• 80 cover ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Album Cover Art Ideas

Three cover concepts per press: what fills the square, how many colors and where the title goes.

Album Cover Art Ideas

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  1. Pink and blue dragged downward like a wet street at night3 colors. Drag pink and blue downward on black. Title across the dry band at the top.
  2. A spiral stair rail photographed from below in colored light2 colors. Shoot upward so the rail spirals. Title at the center of the spiral, name at the bottom.
  3. A maze of right angles with one lit route3 colors. Gray lines throughout, and one path traced in bright green. Title where the path ends.

Next step Ideas to make on a screenInstruments and records to draw

All 80 cover ideas

Quiet and acoustic 16

  • A foggy field with a fence leading nowhere 3 colors. Pale green, gray and white. The fence fades out mid-square. Title where the fence ends.
  • A graphite moth resting on a lampshade 2 colors. Soft pencil on warm white, the shade cropped by the top edge. Title along the bottom.
  • A lone bowl painted in two grays on raw paper 3 colors. The bowl sits dead center and small. Title above it, name below, both in thin capitals.
  • A lone jacket hanging in gray daylight 2 colors. Take it in gray daylight with no lamp on. Title beside the jacket at shoulder height.
  • A mug ring traced in brown ink on a bare square 2 colors. One broken ring just off center. Title inside the ring, name outside. Works for a single.
  • A ruled horizon line and one tiny distant house 2 colors. One ruled line a third of the way up. Title and name sit in the big empty sky.
  • A single leaf held to squared paper by two tape strips 3 colors. One leaf, two strips of tape. Title written on the tape, name on the squares. Works for a single.
  • A stripe of sun crossing floorboards, shot from above 2 colors. Shoot straight down. The stripe of light crosses a corner. Title in the shadowed part.
  • A tiny handwritten title in the corner of a cream square 2 colors. Nothing else on the cover. Name half the size beside it. Works for a single.
  • A watercolor wash thinning upward to bare paper 2 colors. Blue-gray at the foot, nothing at the top. Title in the bare part, name at the wet edge.
  • Handwritten lyric scraps pasted in one column 2 colors. Torn slips of your own handwriting down the middle. The title is the one slip left whole.
  • One empty chair by a window in pencil line 2 colors. Gray line on cream, the chair low and left. Title small in the top right, name under it.
  • Pencil capitals spaced wide across the middle 2 colors. The title in one line, a hand's width between letters. Name in the same pencil, far below.
  • Raindrops in focus on glass, everything beyond soft 3 colors. Focus on the drops, not the street. Title in small white capitals, bottom left.
  • The track list written out like a note to a friend 2 colors. Blue pen on white, filling the square edge to edge. The album title is underlined twice.
  • Two pale tissue circles that overlap 3 colors. The overlap makes the third color. Title in the overlap, name along the bottom edge.

Loud and fast 16

  • A cartoon amplifier shaking cracks into the frame 3 colors. The amp sits bottom center and jagged lines run to every edge. Title across the speaker cloth.
  • A chessboard pattern pulled out of shape at one corner 2 colors. Squares stretch as they near the corner. Title set straight across the calm side.
  • A drum skin close up, scarred by stick marks 2 colors. Fill the whole square with the circle. Title curved around the rim, name in the center.
  • A marker scribble whirling into a funnel 2 colors. Black on white, drawn fast and not corrected. Title jammed in the top corner in block capitals.
  • A marker title, first try struck through and kept 2 colors. Fat marker on white. The crossed-out try stays visible above the one you keep.
  • A photocopy of your own hand, torn and misaligned 2 colors. Tear it across the palm and shift one half sideways. Title printed in the gap.
  • A red square slashed by one black stroke 3 colors. Load a wide brush and cross the square once, corner to corner. Title in white on the stroke.
  • A scuffed sneaker caught mid-jump 3 colors. Shoot from the ground against a plain wall. Title under the sole, where the floor would be.
  • A stenciled star on dripping yellow 3 colors. Let the drips run and do not tidy them. Name stenciled beneath the star, title along one side.
  • The band name stacked and stretched to fill the square 2 colors. One word per row, each row stretched to full width. The title is the smallest row.
  • Cut-out letters from old magazines spelling the title 3 colors. Every letter a different size, glued crooked on a flat color. The name is typed small below.
  • Cut-paper tongues of fire rising up a black square 3 colors. Red and orange tongues on black. Title above the tallest flame. Works for a single.
  • Huge capitals cropped by all four edges 2 colors. The title so big that parts are missing, yet it still reads. Name tiny, tucked inside one letter.
  • Paint flung from one corner in a fan 3 colors. Two colors of splatter on black. Title in the corner the paint came from. Works for a single.
  • Streetlights smeared by a moving camera 3 colors. Swing the camera as you press. Title in heavy white capitals across the smear.
  • Thick stripes of orange, pink and black that clash 3 colors. Uneven stripes, edge to edge. Title and name knocked out of the widest stripe.

