Album Artwork Analysis

Album Artwork Analysis

In this post I will be analysing 3 different album's artwork.

1. GEOGRAPHY - Tom Misch

Album - Geography 
Artist - Tom Misch 
Record Label - Beyond The Groove 
Year Released - 2018

 The genre of Tom Misch is soul. We can tell this is the genre from the album artwork because of the soothing colours and fonts. When you read the names of the songs you can tell that they won't be heavy yet more relaxing. I feel that the album cover also gives a feel that it could be music related to when training yoga or meditation because all of the colours sync in together and give a sense of mindfulness. I believe the target audience for this would be young adults between the ages 15-35 because there is no censored restrictions and the songs would suit any ages because they are happy and calm. The artwork would attract these ages by seeing clearly that it won't be heavy and will not be a mistake to listen to. 





I feel that the unique selling point for this album is only the music and not all about the artist as it usually is in other cases. This album has constructed a brand image for the star as it is mysterious in the way of the artist's name or album isn't seen on the front or back cover. 

From studying Negus's theory I have witnessed that this artist is purely organic. This is because as I wrote earlier, his name or album can't be seen which implies that he only made the album to sell his music to the viewers. This will attract a wider audience since they will most probably want to know more about the artist, which will draw them to buying his music and visiting his website. 

2. BORN THIS WAY - Lady Gaga

Album - Born This Way 
Artist - Lady Gaga
Record Label - Streamline/Kon Live/Interscope
Year Released - 2011

The genre of Lady Gaga is pop. We can see this from the album artwork in one way because of the facial expression of the artist, which shows adrenaline and excitement. As well as this, we can tell it is pop because of the way the artist is demonstrating her inner emotions, this is shown by the name of the album 'Born This Way' which implies that the album will be truthful to how she actually feels and that she is confident with herself as a person. I believe that the target audience would be between the ages 20-30 by looking at the album cover because it seems too dark for any younger audiences to listen to, however, exciting for young adults who are fanatics for this type of style. 





I feel that the unique selling point for this album is definitely the artist. This album attracts many audiences because of Lady Gaga's photo been shown on both sides of the album. This maximises the sales for this album cover because she is the brand image and what is going to actually sell. I feel that this album will attract an audience that listens to rock music because of the use of the colour black and white, and the prop of a motorcycle to show her masculinity. 

From studying Negus's theory I have witnessed that this artist is purely synthetic. This is mainly because both sides of the album only shows the artist. This demonstrates that she is the brand image who will get this album out there and known. Usually if the artist is organic they will set the album to something simple and leaving the artist unknown to attract to audiences to visit the artists website. 

3. BEYONCE - Beyonce

Album - Beyonce
Artist - Beyonce
Record Label - Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records
Year Released - 2013

The genre of Beyonce is R&B. I can straight away tell that this is the genre because of the parental advisory warning and styling of album. From evaluating this album I believe that the target audience are the ages between 18-30. I can tell this by the font and colour used to make the album look simplistic, however, very eye catching and gets right to the point. It wouldn't be suitable for teens to listen to this album as it includes explicit content. The unique selling point for this album would be the artist herself since only her name can be seen on the front cover which means that she must already be very known in the music industry.

This album cover has constructed a star image for Beyonce owing to the fact that it is very mysterious and doesn't give a lot away. Therefore, it attracts a wider audience as it makes them curious to know who the singer is which concludes in most of them buying the album or visiting her website and becoming fans of the artist.

From studying Negus's theory I have witnessed that this artist is organic. I can directly tell this because, no photo of the artist itself can be seen on the cover, this demonstrates that she only wants the audience to focus on her music and not on her.  

CONCLUSION

From what I've seen from these 3 different albums show that the only similar quality all of them have is firstly the use of colour to attract viewers and lastly they all have the same style of how the barcode and producers of the artist are placed.  The main difference between these 3 album covers is how each artist uses different combinations of colours that match their themes. The most successful in creating a star image would be Lady Gaga's album 'Born This Way' because there are powerful shots of her portrait on the front and back cover, this will keep audiences focused on the artist rather than the music itself. I feel that the album that will attract the most audiences would be Beyonce's album 'Beyonce' since her name is the only thing you see on the front cover which is already demonstrating that the public will listen to her album no matter what the design on the album would be. My favourite overall would be, Tom Misch's album 'Geography', since the layout he has used really catches my eye. Also I feel that, for an album you don't need to always include names or portraits of the artist, because without that it will anyway make audiences curious on what the artist sounds like.