Why You Should Never Hire a Book Cover Designer for a Death Metal Album

In today’s entry I explain why hiring a book cover designer to create a death metal album cover is almost always a bad idea.

At this point in the project, I was still trying to keep costs down. Proper album artwork usually runs anywhere from £250 to £1,000, which I’d normally be fine with — but not within the limits of this project. Fully aware it was a stupid idea, I decided to experiment.

I found a book cover designer on Fiverr who specialised in horror and psychological thrillers. Her price was around £25 and included unlimited revisions, which sounded like a bargain. I even made a rough Photoshop mock-up to guide the process, despite my track record with reference images.

A few hours later, she sent over a version that looked suspiciously close to my mockup. After several revisions that still missed the mark, I cut my losses and approved it, knowing full well I’d never use it.

Lesson learned: just because something is cheap doesn’t mean it’s suitable.

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