Mixtape Cover Maker

A mixtape cover is not an album cover with a different title. Tapes were sold from car boots and barbershop counters, so the art had to shout. This tool is briefed for that: a layered, crowded composition with dramatic lighting and, if you give it words, a large title.

You fill in "What is on the cover?", optionally add the artist and title, and choose from five styles: 2000s street mixtape, Pen & Pixel bling, Gritty photo, Chrome type and Comic. The first is selected when the page loads, and it is the one most people mean when they say mixtape cover.

The output is a square image shown in the result panel next to the form, with a Download button above it. A rapper name you saved earlier on a name generator is filled into the title box for you, in capitals, so you only have to add the name of the tape.

Start from the title. If the tape is called Rent Due, the cover wants a landlord’s notice, a stack of envelopes, a door. Name the objects, then name the backdrop, then stop. The style button supplies the lightning, the lens flare and the chrome, so you do not have to ask for them.

Do not describe yourself by name or ask for a famous face, since the tool only draws anonymous figures. A silhouette, a figure from behind or a pair of hands works well in this style. Try one of these and swap in your own details.

• A corner store at night, cash on the counter, city skyline behind, storm clouds
• A hooded figure from behind standing on a pile of speakers, fire in the distance
• A front door covered in eviction notices, gold light leaking from the keyhole
• A lowrider parked under a freeway, money falling like rain
• Two hands counting bills over a mixing desk, studio lights blown out

Three things traditionally sit on a tape cover that an album leaves off: the host or DJ credit, the volume number and a line that says what the tape is, such as "the mixtape" or "hosted by". Decide which of those you need before you generate, because every extra word is another chance for the model to misspell something.

If the tape is going to streaming stores, treat it like any other release. Most stores ask for a square image of 3000 × 3000 pixels; check your distributor’s current spec. For free tape sites and social posts the requirements are looser, but the cover still needs to read on a phone.

• Artist name largest, tape title second, everything else small
• Volume number in the same place on every tape in a series
• One colour family per tape so a series looks like a set
• No DJ, label or brand logo you do not have permission to use