Album Cover Analysis

I have analysed some album covers for female hip hop/pop artists and a female hip hop/pop band.

JESSIE J - 'WHO YOU ARE'

This album cover is very modern and contemporary. This album cover follows many of the conventions of an album cover: a simplistic design and colour scheme, few characters, a different colour for the artist's name in comparison to the rest of the cover, and an entirely opposite font for the album title.

The effect of the simple design, few characters used, and Jessie J in a close up shot is to draw more focus onto the artist. Jessie J's name is in a larger, bolder font which is in a colour which stands out on the page. This is to draw more focus onto her name. By using these techniques, a fan of Jessie J's would immediately recognise her face and her name, and be more likely to pick the album up. The colour scheme is simple: black, gold and white. The colour black is stylish and timeless and can connote authority and power, linking in with the title of the album, 'Who You Are'. It is nearly a command, as if the songs on the album involve Jessie J telling the audience 'who they are'. The direct mode of address used could be a further connotation of authority, to reinforce this idea.

This is the back cover for Jessie J - 'Who You Are'. This also follows many conventions: centred list of song titles, copyright and year, owner of the copyrighted material, and the name of the distributor  The back cover of this album is even more simplistic than the front cover, with no pictures, and with the colour scheme being reduced to just black and white. This draws attention to the tracks. Unlike many other album covers, however, the legal information, logos and barcode are all centred  This must have been used to make the cover more ordered and consistent, maybe to reflect the songs on the album.

The spine of this album cover is very simple, and features the album title, the artist name, and the name of the record company: all conventions of an album cover spine. The spine is white and the text is black, continuing with the colour scheme of the album.

BEYONCE - 'B'DAY'

This album cover presents and arguably natural feel, with the green colour, natural background, and slightly tousled hairstyle. Beyonce, the artist, is pictured in a medium close up shot, drawing attention to her and bringing her closer to the audience. More attention is drawn onto her through the use of shallow focus on her. This album cover follows many conventions of an album cover, such as a simplistic design and colour scheme, few or no characters, a different colour font for the artist's name in comparison to the rest of the cover, and a completely opposite font for the album title.

The natural colour scheme could relate to the title of the album, 'B'day', meaning 'birthday', which is a natural thing that occurs in everyone's lives. The effect of using a large, bold, different coloured font for the artist's name, and a medium close up shot to present the artist, allows the audience to immediately recognise that it is Beyonce on the cover, so that fans of hers will be immediately drawn to the album. 

This is the back cover for Beyonce - 'B'day'. This is very different from the front cover, however it still follows conventions of an album cover. It has a barcode on the bottom right hand corner, the list of tracks, and the legal information at the bottom. There is less attention on the tracks in this album cover, however there is more focus on the artist. The theme seems to have developed from the front cover to the back cover, changing from natural, to more of a country, 'outback' theme. This tells the audience a bit more about the artist, and possibly tells us more about the songs on the album.

The spine on this album follows the conventions of an album cover spine, it has bold, simple fonts for the artist and album title, and it has the names of the record company. These are just small pieces of information that will make it easy for the audience to know the basic information they would want to know about the album. The colour scheme of the spine follows the album's back cover more than the front, but still links in with both very well.

LITTLE MIX - 'DNA'

This album follows some album cover conventions, such as a different colour font for the band name compared to the rest of the album cover, a simple colour scheme and design, and an opposite type of font for the album title. Although at first it doesn't appear to be a 'simplistic' album cover, because the colours used are quite bright, including the hair colours of the band members, the colour scheme is actually quite straight forward: predominately blue and pink, with yellow, purple and white. These bright, fun colours emphasise the youth of the band members, and from their bright hair and make-up it is clear to the audience that they are fun and vibrant. The white boxes around each girl are slightly skewed, creating a sense of distortion, reflecting their ruthlessness and lack of knowledge as youths.

On this album cover there is more focus on the actual band members, than on the album title. This is so that if a fan of theirs would be more likely to notice their album, when they see the faces of the band members.

This follows many of the conventions of an album back cover: it has the track listings, the legal information, and the barcode on the bottom right hand corner. The colour scheme continues from the front cover, with red and pink used, however the colour yellow is used more dominantly here. The way in which the tracks are set out is distorted, and this relates to the distortion of the white boxes on the front cover.

The spine follows the conventions of a normal spine: following the colour scheme, with the album title and artist name included, and the logo of the company.