Why You Should Never Cut Costs on Graphic Design

In today’s Corpse Diary entry, I explain why trying to save money on graphic design is almost always a terrible idea.

With the artwork finally finished, the last hurdle was the layout. After nearly 28 years of being in bands, I’ve learned one thing the hard way: never cheap out on layouts. There’s nothing worse than getting an email from a pressing plant telling you the files are wrong — no bleed, wrong colour space, incorrect dimensions, ink density issues — or worse, receiving the finished product and realising you can’t even read the text. I’ve experienced both. More than once.

A couple of artists had recommended specialists for CD and vinyl layouts, but after everything that had already gone wrong, I decided to go with someone I trusted. I asked my friend Tom, who’s handled most of my layouts over the past 15 years without a single printing issue.

He took care of everything: vinyl sleeve, insert, labels, merch layouts — the lot. When he sent over the final files, it genuinely felt like the project had turned into a proper album.

With the artwork finally boxed off, only one nightmare remained: the audio.

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