single.
---

# Album Cover Design

## Purpose
Ship cover art that looks deliberate at full size and still reads at thumbnail size. The method: one visual-promise sentence, a composition built around a single focal point, typography that matches the genre and the release metadata, a 3000x3000 sRGB master for digital, and separate print-ready exports for CD or vinyl.

## Workflow

1. **Write the visual promise.** One sentence before touching any tool: "When someone sees this at a glance, I want them to expect ___." Every later choice gets filtered against it. If an element looks impressive but contradicts the promise, cut it.

2. **Build the composition.** Pick one focal point and center it. Use negative space and a clear hierarchy: focal point first, artist name and title second, everything else third or gone. Spotify crops art to a circle in some views, so keep all essential elements and text inside the center 80% of the frame. Corners are dead space.

3. **Choose typography.** One or two typefaces. The style should match the genre and the mood set in step 1. Keep text minimal: artist name and title are usually enough. If text appears, it must match the release metadata exactly. Check legibility at 150 px wide, the thumbnail test. If it fails, enlarge, simplify, or drop text for a type-free cover.

4. **Pick a palette.** Three to five colors at most. High contrast between the focal point and the background. Colors should match the music's mood and the existing artist branding if there is one.

5. **Assemble and test.** Build at full resolution. Then run these checks:
   - Shrink to 150 px: focal point and mood still read.
   - Squint test: one clear focal point, no competing elements.
   - Edge test: nothing important in the corners or at the trim edge.
   - Mood test: does it match the visual-promise sentence from step 1?

6. **Export the digital master.** 3000x3000 px, perfect square, sRGB. JPG at high quality for photographic covers, PNG for covers with crisp text or flat graphics. Keep it under the distributor's file-size limit (10 MB is the safe working number). Never upscale a weak source file just to hit 3000; design at target size or larger from the start.

7. **Export print variants separately.** Digital RGB files are wrong for print. For CD: 4.875" x 4.875" at 300 DPI with 0.125" bleed, CMYK, as PDF/TIFF/high-res JPG. For a 12" vinyl jacket: full template size with 3 mm bleed all sides, 300 DPI minimum, CMYK, total ink coverage at or under 320%. Use the pressing plant's template, not a home-built guess.

8. **Run the release checklist** (Output Contract). Do a rights check: you must own or license every image, photo, and font, and keep those licenses on file. No URLs, social handles, pricing, platform logos, or record-label names on the front cover. No watermarks.

## Output Contract

Every release leaves with:
- `cover-master-3000.jpg` or `.png`: the digital master (3000x3000, sRGB, square).
- A thumbnail-check note: what the cover looks like at 150 px, in one line.
- The visual-promise sentence, for the record.
- Any print files needed, clearly labeled per format, with bleed and color mode stated.
- A filled release checklist: square / 3000x3000 / sRGB / format / under file limit / text matches metadata / no banned content / thumbnail legible / rights cleared.

## Operating Rules

1. Concept before canvas. No imagery or fonts chosen until the visual-promise sentence exists.
2. The center 80% is the safe zone. Anything critical placed outside it will get cropped somewhere.
3. Never submit an upscaled low-res source as a master. Regenerate or reshoot instead.
4. Text on the cover matches the release metadata exactly, or it causes distributor rejections.
5. Digital and print are different files. RGB for screens, CMYK for press. No exceptions.
6. Verify platform specs before each release. Platforms update their guides; the table in `references/specs.md` is a starting point, not a contract.
7. If quality and deadline conflict, the cover ships late. A rushed cover lives on the release forever.