Part 1: Introduction
Section 1: About
This is the first version of the “Open Standard Design For Musical Artwork” (OSDFMA) standard, it was written in September 2025 by Anthony Lewis and is an expanded and formal version of the informal design practices previously used by Breakline Records. This format is intended to make the design of album art elements such as the placement and sizing of items, as well as the exact dimensions of the art itself more universal.
Section 2: Main Purpose
The aim of this voluntary standardization is to streamline the Research, Development, & Design of album art for physical and digital music releases.
Section 3: Editors
This document was authored by Anthony Lewis, and received editing and feedback from: travis houze, stephen goff, miles anon, ty lager, and more.
Part 2: Tolerance Of Deviance (TOD)
Section 1: About
This standard uses a system known as “Tolerance For Deviance (TFD)” to define the weight of a part of the standard. The scale ranges from 0 to 10, with a score of 0 representing something being absolutely required to be followed, a score of 5 being a recommendation, and a score of 10 being a very loose suggestion.
Section 2: Examples
For example, it is absolutely necessary for the album art of a digital release to be a square image in the 1:1 aspect ratio, so there is a TFD of 0 for the aspect ratio of digital album artwork. A score of 5 would be a recommendation, something that isn’t completely required but should probably be followed. For example, it’s a good idea for album art to be at least 3,000 by 3,000 pixels for streaming services, but it isn’t absolutely required. A score of 10 would mean the standard has little to no opinion on that item. For example, it doesn’t matter much if the art of an album is based on an illustration or a real image.
Part 3: Adoption
Section 1: About
In terms of adoption, a record label, artist, distributor, software designer, or any other party could adopt the OSDFMA but change the TFD values of specific parts, so if it is extremely important to a record label to have a border on every release, they can change the TFD value for borders and even make it absolutely required, or they could give borders a high TFD value but only for compact discs, and a low TFD value, but only for digital releases.