I belong to a music-related online message board, and for a period of time (until Spotify came along) we had a mixed CD exchange at Christmas time. Each participating member was paired with a secret recipient.
After the recipient received his or her mix, we would offer up the mix to anyone else who wanted one. Many of us, myself included, had fun with themes and custom covers. Many of us would often make more than one mix each year. The time and postage invested was more than worth the piles of new music we would receive in return.
For the 2006 mixed CD exchange, I created a more traditional CD cover, with the track listing on the back. For this one, I used my own original photos taken from my first visit to Joshua Tree National Park a couple years before.
2006 was also the first year for my “Wanderlust” theme – a mix of songs about driving and traveling. This theme was so well received, I continued to make one every year. The 2006 Wanderlust cover also featured my own photo, taken somewhere in Utah, on a road trip to California. Note the credits in the lower right corner are reversed and transparent… I was attempting to make this look like printing on the windshield glass. Also note the first track on the mix, “Looking At the World Through a Windshield.”
Process: Adobe Photoshop and InDesign
Output: Full color digital printing on 80# glossy coated paper