When we hear the phrase "a friend is doing my layout art and graphic design work for free," we try to be sympathetic because we know that being on a tight budget is a tough situation, especially when you're pressing cds. But we’ve been doing this for a long time, and we’re quite accustomed to what is usually about to happen...

First, the “friend” is going to take a long time to do the art, and you won’t really be able to pressure him to hurry up, since he’s doing you “a favor” by helping you out for free...

Then, it’s not necessarily going to look as good as it would have if someone that knew what they were doing had completed it. Your “friend” most likely has a full time job that takes up a lot of his time, so he can’t spend all day on your design project.

Finally, there will be technical problems that we have to correct when it gets sent to us. Your “friend” may have some experience doing freelance artwork for web design or computer design or some other graphic print media but hasn’t worked on any actual CD projects.

So think about it carefully before you decide who will do your art for you. It's no fun for us to tell people that their artwork wasn't prepared properly and will cost more money to fix than it would have to do from scratch...and it’s also no fun for a band to wait an extra two weeks for someone to do their design work when they could have easily sold 50 CDs during those two weeks.

So if your friend really knows what they are doing and has the time to do the work now, go for it and save a little money. But please take our advise: graphic art is not the place to be cheap or cut corners. The cover of your CD is what has to represent you, cultivate your image, and captivate your prospective audience. The promotional items that you design (such as posters, postcards, flyers, t-shirts) have to reinforce that image. Because our experienced artists have spent years perfecting their craft, you'll probably be better off going with a pro to bring your ideas to life, rather than relying on someone that "has a scanner and a version of photoshop."

Now don't get me wrong, if you're going for a D.I.Y. look, then by all means give it a shot, especially when it comes to taking photographs, designing a logo, and coming up with an artistic concept. Those are great places to save money. Once you've finished that part of the process, make sure your artist has read our art tutorial.

If the concepts in the tutorial aren’t 100% clear, then please either call us or send us your materials and let us finish the work for you.

Click here to find out more about our design services for printed products & web layouts. You can see samples of printed cardboard jackets & digipaks, stickers, posters, catalogs, fanzines, promotional packages, and t-shirts.

MorphiusDisc Mfg, not just a total solution, but an ideal strategy for getting your products noticed.