Thursday 26 October 2006

Cars DVD

I haven't yet mentioned that I also have a limited range of movie and TV Show video covers, including screen shots to apply to individual TV episodes in iTunes. I've yet to scan most of my collection, so there's not much here yet, but you might find something you need. Three VCD covers are included, which are a bit of a curio.

The Cars DVD was released yesterday here in Australia. You'll notice a huge rating badge on the lower left of the cover. It's been common for about two years now that manufacturers print the badge directly on the cover rather than putting a sticker on the outer case, as they used to do. It drives me nuts because the badge is so huge that it usually makes it impossible to cover in Photoshop. That's why I had to leave it on this one. I was also not able to successfully cover the blurb at the top. Video covers have been defaced with lots of crap from day one, however, so a certain amount of text is inevitable. There seems to be less respect for the artwork on videos compared to music. The designers treat them like movie posters.

Monday 16 October 2006

New Beck

Well, if you know about the new Beck, you'll know that the cover is a blank canvas upon which the owner applies supplied stickers to create their own cover. Rather than commit myself to a given design, and because as a collector I can't bring myself to alter the original package, I scanned the blank cover and all the sticker sheets separately. In the spirit of this release, I am making available for the first time the original Photoshop files that I created as well as my own design. You can use mine or download the Photoshop files in a zip archive to create your own high-quality cover. The choice is yours. Enjoy!

Tuesday 3 October 2006

Some New Releases

Server has been down for two weeks because my provider (curse Veridas) went out of business. In that time I went nuts with purchases. Here are a couple of new ones for you.

Let's start with the Jet. I really like the front cover. The band members are all looking cool and it's visually a complete overhaul from their last run of releases. It reflects the sophisticated sound of the new album.

This release is a digipak. The cover is very different from the images commonly seen on the internet. It's printed on a roughish paper that disperses light and this is why it doesn't reproduce that well, although this is pretty close. It really is that muted. It's the kind of cover that needs to be held and played to catch the light. It's an experience.

The high-contrast version here is the result of a fortuitous windfall. I was casually discussing the new album with a music store owner and I explained that the cover was hard to scan. She just so happened to have a card desktop display stand that had this image on it. It looks much better in iTunes and on the iPod.

The Evanescence album is a really lovely high-art piece in a digipak. I've lost a little detail in the shadows unfortunately. There are a number of fine circles in this area that just don't reproduce.

Again, this album visually signifies a greater sophistication in this band's art. If the single here (and the one on iTunes) is anything to go by, I suspect that the singles from this album will follow a more coordinated design than their last set of releases.

Saturday 2 September 2006

We are Pet Shop Boys!

I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Minimal DVD single for two weeks or I would have featured this complete set sooner. I almost missed out. It pays to buy it when you see it.

This set is typically very stylish for PSB. The limited-edition cover is very special. It's a glossy slipcase over an opaque black standard jewel case. The whole effect is muted and shadowy but the discs are eye-achingly fluorescent pink and yellow!

I had to learn a Photoshop tool in order to reproduce these covers. It's made the process of editing dark covers so much easier with real results.

The first single, I'm with Stupid, came in three forms that I'm aware of, a standard single jewel case (UK), a standard jewel case (Australian release) and a UK DVD in a super jewelbox. The Australian CD is disappointingly simply the same tracks that appear on the DVD. You'll notice that the CD and DVD have different but related artwork. The Australian CD and the DVD have the same artwork.

If you bought the wonderful vinyl single, you've got both covers on front and back (use the cropped version of CD 1).

Minimal is a departure from the black theme. I was surprised until I remembered that the song has black and white as a central theme.

CD 1 comes in a standard single jewel case. It's notable because it's a 3" CD in a standard 4.7" platter. It's got an interesting 1.7" clear rim.

The vinyl single includes both CD 1 and CD 2 covers on either side (use the square version of CD 1). The disc is clear vinyl and has an interior slipcase.

The DVD is not merely a negative of CD 2. The same neon lettering is used but it's on a black background and has reflections. The disc is also a 3" CD in a standard 4.7" platter. I've never seen a DVD in this format before.

This has been a very satisfying set to collect.

Monday 7 August 2006

Pink Floyd Special

Just bought the stunning Pulse DVD and in its honour, I'm featuring here all the 1000-pixel Pink Floyd art that I have. There are a few more in the Pink Floyd folder but they have yet to be upgraded.

Of interest is The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This is a mono remaster. The front cover is embossed corrugated cardboard stuck on a digipak box. I've also scanned the booklet inside, which is close to the regular cover but not quite.

Wednesday 2 August 2006

Massive Backlog

What the hell happened? My server's hard drive died and I couldn't afford a new one until now. I'm so happy to be back in business! I'm celebrating with a massive roll-out. You've missed so much: the rest of the Michael Jacksons (featured here), the latest complete set of Pet Shop Boys and many others. I've been very busy scanning in the hiatus, both my own and a friend's collection, so there's lots of new stuff in the artwork folder. Check it out. More later. I've just got to get this posted.