College of New Caledonia/FINE-107-101: Intro to Digital Arts & Media
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Assignment 2: Album / CD Cover Design

A creative journey in Photoshop, inspired by 1990s design

Due Date

November 2, 2026 · 11:00 AM

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Weight

15%

Status

Upcoming

Send your submission via email to mitchellh2@cnc.bc.ca. Please CC any other instructors for this course.

Goal
  • •Make a CD case cover for a musician or band of your choice.
  • •Go on a creative journey using Photoshop.
  • •Take inspiration from digital artists of the 1990s (Paula Scher, David Carson, or April Greiman).
Size Options — You Pick
Record Cover (Front & Back)12.5" × 12.5"
CD Cover (Front & Back)4.7" × 4.7"
Spotify Album Cover10" × 10"
What You Might Include
A song listA band namePhoto of the musicianA barcodePhotos from others or your ownIllustrations / doodles of your ownTypeCollagePainting
Student Examples

Past student projects — from mood board and concept sketches through to finished front & back covers.

SB19 — inspired by Paula Scher

by Gladys Datu
Student board showing a Paula Scher mood board, four concept sketches, and a colorful P-POP GET IN THE ZONE SB19 album cover
Mood board, concept sketches & finished cover
Paula Scher reference: Public Theater posters for Bring in da Noise, WAR LOVE, and HIM
Designer reference — Paula Scher posters

GLORY — Yo Yo Honey Singh

grunge / halftone direction
GLORY album front cover with yellow swirl background and back cover with 18-song list
Finished front & back covers
GLORY album presented as jewel case, digipak, and disc mockups
Presentation mockups
Pencil concept sketch of the GLORY front and back album layout
Concept sketch

Up In Smoke — blink-182 inspired

collage & illustration direction
blink-182 mood board with logos, album covers, and the One More Time Tour poster
Mood board — blink-182
Pencil concept sketch of smoking lips with cut-out collage letters spelling Up In Smoke
Concept sketch
Finished front cover: lime-green background with yellow smoking lips and cut-out letters reading Up In Smoke
Finished front cover
Back cover with newspaper collage background and a numbered song list
Finished back cover
Sketching
  1. 1Sketch many (3–8, or until you feel you have an original idea).
  2. 2Start with pencil outline, 1–2 minute sketches.
  3. 3Imitate the layouts, typography, textures, or colours of your chosen legendary graphic designer.
  4. 4Decide on your song list and barcode — will you use photographs or illustrations?
  5. 5You may include photos from others or your own.
Grading
  • Your work resembles your chosen legendary artist's style.
  • Your moodboard shows inspiration for your final design.
  • An original idea and interpretation.
  • Album art is persuasive and informs the buyer of the music genre.
  • Your work shows exploration and experimentation with software capabilities.
  • You used your own intuition to discover your personal style & aesthetic.
Submit

Submit all of the following:

Working FilesPSD / AI / other working files
Final PDFPDF of finished covers (front & back)
MoodboardMoodboard / idea board / rough sketch
SketchesYour process sketches