Logo concept for a Jazz pianist. Originally I thought the broken 'a' was clever, but now having second thoughts. Also finding it difficult to balance with typeface on the cover of the CD packaging (Deréon from Typofonderie). Seems most acceptable at larger sizes, less so at smaller sizes. Your comments welcome.
Hire a Designer.
Please, Andreas, you’re being harsh. He’s a graphic designer asking for peer review. If you don’t have anything constructive to say, just say “start again from scratch”.
Adding some reasoning would be nice too.
To me, for example, the type used don’t say “pianist” at all: too bold and techno.
Umph.
Not a good choice of typeface - Riccardo was right on with start over - you need a different look to match Dereon.
I have to agree with the others, I think you need to take a step back, look at the subject, the market for the genre, then start. It is easy to 'finish' a project by doing something that may suit ourselves, but at the end of the day this cd cover has a number of jobs, yours is at the bottom of the list. It has to represent, the artist, and how he perceives himself and the market perceives him, it has to immediately hit a wavelength with those who will buy into his music, it has to give some indication or feel for the content of the cd.
The definition of an appropriate font(s) is only part of he design process, and I know this is what Andreas was try to say, think about it there is more that needs to be addressed here than the font.
Postitive input, start with the image, this is a jazz musicians cd cover it should reek style and attitude - this is jazz, this is not Bing Crosby's xmas cd. Get a great image with some attitude and style, the client playing the piano at a gig with stage lighting would be a good start. Make sure you image has plenty of space around it, the current image is shoe horned into the frame, and too 'in your face'. get rid of the cheesy smile. Then you can have a look at the type. You have two lines of type, the artists name, and the name of the album. If the artist is well known and the pending release has been well covered in the media, you can focus on the name of the album. If he is not well known, you need to focus on his name. The most important line will be the display line, the font should be in tune with the music, the font you are using at the moment is too childlike, it would be ok if he was sitting at a playdoh piano. Make sure the secondary line of type is in tune with the first, whether is is stroke weight, same feel, they must be complimentary. In the case of type size is important, in the instance of a cd cover it must be big enough to be seen when it is on the shelf, but not so big that it makes the album look cheap. Remember design is a process, the first step thought, think, what would a jazz fan pick up, and second, what will make my client look and feel good.
This will give you some inspiration:
sorry mate - can't say i like a thing about the cover... the picture - it's cheesy but - if it's the only picture available/in budget it can work with some photoshop... throw some colour over the whole picture? and you MUST remove all the wiring from the bottom left corner...
now to the typography - what's up with the 2 different Fs?
the "broken" font seems something more suited to a rock band stencilling onto a flight case rather than a refined gentleman's jazz album. there too is no refinement in the colours of the cover or the size of the name... or the relationship between the typograpghy and the photo.
the photo suggests this is a chance for you to get to know the artist up close and personal - i'd suggest handwritten typography throughout the booklet to suit.
the title of the album just doesn't fit there. the text fouls his shoulder, and in a case of "less is more" there are several ideas going on in the title... i like the text behind the picture effect but it doesn't work here either - the mic stand is too thin and the H is simply cut in half. there's a mustard coloured slug and the text changes colour for no apparent reason. all this happening on a busy picture with lots of background detail.
i'd also encourage you to check your dimensions - on my screen it doesn't look square.
having seen his piano art covered cd - i reckon you are way off the mark with this one.
keep working on it - keep simplifying it... someone flipping through cds in a store has only a second or two to read, recognise and make a decision to stop before flipping on to the next disc.
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