Album Cover Artwork Analysis

Kanye West GRADUATION.

This is Kanye West's 3rd album, Graduation.

The first thing that the audience will see when looking at the album, is the cartoon designed teddy bear. This teddy bear is what Kanye West uses to symbolise his presence. The bear is dressed in Kanye West's style so that his fans are kept satisfied with the consistant theme.

The colours of the album cover are very bright and attractive, this is so that the constumer's will see the album clearly and will be an eye catcher.

In the bottom left of the album is a Parental Advisory symbol to show that some of the content is not suitable for a younger audience. The teddy bear is being cannoned out of a machine like object to show that he is moving on to greater, higher things. On top of this machine/monster, is a university graduation, this is shown to keep on the theme of the title of the album, which is Graduation.

Kanye West's music style rap, techno, hip-hop. The idea of an outa space kind o theme helps the consumer see what the type of music will be before even listening to it.

For our groups album cover we will use Kany West as inspiration and hopefully achieve a similar effect to what Kanye West has achieved.

B Money Album Cover

This is my design for an album cover. We decided on the name 'B Money' as we like the idea of a Hip-Hop star being linked with money. I chose to ply on the idea of money by holding up a 1p piece in the photo.

In the photo I am looking quite fierce to keep the 'bad boy' image of a Hip-Hop rapper. The background consists of a grotty smashed up ally which links in well to the background of our artist.

We decided to make the image of me black and white, so we could bring out the importance of the money which is the first thing you spot when looking at the cover. I chose the font of B Money because it is a rough font to keep the link of the artist to the cover. The colours were chosen as they go well together and they match the eye colour to bring the eyes out even more to make me look even more fierce.

I put in a Parental Advisory symbol as he is a rapper and some of his music will contain strong language and it also makes the artist look 'gangster' to keep in with our theme.

I used Photoshop to create this album cover and used 8 layers in the process. This was the first time I had used Photoshop, I picked it up fairly quickly and feel I have learnt a lot.

This is my first attempt at a album cover, I used Tinie Tempah as an example so I could practice for our actual album (B Money). I used ROCNATION and the Parental Advisory symbols to make it look realistic. I felt that the album is a bit plain and could do with more exciting colours.

For B Money's album cover we will use more colours and a picture of me with money in my hand to keep the idea of 'money'.
I believe that I should be the main part of the cover as the artist is supposed to be the most important part of the cover.

You have to keep the customer in mind when creating the cover and making an attractive cover is key for the customer as they will not pick it up unless it is well advertised or attractive.

Album Cover Analysis

Album art covers are very iconic and influential on the sale of the album. The genre of the music is generally established through the album cover, so it is crucial for the artist to get it right. The album cover is there to attract customers to the specific album, and many artists to choose an iconic image to create awareness of the album.

Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion

By looking at Mika’s album cover, you instantly see the colour and that the album is fun and bubbly, this is the image that Mika wanted to create when creating his album cover; the design was illustrated by his sister Yasmin, who works under the name of DaWack. The album is very easy to the eye and symbolises fun and excitement. There is a man seen sitting on a floating sofa and around other relaxing objects and more furniture, this is within a cloud suggesting that it is a dream like style and Mika’s album will allow you to achieve this dream by listening to his album.

The whole idea of colour and cartoons on the album cover emphasises that this album is aimed at the younger generation, rather than older men.  As well as being aimed at the younger generation, I feel that the album cover suggests that Mika’s life is like a fantasy and he lives in a dream world of fun and happiness. The title of the album is very discrete on the cover, whereas the artists name is written in capitals in a large font; the album title is written in a hand-writing style font showing the child like state of the album.

Young Money - We Are Young Money

In the Young Money album cover, we are instantly drawn to the bottom of the cover, saying ‘We Are Young Money’ and the roses, this is due to the red that stands out; they do this so that the name of the group is shows clearly. The idea of the all black cover suggests the whole gangster images and the idea of mystery. The roses which are shown at the front in red may symbolise the idea of death and that they are mourning over a death. Lil Wayne is seen as the head of Young Money as his image is portrayed looking over everyone else in the group, shown in a God like fashion. The whole image is very glamorous and shows the wealth of the group in a subtle way. They all seem laid back and relaxed to show the customer that whilst listening to the album you can sit back, relax and enjoy the music.

The name of the group is portrayed intensely on the cover in a very attractive style; ‘Young Money’ is in a ‘rich’ style font covered in diamonds, showing that these guys are very wealthy. On Lil Wayne’s forehead is a Christianity symbol, agreeing with the idea of him being a God like figure.