Album Cover Art Work

As our coursework is not purely based on our music video but a percentage of it also goes towards promoting and distributing the bands are work we have been looking at album covers. We decided to begin looking at this when looking at what music label is most likely to sign the band and distribute their work. We looked at the top 4 signing music labels, these are:

• Universal
• Song BMG
• EMI
• Warner

We are still in the progress of choosing a record label that would sign 'Lost In Colour,' however it did make us think about the conventions that are often associated and used with a pop-rock genre band when promoting. Whether this be a still frame from the music video it self which could be used on the album cover or an optical illusion. Here are some of the album covers from bands that we thought were a similar genre:

As you can see, the band All Time Low have used a design based on cartoons and featuring the basic information to show the public that it is their new single. Placing there title in the centre of the digi-pack immediately will catch the audiences attention, therefore when designing Lost In Colours digi-pack my partner and I will take this factor into consideration. The colour that has also been used here is fairly neutral and no outlandish colours have been used. This suggests that vibrant colours for this type of genre take a causal approach when advertising.

Boys Like Girls are possibly the band that are most similar to Lost In Colour, therefore it is considerably important to take into consideration how they designed their album covers. Immediately it is obvious that a unique approach has been taken when designing this. The use of only three fairly vibrant colours suggests that this is the soul factor for catching the audience attention. That 'BOYSLIKEGIRLS' is also the only dialogue on the album cover, shows that a simple approach has been intended. You will also notice that the name of the band has been allocated at the centre at the top of the cover.

Contrasting significantly with the two previous album covers is Metro Station's album cover. Immediately what catches your eye is the bright colours of the bands name against the black background, this creates a significant impact. It is also put in the bottom right hand corner, this suggests to me that the bands name and the single title is unimportant with regards to the placement of it. An image has also not been used suggesting that the most important aspect of this album cover is the band.

This image below shows the front and back cover for the Arctic Monkeys, you will notice that the album cover is considerably different to all three of the previous album covers that I have looked at. This one is different due to it being an edited photograph rather than hand drawn or computer animated, this particularly shows the development of technology and how a basic image can still cause a massive impact. The convention of black and white also is considerably effective as it is simple yet stand out, even when the title of the band is black and white also. The back cover is also effective as it is the same image but with the colour slightly distorted so less clear and also the man is hiding his face.

As you can see all four album covers can be categorised as using graphic design, including cartoon work to publicise the bands music.