ALBUMSIn this PowerPoint I will analyse some album covers of both the most recent of the artist’s and also compare them to past album covers so I can gain a broader knowledge of the different

kind of designs so that when I come to decide to make my poster and album cover I will have a better idea on what

kind of ideas would work best together.

MICHAEL JACKSONFrom the album covers below it is easy to see that Michael Jackson used a particular colour scheme with mainly black and white along with some red to make it stand out a little bit more. This is a simple way of emphasising aspects of the cover without being over dramatic or having too much going on to distract the audience and they can just focus on the important parts. In most of the shots, Michael Jackson features himself in the album covers. Also, in most of his posters and album covers he always looks the same, with his signature hair and poses along with his clothing as most of the time he would wear black trousers with white socks and then black shoes. This is connected to his famous moon walk and other unique dance moves along with his ‘ooh’ outcry. Though these ideas are subtle in the album covers below, we subconsciously think of these characteristics of Michael Jackson, whether it is when we are listening to his music or viewing images of him.

The album cover ‘Off the Wall’, links more so to the image than his other albums as u can tell from the image that it is likely to be Michael Jackson as mentioned before about his clothing, the wall as the background then obviously links in with the album’s title. It also shows a spotlight effect on the image, which can be seen used in numerous videos of his, therefore once again giving us an idea who’s album it is if the audience had not read the artist’s name. The spotlight also has another purpose, as presumably it shows that Michael Jackson enjoys the spotlight, and is not afraid to enter it.

These album cover images give me a good understanding of how effective having well-known artists on the front, though this could be different for artists that are just starting out and may need a more interesting, intriguing image.

Again, similarly to Michael Jackson’s albums, Leona’s designers decided to use her image as the only picture present, therefore there are no distractions from the album and immediately you know who the artist is.

On Leona’s first album (bottom right), where she was still establishing herself as a ‘pop/R&B’ artist the audience can see a more intense image as it is portrayed so that there is ‘eye contact’ between the image and the audience. Additionally the font style and colour of the font, are not over powering, but large and light enough to make an impact on the audience and allow them to view straight away who the album belongs to.

Noticeably, on most albums, the artist’s show no emotion and Leona is no different with her ‘natural’ kind of expressions. This can be seen throughout all her album covers on the right.

As she has become more well-known though, her album covers have become a bit more daring and impacting. Though there is still no real distractions from her image as it is only a plain background that makes her stand out more with the contrast between the grey and the colour of her skin. This is emphasised further by her outfit that we cannot see much of as that is also a silver/grey as is the writing which draws us in closer as it is harder to read what the album is called and it may take a moment to recognise who the album belongs to, therefore creating more attention for the album. Moreover, without the bright red lipstick used, the image would not have such a desired effect as it would look to ‘wishy washy’.

Similar coloured font are followed through with each cover though as on the first one her name was in a grey/white and the title of the album in gold, where in the deluxe edition her name is in the gold and the title in white. The white and grey is then carried through onto her second album and it is these little subtle matters that make the ideas work.

LEOna lewis

Most of the time the title or image of the album links in with the songs on the album or are an actual song on the album as it is simpler to name the album one of the songs (for example on the album ‘escape’ (bottom right)), especially if it has been released and been a popular song as it is more likely to gain attention.

There are other reasons for the names though, as Enrique Iglesias’ album ‘7’ is called that due to it being his 7th album, though the image does not portray anything else to do with the number so is more likely to link in with some of his songs on the album. Additionally though, sometimes the title has no meaning to the tracks on the album (‘Insomniac’ for instance) as, as far as I can tell there is definitely no immediate link between them though the way the title is portrayed is good as the use of colours makes it appeared blurred. When a person has insomnia and can’t sleep their vision can become blurred, for this reason alone, it would be quite easy to remember the title of the album as the audience may only remember that it was ’blurred’.

A link between all of the albums, though, is that Enrique features in all of them himself and so the album’s would be easier to recognise, even with only half if his face showing on the album ‘escape’.

Additionally the colour blue is used throughout his album covers as on three out of the four below, he is wearing a blue of some sort as a T-shirt, this differs in the album ‘Insomniac’, however, the main colour used in the title is quite a dark blue so it focuses our attention on that rather than the background. An audience would notice the title first and then Enrique sitting in the background due to the contrast in the colours, this can draw a person in more so than noticing everything at once.

