Analysis of Digi-Pak covers and Print Magazine Adverts

(for CDs)

The title of album having the word “Computer” links to the mechanical semantic field that seems to be quite prominent due to the machinery type drawings on both the front and back covers. The typography is quite bland and has a formulaic look, linking to the mechanical and well oiled overall aesthetic. This would give a good overall impression of the album as it alludes to it being professional and well thought out with every detail having been carefully considered. This modern technology type theme is carried out through the names of the songs also as “exit music (for a film)”, “Airbag”, “Electioneering” and “Paranoid Android” all have technological links in some way.

There isn’t a distinct main image as the whole effect of the covers is to be hard to make out. Most prominently would be two roads going in different directions at the bottom of the front cover, perhaps being a metaphor for decisions and trials and tribulations you face in life. The main image on the back cover would be the piece of blue weaponry or machinery with a theme of blue carried throughout. The colour blue has a number of connotations and the most apt when it comes to Radiohead’s genre of music being quite depressing demonstrated in songs such as “Let Down” and “Karma Police”. Again this is a link between choices on the covers working with the songs within it.

You can make assumptions about class from the genre of music as well as the artwork of the album. The lyrics are quite complex alluding to intelligence thus stereotypically them being of a higher class. However, their gender only becomes clear when you a) hear the voices and b) see pictures of the band as a whole but isn’t really very important. On top of this, their age isn’t obvious nor is it extremely important.

The main image is quite creepy and ghoulish. As a result of the dark clothing and skull head we can assume the genre isn’t going to be pop. The darkness contrasting with the bright pink background gives off a feel of metal or hard rock. On top of this would be the slash through the O making a Q at the bottom centre of the cover. It is blue but looks like blood and adds to the death metal feel of the whole cover.+

The font of the album title and band name is in a fairly faint style and colour to as to not overpower the drawing which is clearly wanted to take precedence as it is in the middle as is very big.

The vampire type cloak and scene that has been set up in the drawing also has allusions and connections to death so again helps to work out the genre.

Though the background is bright and vibrant, the connotations provided from the drawing are quite the opposite. This makes the colour choice almost ironic or purposefully not fitting. On the other hand it could be just because the pinky red is quite a regal colour and would match their name “QUEENS” of the stone age.

The font for the band name is quite grungy and looks as though dripping in slime. This works with the grungy genre of music they pertain to. As well as this, the fact the band name is far bigger than the album title is very unusual. This could show that Green Day are perhaps a very big brand as well as band so will need to stand out more. This is different to the Queens of the Stone Age album as they aren’t as possible and the art work was more of an attraction for them but the band name in this case is the most prevalent. Adding to this, everything is extremely dark apart from the band name which is in a bright white colour so stands out even more.

The main image is of two people kissing and the positioning of their arms around each other suggest they are in love/lust. This would then allude to the type of themes within the songs, namely love or lust. This then has a further to the title of the album “21st Century Breakdown” which pertains to some kind of heartache.

The colour scheme of burnt orange and black and yellow and red all suit themes of fire and burning. This could be symbolic of a fiery passionate love or conversely a fiery personality of the significant other leading to heartache as discusses previously.

The fact the two people in the main image are in black and white and everything else is colour is also significant. It could represent that their love is old and traditional and romantic but the mention of the 21st century in the title of the album and the word breakdown again shows their old fashioned love can’t perhaps survive in modern conditions suggesting the content of the songs being quite depressing.

The main image in the foreground stands out as it is placed in the first third of the shot using the rule of thirds. This is appealing as the audience are drawn away from the centre where the picture usually is. The main picture also relates to the title “Recovery” as it links to the well known expression “road to recovery” and the image has a long road before the man.

The picture is quite clearly the artist (Eminem) as he is wearing the clothing he mostly always wears so this has given him some kind of identity. The clothing also links to the genre of rap he performs in as the hat and jeans and hoodie all link to lower class kind of archetypes which is on the one side of the spectrum that rappers talk about. The other side of the spectrum is about having lots of money and Eminem is quite individual in that sense.

The font for the album title is very simple white text that is bold so it stands out on the front of the CD cover. Other elements have been added so it stands out even more. An example would be the “o” being replaced with a medical sign which could relate to the title being recovery. Also the “E” is turned around and this adds to the idea of continuity as he does this in other albums.

The parental advisory sign shows that the album is designed for people of a certain ages as perhaps his music relates to himself at certain ages. If he’s discussing something slightly inappropriate it’ll be there as a warning. However it may be there just to enhance his bad boy image.

Part of the title of the album and her name are in a dull grey colour and the word “pink” is in pink. This is kind of an obvious motif but it is effective as it is of the same colour as the background of the picture above. There is definitely and quite clearly a pink theme with the pink hair dress and shoes matching where she’s sitting and the background. This matches the genre of pop that appears in most of her songs. However, she also majority of the time raps so the pink kind of goes against the stereotypical colours used when in reference to rap music such as black, red, gold and white. However, since women rapping is fairly unusual she probably wanted to add some femininity to the whole aura of her album.

