2. Jonathan Warren
Wiz Khalifa – O.N.I.F.C
The genre of music represented above is hip-hop/rap by a famous rap
artist named Wiz Khalifa, this is his 4th studio album called O.N.I.F.C.
Front Cover
The front cover shows the artist sitting in a chair wearing the type of clothes that are
very typical to the ‘rap’ genre, the big fur coat represents how rap artists like to show
off their wealth and see themselves as being very stylish. The artist also has many
tattoos which is associated with rap culture. The trousers that the artist is wearing
are also very unusual which represents him as a trend setter. The colours used are
mainly blue, shown by the background which is incredibly simple which may be to
illustrate that the main focus should be on the artist himself.
Back Cover
The back cover of this album is just a darker copy of the front with the track listings
over the original image. This is very effective in making sure the messages behind
the picture get through to the audience. The type face used for the tracklist is very
simple and easy to read, this makes sure that fans can easily check to see what
tracks are on the album and generally makes it more appealing to the eye.
CD Design
The design of the CD for this album is incredibly simple. The entire background is a
very similar shade of blue that was used on the background of the front cover and
this makes it look more professional as the colour scheme uses very few colours so
it does not look messy. The simplicity of this design is very striking to the eye. The
only detail on the CD is the font used to outline the name of the album and artist. The
font used is simple and because of the size used for the name of the album, it is also
quite striking.
4. Jonathan Warren
Machine Head –The Blackening
The Blackening is the sixth studio album to be released by famous
heavy metal band ‘Machine Head’. The images above represent the
music genre ‘metal’.
Front Cover
The cover of this album is very stereotypical of the genre ‘metal’ it depicts a skeleton
type figure sat on a chair, this is stereotypical of metal as a genre because generally
the genre uses very dark, depressing themes and a skeleton fits in with the
iconography of metal. The cover is also entirely in black and white which adds to the
very dark theme of the album and makes it very eerie. The font used on the front is
quite a jagged, eccentric font which is very common to metal as a genre because the
font needs to look threatening in order to fit in with the iconography of metal.
Back Cover
The back cover continues to follow the house style in terms of colour scheme as it is
also purely black and white, this is an effective technique that makes the digipack
look professional. The font used for the track listings is quite hard to read but looks
very striking and has a certain element of menace to it, which helps to show that the
album is of the heavy metal genre. The back cover also has an image in the centre
that shows a demonic-like character which is very scary and further supports the
stereotypical view that metal music revolves around hatred and anger.
CD Design
The CD design for this album is fairly simple with an image, the track listing and
some small print on it, including the artist and album. The picture continues to follow
the theme of demos and scary characters, which supports the house style and gives
it a very specialized look. The font used is also consistent with that of the fonts used
on the front and back covers and the colours used on the CD are also only black and
white to keep within the colour scheme.
6. Jonathan Warren
Coldplay – MyloXyloto
Coldplay are an incredibly well-known and successful Indie/Mainstream
band. MyloXyloto is their fifth studio album and represents the ‘Indie’
Genre of music.
Front Cover
The cover of this album is very colourful which makes it eye-catching and helps the
band attract potential buyers, this is a very good sales technique. The colourful front
also connotes that many famous indie bands like to use a wide variety of colours to
attract fans when designing the album covers. There are lots of ‘graffiti’ style fonts in
the background which could be used to try and link the band to a younger audience
by showing they are trendy. The font used for the name of the album is incredibly
large and bold but also see through, the simplicity of this font on top of a background
that is very busy and unorganised helps to make the actual album name stand out
above everything else.
Back Cover
The back cover follows the general house style by keeping the design very colourful
and messy. This mix of lots of different colours makes the album stand out from
others and is very striking to the eye. The track listing font is the same as the main
font on the front cover, this is useful in maintaining house style and gives the album
quite a professional look. The simple font that shows what tracks are on the album
stands out because it overlays the unorganised mix of colours behind it which is the
same technique that is used on the front cover.
CD Design
The CD also uses many colours continuing to follow the house style but also has a
black spiral containing all the track listings going round the CD. This makes it easy
for the audience to read the tracks straight off the CD and is a design that is used by
quite a lot of artists. The font used on the actual CD is quite a lot easier to read than
the font on the front and back covers and this is probably because it has to be a lot
smaller to fit onto the CD so it has to be a simple font.