Enrique iglesias

Taylor Swift (again like most artists) uses her own image to grab attention to the album as most people should know who she is or at least the target audience would as that is who the album is made for.

Her two albums at first glance look similar with the pose, but at a closer look there are some quite interesting differences. For example, her first album (bottom left) doesn’t actually have a title, just her name which could have an affect on the audience to pick it up and see what songs are on the album. Sometimes when there is a title of an album on and it is one of the songs on the album, it may put a person off buying it if they didn’t like that song and therefore not even looking at what other songs are on the album. Therefore, having no title could be more beneficial, it also intrigues people more. Additionally the image used, makes it seem as though ‘what you see is what you get’ as the picture is plainer and Taylor’s wearing less make-up, this could be seen as seeing the ‘real’ Taylor. In the background the blue and green colours used are merged and the audience can see a faint butterfly along with a kind of ‘fantasy’ feeling with faint lines are also shown. The green could represent nature and the blue as water giving a bigger natural feel to the image, linking in with seeing the ‘real’ Taylor once again.

In her second album, ‘Fearless’, though there is more make-up used and Taylor Swift appears more fearless from her poise and the look in her eyes give the impression that she knows how to handle herself in certain situations and any challenges that lie in her way. Her music has become more popular after her first album and therefore may have felt more daring with the use of a title, it also helps to distinguish between both albums as it would be harder to search for ‘Taylor Swift’ repeatedly.

One link between them is her signature hair of curls as an audience rarely ever sees her with straight hair, and so is easier to recognise. Moreover, the font style used for her name is the same on both, and is quite relaxed and curly, almost as though it could be her writing, making the albums appear more personal to the buyer, it also fits her image with her hair as it is a relaxed, natural hairstyle.

Taylor swift

The album on the bottom right, ‘Amanda Leigh’ is one of Mandy Moore’s first album and is actually called after her first and middle real name, this makes it more personal to the audience and the artist, it is almost like saying ‘hello, Miss Moore’ and her replying ‘please… call me Mandy’, and although her music is not completely pop, (it is sometimes entwined with pop for instance folk-pop, dance pop or teen pop) it has an interesting feel to it and is more unique than the ordinary pop songs and artists.

Throughout the albums, there is not really any intertextuality as there isn’t a particular colour theme and ‘Wild Hope’ has an ‘old fashioned’ kind of feel to it, due to the colouring of the cover, it is much like stained yellow paper that is years old. This could suggest that her music is more grown up than that from her first album and that she is more mature. In her ‘best of’ album in the middle though, it is a lot more modern and she looks more like a pop artist in general rather than a folk pop artist which can be heard in most of the music on her album. Additionally, the type font is not even the same throughout her albums so cannot be linked that way, the only things that is similar on all of them is the fact that her name and the title of the album are easy to see against the image and that they all include a picture of her. It is hard to distinguish on the ‘Wild Hope’ cover though, if it is Mandy Moore on the front cover but the audience will assume it is.

Mandy moore

Straight away, from the samples of Robbie Williams’ album covers on both the left and the right, we can see some links between them as there are two main colours used, however black is also quite common on some of the other album covers of his.

One thing to notice about Robbie is he isn’t afraid to use props (e.g. ‘Swing When You’re Winning’) and some quite clever media factors have been used through these album covers, for instance on the top right album (‘Sing when you’re winning’) it is made to look as though he has been part taking in a football game and has won, as his expression shows excitement and satisfaction, whilst with a football stadium background and wearing a football shirt. It is clever how this image is portrayed as it looks like half the football team are on the photo but at a second glance we see that all 5 people in the image are actually Robbie. The setting is authentic though, despite the audience knowing his main priority was his singing and therefore unlikely he had just scored in a proper football game (as we are made to think) or that he played in front of a massive crowd in a stadium like that. This album could link to the peak in his career and using football as a metaphor to define how great singing is to him when it is going great, that for a footballer it is like scoring in a massive game. Also, when a person scores, instantly they have the limelight and this is almost what Robbie comes over as; wanting the media and audiences’ attention.

In most artists albums there facial expressions are all the same – neutral – but on all of Robbie’s there is a little something else, which is more intriguing for the audience. The media techniques used are also intriguing as it is unlikely on the ‘Escapology’ album that he was that high up or in that place with the sun rising, also the use of circles of images from videos of his on the album ‘I’ve Been Expecting You’ is clever and should make an audience take a closer look at the album, whereas on ‘Rudebox’ the textured feel is interesting.

Robbie williams