The way she is sat is quite provocative with her legs fairly spread with her cleavage on show. Since everything is pink and girly she probably thought her sexuality would appeal to a male audience making her album and music kind of unisex meaning a larger amount of people likely to pick up the album.

Considering the fact she’s quite a well known artist, having her on the front is completely necessary. The fact her name and the album title are quite faint is not important because she’s got a very distinctive look so it will be unlikely that the people she’s targeting won’t know her. The outfit is also quite eccentric which adds to the brand she’s created for herself with numerous outrageous outfits in the past. However, the outfit is still quite soft and pleasant so adds an innocence to the whole album cover- appealing to a younger audience. However there is a parental advisory on there so kind of contradicts the innocence she portrays.

The facial expression she’s pulling is quite harsh, juxtaposing her outfit, and could symbolise the harsh lyrics she has in her songs, which is in conjunction with the parental advisory sticker at the bottom.

The artist name and album title both stand out quite significantly through the use of bold block capitals and contrasting colours. The artist name sits on a simplistic background made up of a mid blue which is contrasted when the album title (blue) is placed on a white background (her shirt). This is done in order to keep in with the constant colour scheme. These colours were probably chosen because they are light, summery and quite feminine. However, the title is extremely depressing and talks of how we are born to die. This is a huge juxtaposition to the light and pretty colour scheme.

The main image is a photo of the artist herself. She is making a direct contact with the viewer as she is staring down the lense. In a way she is drawing the reader in in an almost hypnotic way by staring. She is not posing, she is not doing anything special but for some reason she still looks appealing and she makes you want to read the advert. The fact the artists name is placed behind her shows her face is the most important part of the advert, further proving the idea she is trying to draw you in.

The text on the entire advertisement is extremely clear because it is in a vey large and bold font with a contrasting white to the black background. The artist and self entitled album name is the biggest text on the advert which is due to it being their debut album and they need to make a name for themselves. As well as this, the haunting and silhouette type main image alludes to an alternative feel of music also. Throughout rock bands advertisements they are always rather basic and simplistic and this is due to them not needing to dress up their album as they just need to provide the information and hope the audience is intrigued enough to give them a listen. This is extremely different to a pop advertisement because they are more likely to add bright colours and sparkles and try to make the advertisement as appealing as possible. This is due to the music probably needing an advertisement to match the bright and sparkly songs.

At the bottom of the advertisement there is details on how to access and download the music. As well as this it tells the audience how to access other forms of the album (vinyl, online download etc.) and this shows them as being versatile and have the ability to provide music for however people need. This will be appealing to people with record players or conversely a huge online library of music.

The main image is an explosion of colours and naturalistic imagery. This gives off the impression that the band have quite interesting music with an explosive edge. The colour yellow that has been used in the image is then used further down the page when talking about the release date of the new album. This continuation makes the date stand out and since it’s important information this is significant. The contrast of the artist name (in black) on a white cellotape type effect background makes their name stand out. Which again is important due their name possibly being a brand as they have already been popular prior to this album. As well as this, their name is near enough in the centre and this positioning again adds to its importance.

The background is a relatively dull grey/brown colour and acts as a non distracting placement for the image and texts. The fact its quite neutral allows the text on top to stand out even more, further illustrating their importance.

The font used for all the majority of the writing is very bold and in capital letters in order to emphasise their existence. However, the title of the album is in a handwriting style of font (unlike the rest of the text) and could suggest that the album will be different to anything the band have ever produced before.

The first thing that stands out is the close up shot of the artist herself. She is a very popular artist and having her and her name placed below her allows an audience who likes her music to see it very quickly. Also by having her staring down the lens its as if she’s looking into the audience’s eyes and therefore intrigues the potential buyer. This is a popular convention with pop music because they’re an artist because of their image as well as their music.

The use of this facial expression could be implying that this particular album has a variety of emotions explored within the lyrics of each song.

The colour scheme used is black and gold (black lips, nails, hair and clothes) (gold and white writing). This gives her an edgy look in comparison to other archetypal female pop artists who would perhaps choose lighter and more bright colours like pink and yellow. This makes her not only stand out in the magazine she’s being advertised in but in the whole of the pop industry. The use of gold is usually a symbol of wealth so could add to perhaps the themes implored in her music, Price Tag being a prime example.

The information at the bottom is minimal and the positioning is important as it does not detract away from the main artist. Rock and alternative bands do the opposite as they are less of a “brand” than say pop artists like Jessie J are.

Having the artist’s name in a large gold font allows it to stand out against the black clothing, making her brand stand out and be noticed.