DVD/Bluray packaging design for professionals

[Brainiac]

Hello all,

I would like to know from those of you who do editing and dvd/bluray authoring as a business, how do you prepare your case inserts and dvd graphics, and from where/whom do you draw your inspiration?

I know that some of you have graphics art backgrounds and can come up with original designs. However, I don't have the "gift" of coming up with my own designs, so I am constantly looking to others for inspiration. Not that I rip off others, but I look at their work as a starting point.

The software that I use to prepare my inserts and dvds is SureThing Disk Labeler Deluxe Gold 6 and Photoshop CS6. I also use templates that I purchased. If the dvd is a home movie, for example, I also use Media Player Classic to create a JPEG that contains thumbnails of various scenes in the video and place it on the back of the DVD insert so that the client can have a broad idea of what's on the dvd. I also place an image of a screen grab from the video on the front of the insert and on the dvd.

The above workflows work well, but I would like to use other designs. So if anyone is willing to share their sources of inspiration, I would appreciate it.

Brainiac

BTW, I use a laser printer to print the inserts and an Epson Discproducer to print the dvds, all in full color. I print the inserts on actual insert paper as opposed to regular plain paper.

[filmboss80]

Since the company I'm with distributes replicated DVDs (factory pressed, not burned DVD-Rs) on a retail basis, our DVD case sleeves require 4-color offset printing on glossy stock; and the printing house we use now takes hi-rez .pdf files, created in Adobe Illustrator. (They used to only require .eps or .ai files, but can now take .pdf files, if done to their specs.) We created a DVD case sleeve template years ago, and it is still used as the base layer of all such artwork. Once all the design elements are created and set in their places, the template layer is made invisible.

Photos incorporated into the artwork are always hi-rez production/promotional photos, since still frames from standard definition video is never sharp enough for package printing.

All the tools in the world won't turn you into an artist, but you can get ideas from just looking around. Go to the video store. What packaging catches your attention from the onset? Figure out why it caught your attention. Break down the elements of the packaging in terms of colors and layout. Don't copy the style, but let it give you some ideas.

[budwzr]

I am constantly looking to others for inspiration. Not that I rip off others, but ...

No worries, that's what the pros do too.