How did everyone get into designing covers?

bpmford · Post by **bpmford** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:35 am

This question was asked over at EFX, and it actually intrigued me, so I thought I'd ask it here too!

I guess we know the short stories of all our artist interviewees... So lets here from others who would like to tell their story!

Or... maybe here more from those of us interviewees who just like blabbing :whistle:

bpmford · Post by **bpmford** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:38 am

Guess I'll start with the long version of what I said in my interview...

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I actually got into cover making by accident!

I live in Canada... and one of our huge drawbacks when it comes to movies is that they all need to be released in French and English. So the covers that come in our cases have everything twice. That includes the spine; even when it isn't necessary (Like writing 1408 twice for both languages). A lot of times this makes the spine of the cover ugly and quite busy, especially on Blu-rays.

So, I did an internet search with a long shot hope that someone from the US had scanned some of their covers that I could possibly print to use on mine.

That is when I stumbled across the Custom Cover thread on chat forums at blu-ray.com, AVS Forum and High-Def Digest. It was there that I realized that not only do people scan covers that they have, some even make their own new cover using imagery from the movie. I met amazing designers like Demonology, Bunny Dojo, Morpheo and dv8pdx. They were the ones that pointed me to websites just for covers: Here at HiRes, DVD Covers Fuzion, Customaniacs, and EFX.

I originally just used a few of these sites to print other people's covers, but then decided that I could do it myself. I started off slow with my Academy Best Picture set, but then made my first cover for the Kill Bill Collection using Adobe Illustrator, and moved to Photoshop from there.

Now there is no Blu-ray movie on my shelf without a custom cover on it... and I credit my entire knowledge of Photoshop to custom covers, which taught me everything.

Haven't been around nearly as long as some others, have only been doing it since 2009, but it has felt much longer.

One of my favourite passions!

Post by **bazzah** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:24 pm

I actually got into custom cover making when the old daprogger site was about. I had always dabbled with Photoshop, but not in a serious way, when I was asked by the in-laws if I could replace a cover for Man on Fire. I had never even looked for a cover before, and had no idea of any kind of scene. At the time, all I could find was cdcovers.cc. I downloaded a scan which was amazingly bad quality, when I thought I could easily re-create this. So I got searching for some images to start remaking the cover, when I came across daproggers. One thing led to another, and here I am today.... not designing covers

Zungam · Post by **Zungam** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:05 pm

My first custom was a label done in Nero for my LightScribe drive. Had a few home made movies (no, not that kind) that needed labels, and after a while I wanted to put them in seperate covers as well. Tried Nero for that task too, but quickly figured out that I needed something better. So therefore I installed Photoshop and a new world suddenly revealed itself in front of me

Paris · Post by **Paris** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:17 pm

in 2009 I was putting my DVD collection on iTunes and I realized I needed the proper artwork, so I went to getvideoartwork.com and decided to make my own artwork. The moderator pointed in the direction to cover sites for resources. I had to make covers to get access to site resources so thats how my story began. I was relatively new to Photoshop, only used it a few times before, but thanks to the help from Ark, Kernie, Bunny, and others I am where I am today

LittleCoolDude · Post by **LittleCoolDude** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:20 pm

LMAO!@ Baz - I never intended to make covers. Like Baz i actually found daproggers by accident. I was apart of DagonsDen/replacethecase. I wanted to get a better Departed cover and couldn't find one for bluray, so I thought i would try one out, got hooked. Now I dont have much time but I'm trying to make covers still

bpmford · Post by **bpmford** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:39 pm

Bazzah wrote:
QUOTE (Bazzah @ Jan 10 2012, 01:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
... One thing led to another, and here I am today.... not designing covers

That is hilarious Baz!

Great stories guys... seems to be a lot of 'by accident'... maybe that's how we all start. Tho those who don't know custom covers, it seems a n Idea that isn't really ever thought of. I know my friends and family always ask what compelled me to want to replace the artwork in a movie case. Guess we were al there once, now here we are, addicted.

Soon enough there are going to be CCA meetings where designers go to discuss their addiction to cover making.

Post by **Bunny Dojo** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:02 pm

Back in late 2002, I was a member of a site called DVDTalk. I stuck mostly to the "Deals" section, but eventually explored around and stumbled into a thread about guys creating custom DVD covers. I liked movies and had been playing with graphic design through a combination of MS Paint and Microsoft Publisher for a year or two, so it seemed a worthwhile thing to try. Being even more pompous then than I am now (hard to imagine, I know

), I jumped right into the discussion, claiming to know it all with my Microsoft Publisher designs, which I had no way of sharing.

Little did I realize, that thread was just a placeholder in between iterations of DVDCoverArt.com. When the new version of the site opened, it was like that early scene in The Wizard of Oz where the film moved from sepia tones into full-blown color.

It's all pretty odd, since I've never "needed" or even used a replacement cover, nor even printed one in years.

Man, I can't believe it's been almost a decade. :Papy:

bpmford · Post by **bpmford** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:40 pm

LOL bunny! you are an old fogie in the custom cover biz!

Bunny Dojo wrote:
QUOTE (Bunny Dojo @ Jan 10 2012, 07:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It's all pretty odd, since I've never "needed" or even used a replacement cover, nor even printed one in years.

That is actually an interesting comment. I have every one of my blu-rays in covers, but some others like yourself don't use any.

What about others, am I the minority using so many customs? or are most people in the middle with some customs and some originals?

Paris · Post by **Paris** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:50 pm

I've only used about 4 custom covers, I'm usually happy with retails

HiResCovers.net

How did everyone get into designing covers?

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