Album Artwork - similar products

Looking into similar album artwork is going to influence us when we create our Digipaks. I have looked at four different albums that I will be able to compare as they come from the same wide genre of Indie music. I will be looking at what they all include and the technical and symbolic conventions that

have been used.

Arctic MonkeysSymbolic

• Symbolic elements in a Digipak are the main conventions used to show genre and draw in target audience.

• In this, very neutral colours are used. This is a generic genre

• conventions as it makes the artist seem more mysterious and does not give away much of what the artist is like. Creates a more melancholic look.

• It has a big profile shot of the singer, meaning that the audience can immediately see who the artist is.

• On the CD, there are cigarettes, which is quite a grungy look would appeal to their target audience as smoking can be classified as ‘cool’ and the ‘norm’ to the type of people that listen to their music.

• There is very minimalistic writing on this album, meaning the album artwork is trying to draw the audience in from a far and wanted quite a simple look.

The 1975Symbolic

• As you can see, there is no sign of the artist/band on there album, suggesting the artist is very much organic and care more about their music.

• The colour scheme is very dark which is again quite a generic convention, as the target audience normally are much darker and more ‘reflective’ in their music.

• The target audience would also care more about the music, as opposed to their ‘star image’.

• The CD is very minimalistic, which fits in with the scheme of the whole album artwork.

• The lighting of the picture is all included which could lead to the indie genre convention of everything being much more natural and less staged than say a very photoshopped and ‘fake’ look a pop album may have.

• There is no additional marketing for them on the front cover, meaning they want the audience to just focus on that album and nothing else of theirs.

Linkin ParkSymbolic

• Again, this album has a very simplistic colour scheme, where the colour scheme is mainly black in white.

• In this album, you can see there is also more advertisement for the band which is more things the artist has decided to add in.

• The lay out of the Digipak is not the typical one you normally get, it more focuses on the look of the band and the scenic picture of them in the background

• A symbolic convention is the artist looking more nostalgic and so the audience feel like they can relate to their music more; creating a more organic type of artist.

• As the band have their ‘logo’ this is the main thing on their CD. However, even though it is not as simplistic as say ‘The 1975’s, it is still not particularly extravagant.

Alt-JSymbolic

• This is another artist that have their logo on the front cover as audience and fans know exactly who they are immediately.

• The colour scheme on this album is very dark and minimal; just like the other albums that I have looked at.

• The starry effect gives the impression that it is quite surreal and ‘out of this world’ which may be escapism to the audience. The type of indie music that comes from all of these artists and other indie artists is very organic and easy for people to relate to.

• The album does not involve the artist, meaning the artist is organic and cares more about their music and so do the audience members that the music appeals to.

• There is very minimal writing meaning the audience are allowed to focus on their logo and the whole ‘look’ of the artwork rather than focusing on the writing.

• The songs are very clear on the back, meaning that the audience are able to easily see what they are about to buy.

What do they all have in common?

• As you can see, I have repeated myself quite a lot. This is due to the fact that they all follow typical symbolic conventions within an indie genre.

• The colour scheme of all of the Digipaks are dark and minimalistic. This could be due it the fact that the music in this genre is quite nostalgic as it is very organic. Therefore if it is quite reflective, audience members are going to be able to relate to the music; which is want they will want.

• All of the front covers are very simple as they do not have any additional text apart from their artist name. There is no advertisement for any of their other products, meaning they want the audience just to focus on them.

My opinion • Seeing as we are going to be creating an indie

album cover, I would like to use these albums as inspiration

• I like these album covers as I think they are quite mysterious, much like our music video. Therefore I think they will work well.

• I think The 1975’s and Alt-J’s are slightly too dark, I think we need to add in slightly more colour and clarity to it, so the target audience of 25-30 year olds will also appeal to it, not just young and gothic audiences.