Electronic and night 16

  • A black paper skyline against a color fade 3 colors. Cut the roofs in one strip. The fade goes orange to violet. Title in a lit window.
  • A fade from deep violet to hot pink over a hard horizon 3 colors. Blend the sky and paint the ground flat black. Title sits on the horizon line.
  • A long exposure of passing car lights 3 colors. Red and white lines across black. Title in thin capitals between two of the trails.
  • A maze of right angles with one lit route 3 colors. Gray lines throughout, and one path traced in bright green. Title where the path ends.
  • A painted light tube with a soft halo of its own color 2 colors. A bright line with a softer halo of the same color. Title beneath. Works for a single.
  • A ruled grid floor running to a striped sun 3 colors. Violet lines on dark blue, a banded half sun on the horizon. Title in the sky above it.
  • A spiral stair rail photographed from below in colored light 2 colors. Shoot upward so the rail spirals. Title at the center of the spiral, name at the bottom.
  • A word above its own dim upside-down twin 2 colors. The title's lower copy is upside down and half as bright. Name in the gap. Works for a single.
  • Fingers lit blue by a screen, the rest black 2 colors. Only the fingers show, lit blue. Title in the darkness above them. Works for a single.
  • One of your photos sliced into strips and offset 3 colors. Cut it into ten strips and slide every second one. Title on a clean strip of its own.
  • Paper discs in a row, waxing and waning 2 colors. Seven circles on dark blue, each with more cut away. Title under the full one.
  • Pink and blue dragged downward like a wet street at night 3 colors. Drag pink and blue downward on black. Title across the dry band at the top.
  • Pixel letters on a dark squared ground 2 colors. Build each letter of the title from filled squares. One square is left empty, like a cursor.
  • Rings drifting off center like a signal 2 colors. Thin pale rings on black, each a little further right. Title in the still center.
  • Shiny wrapper strips laid in parallel bars 3 colors. Foil strips of different widths on black, like a level meter. Title under the shortest.
  • Thin capitals inside a thin circle 2 colors. White on black. The title runs across the middle of the circle and the name follows its curve.

Warm and nostalgic 16

  • A bike and its long shadow reaching for the camera 3 colors. Lean it on a wall in late sun. Title on the wall above the saddle.
  • A faded print of a garden chair 2 colors. Rephotograph an old picture of your own, edges and all. Title on the white border.
  • A gouache road slipping between two hills 3 colors. Soft green hills and a pale road. Title in the sky, name where the road disappears.
  • A hand-drawn town plan with a star on one street 3 colors. Invent the town. Brown ink on tan with one red star. Title in a ribbon like a map heading.
  • A kitchen table with a radio in colored pencil 3 colors. Mustard, brown and cream. The radio sits to one side. Title on the radio dial.
  • A mixtape sticker with the title on its top rule 2 colors. Rule the label lines. Title on the top line, name on the second, and a hand-drawn side letter.
  • A title painted like a shop sign with a drop shadow 3 colors. Cream letters, red shadow, green board. Name on a smaller board hanging under it.
  • A white-bordered family print stuck on at a tilt 3 colors. One old print of your own on brown wrapping paper. Title written on the border by hand.
  • A windowsill plant catching early sun 2 colors. Shoot into the light so the leaves glow. Title on the sill. Works for a single.
  • Fruit in a bowl in mustard, rust and cream 3 colors. Flat shapes with no shading. Title curved over the bowl, name on the tablecloth edge.
  • Orange, cream and brown stripes standing for dusk 3 colors. Orange, cream and brown, with no blending. Title in the cream band. Works for a single.
  • Rounded bubble script arching over the name 3 colors. The title in fat joined letters, orange with a brown outline. Name straight and small beneath the arch.
  • Sheets on a clothesline seen from underneath 3 colors. Look up from below. Title on the widest sheet, as if it were printed on the cloth.
  • Two keepsakes on cream: a stub and a dried bloom 3 colors. Cream ground, two keepsakes of your own. Title lettered on the stub. Works for a single.
  • Wallpaper scraps patched into a quilt 3 colors. Nine squares of old patterns with a plain label in the middle that holds title and name.
  • Wax crayon rooftops on brown paper with a single yellow pane 3 colors. Wax crayon on brown paper. The lit window is the only yellow. Title along the street.

