conventions of the spine on a CD cover

1. Conventions of CD cover spine

2. Purpose
● CD's are often stacked together when stored,
so the spine is the only thing visible.
● Therefore, it is important that the spine includes
the essential details of the album in a clear and
concise way to make it as easy as possible to
identify the album.
● The spine is a fairly important factor in the
advertisement of the album.

3. Album & Artist Name
The album name always
features on the spine
It is often more towards the
middle of the spine, with the
artist name to the left hand
side.
This and the artist name are
the most crucial details to be
included on the spine. Without
them the spine is useless.

4. Catalogue Number
The catalogue number is
always featured on the
spine as well.
A catalogue number is the
identification number a
record label assigns to a
release. It is used for
tracking purposes by both
the label and the distributor.
It can either be on the left or
right hand side of the spine

5. Font & Colour
The most effective fonts
and colours are bold and
bright.
As is evident in the image
to the left the most
prominent and effective
album spines are by
Radiohead due to the
bold text which stands out
from the plain background
colour.
Often the fonts used for
the album name and artist
name are the same or
very similar.
Another convention of
colour scheme is that the
colours featured on the
spine are chosen from the
front cover....

6. Colour Scheme
Black background
Red and white text

7. Colour Scheme
Pink background
White text

8. Colour Scheme
Pale gold background
Orange text
Orange and yellow
details

9. Colour Scheme
Black background
Green text

10. Colour Scheme
Black background
Green text