Top 10 Best CD Cover Designs
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When you think about the process of making a music CD your thoughts may wander into the realm of cover design, booklet layout, musical arrangement, vocals, and maybe even special inserts such as cards or stickers.

While all is good and fair, we always want a smashing good album coupled with a great cover and informative booklet; rarely do we pay much attention to the design of the CD itself. The various design teams behind the CD’s and the booklets often go overlooked, yet we all need to be acutely aware of how important the correct packaging for the correct product may affect our decision to buy an item. Truly the unsung heroes in the entertainment industry.

There is no doubt much room for error and bias. We all have different standards of what may look good and what may not, though as a general rule of thumb, we believe a good design can be agreed upon by the general populace. We’ve also only had the ability to go through a chronicle of only a few hundred CD designs as opposed to the thousands that do exist, but going through them all would be too impossible a task. With this in mind we here feel it’s time to give the CD design the credit it may be due and present to you the Top 10 CD Designs of all time.

dream - ID – Avex Trax
Though the design is outwardly plain and fairly simple, there is a romantic almost sexy quality to the curves of the ribbons on the CD. One of the criteria we hold to separate a good design from the bad is the simplicity and frankness only the eye of an artist is able to comprehend.

1st X’mas – Avex Trax
The premise behind the simple gold and silver design, though not the most striking, is something to behold. On the CD a facsimile autograph of every singer contributing to the Christmas Album adds a personal level of affection and warmth to the final product giving a sentimental bonus. The effect is exhilarating in that it provides you with not only a beautifully packaged CD which included a DVD and a bonus trading card, but also a glimpse into every artist through their signatures. Some might go so far as to call me a softy for these kinds of stuff, but rarely do you see a design incorporate these kinds of images. If you’re like me living in the United States, you’d also find it extra-special because we simply can’t go to hand-shaking events or signature parties.

Zone - Taiyo no Kiss – Sony Records
I find this cover to be a romantic yet exciting design that uses the stark contrast between red and blue to complete it. If you couldn’t already tell, the picture is of a member of Zone playing her guitar in the water. This kind of fire on ice design schemes are always my favorite types of interactions. In other words, a red-hot guitar player is playing her tunes while waist deep in the cool waters. Though I feel they could have used a much clearer picture, it doesn’t take away from the overall design.