Strange and playful 16

  • A dog walker who happens to be a cloud 2 colors. Blue line on white. The pair crosses the lower third. Title floats where the cloud left.
  • A fish in headphones sitting in a teacup 3 colors. Ink line with one flat color. The cup is centered. Title around the saucer rim.
  • A fridge shelf sorted by color 3 colors. Line everything up from red to green. Title on a label stuck to one jar.
  • A giant lemon parked in a row of gray cars 3 colors. Yellow, gray and pale blue. Title on the license plate. Works for a single.
  • A painted sitter with a plain blue disc for a head 3 colors. Shoulders and hair painted plainly, the circle dead flat. Title inside the circle.
  • A patterned-paper hand sprouting from a flowerpot 3 colors. Cut the hand from patterned paper. Title on the pot. Works for a single.
  • A portrait made of pasted petals 3 colors. Petals for hair and face on a plain color, with no eyes. Title on the collar.
  • A staircase that climbs back into itself 2 colors. Four flights that meet at the corners. Title on the one landing that cannot exist.
  • A title spiraling inward to a dot 2 colors. Start at the edge and turn the square as you write. The name is the dot. Works for a single.
  • A title written backward for a mirror 2 colors. Letter it on tracing paper and flip the sheet. The name stays the right way around.
  • A toy dinosaur loose in a real garden 3 colors. Get the camera down among the grass. Title in the sky in small type, as on a film poster.
  • A wall shadow of you with a crown you are not wearing 2 colors. Hold the crown so only its shadow lands on the wall. Title above the crown.
  • An animal with mismatched magazine eyes 3 colors. A flat paper animal shape with two eyes from different pictures. Title along its back.
  • Every letter in a different size and tool 3 colors. Brush, crayon, pen and cut paper, one letter of the title each. The name is plain so it can be read.
  • Floor tiles sagging and dripping over a ledge 3 colors. Black, white and one bright drip color. Title on the part that is still flat.
  • Tiny pictures, one per syllable, spelling the artist 3 colors. One tiny picture per syllable in a row. The title is written plainly underneath.

How it works

Album cover art ideas for a square, sorted by the sound the cover has to suggest. Each of the 80 says what fills the square, counts its two or three colors and says where the title goes.

Read the full guide

Sorted by sound, then by how it is made

Choose a sound first: quiet and acoustic, loud and fast, electronic and night, warm and nostalgic, or strange and playful. Under More filters, a second row sorts by how the cover is made: drawn, painted, collage, a photo you take yourself, or lettering only. The two combine.

Single cover art ideas and song covers

A single, a song or a playlist uses the same square. Some hints end with the words Works for a single: one object or one word, such as a mug ring traced in brown ink on a bare square. They serve as song cover art ideas too.

  • Shrink the sketch to the size of a postage stamp and check whether the title can still be read.

Questions and answers

What makes a good album cover?

On this list, three things: one thing that fills the square, two or three colors, and a title with a place of its own. Every concept is written in that order.

What are cool album art ideas that need no drawing?

Lettering only and A photo you take yourself, 16 concepts each. Huge capitals cropped by all four edges take one marker. A wall shadow of you with a crown you are not wearing takes a lamp and a camera.

Do these cover art ideas copy real albums?

No. No real album, artist, band or label is named or imitated. Each concept was written for this list, for a cover of your own.

How is this different from music drawing ideas?

Music drawing ideas are instruments, notation and records to draw. These are whole cover designs for the square, with the title placed.

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