A program area for the normal writing of information is provided on a first side of an information recording and reproducing medium, and a label area and a program area on which information can be written are provided on the opposing second side of the medium. A bibliographic description such as the name or trademark or the like of the company who manufactured the disc is recorded in the label area using printing or the like. A recording layer of a cyanine or an azo based organic dye is provided in the program area, and an image pattern is recorded optically onto this recording layer. With such a construction, a user can form a visible pattern known as pit art on the recording layer of the program area by optically writing a desired image pattern, and as a result can readily identify and organize a plurality of information recording and reproducing media.