Designing the CD's look: Basic terms and track order

As of 6 o'clock this morning, I have officially begun designing the physical album -- how it looks. The album cover, booklet, CD itself, inside back insert, back cover... I'm designing it all!

Bring. It. On.

The elements of an album that I have been learning about working on all day:

Click the picture to enlarge it!

When I sat down to plan the back cover, I realized that I haven't thought about the order of the tracks. I've put all this work into making sure these songs are awesome, but now how should I present them on the album?

The template I'll be working with for the back cover
of the album, also known as the outside of the tray card

So I did a little research. (Thank goodness for Google.) No one really agrees on a "right" way to order the tracks, but here are a few points I thought were interesting/valid:

• Start with a strong, possibly upbeat song that will hook the listener into listening to the album. It shouldn't be the best song on the album necessarily; think of it more as getting the ball rolling.
• Try to avoid putting songs that are in the same key back-to-back (I never thought about that one!).
• Make the whole album like a "story." (I think that's a little more difficult with a cover album, but hey.)
• Spread out the styles -- don't have two similar songs back-to-back
• Don't put all of the best tracks in first half of the album; the album shouldn't run out of steam midway

Is this something that I should spend some time pondering? Many experts say the order can make or break an album. No pressure.

What do you guys think about this? Is this as important as some people say?




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