Graphic Artist - Part 15

After the final 10 photos had been voted upon by 1746 Records Creative Committee, it was now time to take the project to Christie Trost, the graphic artist chosen for this album. She did an amazing job adding creative insightfulness along with her keen skills, on my 8th album. So I was happy that she was on board to be the Creative Director for Chakra Bleu's 9th album.

There was more preparation necessary before the meeting with the graphic artist could be made. 1746 Records/ Chakra Bleu drew out by hand, the templates of what would be the front, back and inside album artwork for Christie. Chakra drew and cut out the exact measurements of what the CD cover/layout would be, and penciled in the details of where the proposed photo #1 would be, back cover photo #2 would be, inside photo#3 would be; the credits of musicians, etc.

Also the credits, "thank to..." that would be on the inside of the CD was typed up in Word Doc, along with the back cover information that had the song order and exact length of each song. Below that is the information that says, "Produced by Chakra Bleu; All songs written by Chakra Bleu, Recorded and Mixed at Warner/Chappel studios; etc. Even the small print on the side of the CD/LP: Published by Chakra Bleu Music (BMI)(copyright 2019)/1746 Records (register mark)..All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.  

Whew...yes this is knit picking details and duties of the record company! Is your head spinning yet? Lol. 

 Once the templates were finished, a meeting was made with the graphic artist. Christie and I were both 'to the point' worker bee's. Both of us prepared well for the meeting, and then got-er-done. She knew how to work with the manufacturers CD design templates already from my last project. First of all, I forwarded the template website page to her email as well as the Words Docs that had the album information. Then I laid out my homemade templates that had the front, back and inside CD details penciled in on the paper. Then on my computer, I brought up the 10 photos that could be selected for the front, back and inside panels of the CD. Within moments she could clearly see which photos would flow best for the album art. 

The eyes of a graphic artist are intriguing. These are individuals who are skillfully trained to see how the 'big picture' of the album works best as a project, picking out the best fonts, size and placement of everything included.

Oddly enough, I had two other graphic artists on 1746 Records Committee voting team, that also chose the same combination of photos that Christie favoured. 

Well without a doubt, there was enough solid united evidence with votes backed by the graphic artist's input, that the best photos for the album were ready to launch!

 The graphic artist and I had quickly and efficiently made solid decisions on the best positioning of photos, credits, thanks to, etc. 

Now that Christie and I agreed on the game plan, she was free to go full blown into her Diva-Artist mode. I don't like to rush the creative process of any artist, yet we agreed that three weeks would be ample time for her to send me the first proofs. 

 

 

 

 

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