Album Covers VS The Analysis

Album Covers and the art work are individual to each artist and song, although genre can have an influence in the design. I would say album art is considerably stereotyped in the Rock, Hip Hop/R&B and Pop genre, songs in the styles of ballads are also typically stereotyped, for example artists like Adele. 

Designs for album art work can give audiences an indication of what genre of music it is or the style of the music, upbeat or slow etc, in order to catch the eye of desired target audiences, for example, album art work for Pop artists are very feminine in color scheme and show strong powerful women, catching the eye of their target market, young females who need idols to look up to.

"Katy perry - Teenage Dream"

Candy colours and playful font suggest an element of fun about the album. The popping colour of the artists name and single title imply that the music is fun and upbeat. The choice of using red as the primary colour for the font is also an indicator of something flirtatious and sexy, a typical characteristic of female artists. 

The style of font is also deliberately used as a representation of the song "Teenage Dream", the candy cane font is dripping away and the curved lettering suggests something quite dreamy and relaxed, rather than harsher font which may be used for an emotional rock anthem. The use of popping colours also stand out against the 'distracting' background.

The image itself is also very dream like, with the artist perched on clouds, lying naked on her stomach. This is a very voyeuristic image of female artists, which are typically seen in a sexual way. However the album cover challenges this stereotype and the artist still looks quite innocent and vulnerable, rather than sexy, much like a young teenage girl, this is shown through Katy Perry's body language, her pointed toes are playful and cute and her arms are placed as if trying to hide herself, rather than being deliberately sexy, its much more subtle. Katy Perry has also stripped away her identity, her blue hair and stand out style, in order to look younger, fresher and less grown up, where as her crazy outfits and hair colour suggests something rebellious, which isn't suited to this particular album artwork. The pastel colour scheme also suggests something very innocent and dreamy and is also very feminine, this may be deliberately aimed at the target audience, who are typically young females looking for an idol, which may be more attracted to the pink and red colour scheme compared to the male demographic. 

"Adele 21"

The dull grey colour scheme suggests the album is much more down beat, compared to Katy Perry's Teenage Dream art work. This is a typical convention of the style of music Adele writes and sings, its much more realistic, focusing on real life "kitchen sink" tragedy's, such as heart ache. The use of black and white is a typical convention that artists like Adele and Beyonce use within their album artwork, as its plain and simple, there is also an element of purity and innocence, which is reflected through the artists music. It is simply just her voice and an instrument. (Completely different to Katy Perry's music where there is a lot going on). Adele's body language also implies an essence of vulnerability, her closed eyes are as if to shut out the world, and her soft expression looks innocent with an element of sadness. This would suggest that the artists music is emotionally driven. 

Compared to Katy Perry's album art work, Adele uses a close up, this implies that she wants audiences to focus on her music and her voice and that glamour isn't needed. The bold text and simple plain background suggests Adele is independent, she writes and performs her own music.The text is simple yet bold and stands out, this is a huge representation of Adeles music, which is simple with little editing, yet her voice stands out. The title is also not the center of attention, we are drawn to the title by the way in which Adele's head has been tilted. Un-glamorous and simple artwork may appeal mainly to female audiences, as the image suggests an independent woman and the use of black and white suggests there is nothing better nor glamorous about Adele, showing she is just a "normal person", this may influence normal woman to listen to her music as they are able to identify with her, the use of close eyes also have this effect, as she could appear to be any woman.

Adele's album artwork challenges the conventions of artwork used on covers, specifically for female artists, who are typically portrayed as sexy, Adele has portrayed her self as strong and independent. 

"Britney Spears - Circus"

Rich tones of gold are used throughout this album art work to suggest something glamorous about the artist, a similar convention was used in Katy Perry's album art work, to make her look dreamy. This encourages young female audiences to buy the album in order to aspire to look as glam as Britney. The art work also uses the same voyeuristic image of women, as the glimpses of flesh suggest something sexy about the artist, how ever her hunched shoulder and pale pink dress, connotates an element of purity and innocence and almost shy by how her shoulder is angled and her tilted head and facial expression. The pink tutu like dress she is wearing also fits in with the theme of her album, "Circus", as is typically associated with dancers and acrobats. Mise-en-Scene is used here to convey elements of the circus, the draped gold fabric looks like a luxurious curtain, suggesting that within the album there is "more to come". The album cover also has a "look at me"connotation, as Britney is put at the center of the cover, as if the star of the show.

The use of bold red font also stands out, and suggests something exciting, linking visuals with the album title. The use of red, is also typically used for female artists as its connotations are sexy and flirty, typically how female artists are portrayed within music. The font used is eye catching and suggests elements of stardom, as similar font is used for circus acts and shows, to suggest a spectacle.

"Ed Sheeran - +"

Ed Sheeran's album cover achieves at being very minimalistic, this is in order to market Ed Sheerans music, by giving him a clear branding and identity, and to emphasize on making his face recognizable to the market. This is all achieved through the stylized image of the artists face close up. The use of orange tones is ideal as Ed Sheeran has already given himself an identity through his iconic ginger hair. The auburn tones are also a reflection on his genre of music, indie, as the tones are very unique and natural, much like indie artists, who rely on their own voices, unique writing and typically acoustic instruments. The image has also been digitally edited to give it a sketchy effect, this suggests something creative and unique about his music. The stylized image also appeals to the indie market as it doesn't follow the typical conventions of album artwork, much like the indie style doesn't follow society. The close-up image has also been purposely used to market the artist, and make him recognizable. The mode of address used is direct, creating an instant connection with audiences, giving them someone they can identify with. The use of just his face, similar to Adele's, also suggests he cares more about his music and himself as an artist rather than the glamour and spectacle of music.

The simple text used also challenges conventions of album covers, as usually the artists name and album title are used in order to market the artist and advertise their work. Despite being a new artist, Ed Sheeran uses a simple "+" symbol rather than the word "plus" and his name is no where on the album cover. This is done deliberately to make sure his face becomes recognizable and his music to, as the simple album cover means there is no distraction from the content, as indie artists typically have a love of music rather than the image of music. The white font stands out against the orange background and uses a similar sketchy font to the stylized image in order to convey a similar message about creativity.

The target audience isn't gender specified by the album cover but much more by the style of music, as his songs have meaningful content which may appeal to females and as a male artist he will appeal to males. The target audience is less defined by gender, as it is for Katy Perry and Britney Spears, but by musical preferences.