Five Solid Design Strategies for CD and DVD Graphics

CD and DVD graphics provide two distinct challenges for designers: the graphics area is round and it has a big hole in the center. By following these five solid design strategies, however, you can create a beautiful disc.

CD cases are square and, therefore, are easier to design. Since you want your CD graphics and the case graphics to compliment each other, start with the easiest element first. Then pick a few elements from your insert design to use on your CD.

If you haven't seen our hub printable CDs and DVDs, they are worth a look. Most of the brands we carry have a hub-printable disc. They enable you to print right up to the hole. (If you don't have a disc printer, we have labels that work with the hub printable discs, too.) It provides more room for your graphics and makes design a snap:

When using pictures of people on your disc, pay attention to which direction the model is looking. If the subject of your photo appears to be looking at your hub, it makes the hub the focus of your disc graphics:

When using paper labels, take extra care to ensure your label is centered on your disc. Off center labels changes the balance of your CD or DVD, making it wiggle inside the player and causing potential problems with reading the disc. Of course, one way to avoid this issue is to print directly to the disc.

Finally, keep in mind how your customer will be using your disc. A medical imaging clinic providing MRI results on CD will want to ensure the label contains all pertinent contact information in case the patient or primary care physician has questions. A church providing complimentary DVDs of services would want to include the date and time of services, as well as the church's address.