Design Information Form
(use this form if our designers are handling your graphic design).

Please Note:
Even though we're calling this "Step 2," we don't mean to suggest that you can wait until your album is mastered to start working on graphics! Start working on graphics when you start recording. That's not too early. Really.

How To Communicate Your Vision
How do you choose a graphic artist? How do you communicate your vision, your sense of design, your expectations? Try looking through your own music collection. Pick out covers that are most appealing to you, and make notes about the qualities you're reacting to (colors, shapes, photo, etc.). Go to your local music store and browse through the recent releases in your musical style. Make notes about what you like and what you don't like. If you have a design concept in mind, try to sketch it out. Even a rough preliminary design will save you time and money.

What Information Do I Need To Include And Where Does It GO?
Pay attention to the details as you look at other artists' graphics. Note where their names are located on the front cover (often, at the top so they can be seen in tiered displays) and where the titles are. What information is included on the back? Note that the length of each song is listed (to help DJs with their programming). Have you noticed CD booklets in which the print is hard to read because of fancy graphics?

Word of Mouth
Talk to other musicians and ask who they've used for graphics and what their expenses were for artwork, typesetting, and layout.

Meeting With A Designer
Now visit some artists. Take along some of your favorite covers and your notes. Look at the artists' work. Do you like it? Compare prices, but note that "free" is often a very bad price-if it's a relative doing it for you for free, you'll end up on the back-burner behind their paying work. Note: you can probably save some money by providing your artist with the text of your liner notes in an electronic form (on disk or by E-mail).

Or make use of the Design Group at Oasis.
Oasis has one of the industry’s strongest in-house design departments, 15 designers strong. We are music industry specialists and your job will flow more smoothly than you’ve ever imagined. Prices start at just $385. Contact a client advisor for more information.

Use Our Art Templates
The criteria for preparing and printing CD booklets are technical and complex. Oasis makes it as easy as possible by offering free design templates for CD art preparation in several formats. You (or your graphic artist) can download them here. The correct dimensions are also listed on paper in our catalog, which can be ordered here.

Don't Settle For Less: High Quality Printing Standards At Oasis
When Oasis manufactures CDs, we include -- at no extra charge -- printing all the artwork, liner notes, etc. that you'll need for your release. Oasis specializes in printing CD covers, and does it at an extremely-high 175 line-screen -- a full 25% tighter than the industry standard. This means that our printing will look better than most recordings released by the major labels. The other advantage of having Oasis print your booklets and tray cards is that they will actually FIT in the CD jewel box! (Specifications for printing CD booklets must be correct within 1/64th of an inch. If you have the work done by your local printer and they fail to cut the booklet exactly right the robotic equipment that assembles CDs will not be able to insert it, and you'll get hit with a hefty hand-packing charge. Sadly, this is not an unusual occurrence.).

Stand Apart From The Crowd: Ground Breaking Packaging Alternatives
Oasis offers more than a half a dozen ground-breaking eco-packaging alternatives. Click here for information on the Oasis Jewel-Free Box, a patented, mailable eco-package, or click here for information on the Oasis Rough-Look, a funky, brown, very-recycled package with a truly unique rustic look. The Oasis Soft-Spot hub packaging is another Oasis exclusive, and we are one of the only companies in the industry to manufacture our own Digipak packaging in house, under one roof. Finally, consider our four-panel eco-wallet and our most economical, the printed sleeve (just a buck a disc!)

Imaging
Templates are available for all Oasis packaging options. Just have your graphic designer download them online. After your designer has completed the layout for you in our templates, your graphics can be sent to us, typically burned on a CDR. You will also want to send in your printouts of the design and the necessary completed forms. If you prefer, you can upload your graphics using our FTP site.