Draw a freehand cover using ArtPad's Digital Canvas. This tool gives you complete control over your drawing, similar to basic computer paint programs. You can paint images, choosing the color and size of the brushstrokes. Your painting can be of a specific image that ties into what your mix tape is about, or you may choose to draw something more abstract, which encompasses the mood your musical selection attempts to create. Use the text tool to write the title of the mix somewhere on the cover.
Use the Psykopaint program to upload an image you already have and add effects of your choice. This option is good for individuals who don't like to draw freehand or already have a picture in mind to manipulate. The program allows you to choose the size of the image; you can use the size of the original, or make it bigger or smaller, to fit the mix tape cover better. It will also give you recommendations on how each size will look, as varying pixelated sizes look better on the Web or in printed versions.
Try out Bomomo Interactive Art Creator to design an abstract cover for a mix tape containing music that is more instrumental than not. Particularly if the songs are classical, jazz, dance/house or post-rock, a creative option is to free-draw with a tool that creates art that is based more on feeling than around a specific image. The Bomomo Interactive Art Creator allows the user to experiment with a series of moving, swirling designs. The resulting image is akin to the visualizer on music media programs or a screen saver. Once you are satisfied with the abstract art you have created, save it, print it out, cut it out and glue it to the inside of the mix tape.
Experiment with words to create art using Typo Generator. If you picked songs based more on lyrical content, this site makes art out of those words. Type in a short phrase that corresponds to the title of theme of the mix tape, or perhaps a word that your songs are about. Once you have typed the words in the box, click "Generate" and you will be given an artistic image. If you like it, save it. If not, continue clicking "Generate" until you are given art you do like. Feel free to change the words up or request new colors or a different kind of background. The end result may completely obscure the words you have chosen. Once you decide on the cover you like, save and print it, before cutting it out and gluing it to the mix tape cover.