The front cover image depicts Alicia Keys being partially obscured by a piano, indicating she has secrets expressed through her music. Her makeup and style connect to the piano keys and background, showing how she leaves her mark. The back cover shows a piano missing its top, suggesting her music has depth not initially apparent. Both covers reference Keys' focus on the piano and raw talent over superficial qualities.

1. Character and Narrative Events
On the front cover, there is an image of Alicia Keys being somewhat shielded by a piano as she is a
respected and well known pianist. Her stage name ‘Keys’ has been influenced by Alicia’s love for
acoustic and raw attitude to music by having mostly instrumental backing tracks on all her songs but
also a sense of secrecy, as if she’s locking things away and only she has the key. Due to Alicia Keys
being covered by the piano it could indicate she’s hiding from something and she has a secret that can
only be expressed through the lyrics in her songs. Again the theme of secrets is apparent in the title of
the album ‘the diary of Alicia Keys’, a diary you keep secrets or at least something you don’t want
others to know, again indicating she has something to tell or share with the audience. Her makeup is
sultry and enticing to both a female and male audiences, however it’s quite minimal and natural which
is similar to her music as it is stripped back by only using instruments rather than including the
technical and auto tuning her voice, she prefers the maximum affect on the audience as her lyrics have
meaning and emotion behind them. Her makeup also corresponds with the golden glow of her skin, the
piano keys and the background; this could indicate how she’s leaving her mark on music as well as her
audience. Her clothing displays chains and has chains as straps, suggesting she’s in chains about
keeping her secret separate for the ones she loves, however all with me explained within the songs.
Setting
In this image, the setting
looks similar to the layout
and construction of a piano
with the curved edges
behind Alicia Keys, again
creating a narrative enigma
that she could be encasing
her feelings into her songs,
but not exactly establishing
what she’s keeping hidden.
The background colour
looks similar to that of the
piano keys in front of the
artist’s face, which
indicates a connection and
also, the colour
corresponds with the
simple text and the artist’s
skin tone as it isn’t too
harsh or demanding when
regarding the artist’s skin
but allows the white text to
stand out against the
brown/golden colour and
the black of her hair.
Technical codes
The text is informal and
simple due to the relax
manner in the way in
which it is set out, by not
having capital letters
which could suggest
Alicia’s natural passion
and enthusiastic outlook
on music as she doesn’t
have to try hard to
impress which could be
the reason for the lower
case letters used. The
colour of the text stands
out against both the
background colours,
brown of the piano and
black of her hair. The
contrast of the white
against the black could
suggest how innocent she
portrays herself and her
simple approach to music,
using the acoustic side of
music rather than the
digital enhanced style
most artists are going for,
yet she is dangerous, in
the music industry and
personally. High key
lighting has been used to
enhance Alicia’s natural
skin tone and glow that
comes alongside having
bronzed skin. However,
despite the image being
natural in terms of skin
tone the image has been
edited due to the flawless
and immaculate
complexion of Alicia Keys.
Iconography
The most iconic aspect of the front cover of
this album would be the different elements
dotted around within the mise en scene. For
example, the piano keys that obscure Alicia
Keys’ face identify with her stage name and
her genre of music, mostly using a piano and
the more traditional forms of music. In the
background, the curve in the strong fallow
area just behind Alicia’s head is almost
identical to the curve of a piano which is a
preferred instrument of Alicia’s. By looking at
the back cover, she is standing almost in
between the keys and what would cover the
piano at the top.Therefore making all elements
displayed in the image above on the front
cover, iconic to the genre and the artist
herself.

2. Iconography
The iconic element present
on the CD to Alicia Keys’
album is the different types
of keys which match her
stage name, the title of the
album and how she feels
about music. Although her
stage name generally
represents the keys on a
piano or keyboard, the
keys displayed on the CD
could suggest how she’s
got the key to her music
career and possibly in her
personal life. The title of
her album can be
connected to her design of
her CD as a diary would
need a key to unlock it,
again suggesting needing
to unlock something.
However, contradicting
what I mentioned
previously, maybe Alicia
feels she needs to try
different ‘keys’ or styles
before achieving her
desired approach and
audience, meaning she
had to try multiple ‘keys’ to
unlock her voice, musical
career and feelings. This is
iconic to this album and
Alicia Keys as it is her
album and part of her
stage name, which she’ll
be remembered Technical codes for in time.
The text is kept to a minimum
with only the title of the album,
record label and legal
documentation of the CD
displayed. The minimal and
simple appearance of the CD
links with Alicia’s singing style,
rather simple in the way in
which it’s produced and sung
but maxed out on wow factor.
This means that despite
having a simple approach to
the decorative element of all of
the CD, she also takes the
same approach to singing as
her singing is stripped back
yet she has much force within
her voice due to the
enthusiasm and meaning
behind the lyrics and song.

3. Narrative events
The main image on the back cover is of a piano missing the top piece which is situated to the right of the
main structure, similar to the front cover but from a wider shot and missing the artist which was included
in the close up shot of the piano. With the top of the piano being present but not in its preferred place, it
suggests that there is more meaning and depth to a piano as you can see into the mechanical side of
the instrument, as to a song of Alicia’s with frequent listening. With the similar features of the front and
back cover, it could indicate how from looking at the front cover, the audience wouldn’t think much of the
tracks and their meanings, but after listening to them the audience start to develop an understanding of
the depth of lyrics and influences behind them. Therefore showing a journey from start to finish as is the
album, indicating a narrative to Alicia’s musical career and the audience’s thought process when
listening to the album. The repeating of the piano and not just an image of the artist as most album back
covers tend to do, it suggests how the piano plays a major role in her music career and her life, again
indicating a start to finish affect as playing the piano has always been a constant within her work and
life. The piano taking up as much space as it does should represent to the audience and other artists
that Alicia’s talent of playing the piano is more important than other aspects of popular music today,
such as an artist’s looks or body proportions that people should be in the music business for the music.
Technical codes
The image has been edited and enhanced to
display a multi tonal effect, as certain aspects of
the piano are bright and eye catching whilst other
areas are black and white. The golden area such
as what is underneath the top piece could indicate
the raw talent and emotions behind every song
whilst the black and white areas suggest a more
traditional and old fashioned approach to music.
The background is white behind the piano and
black on the ground which allows the text to stand
out as it is in white, allowing a continuous colour
scheme in terms of writing to take place. Also the
track numbers are in a golden colour to relate
back to the piano and the artist.