The album cover of Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die" contrasts the title with a clean-cut image of Lana that promotes a happy vibe, drawing viewers in. Her precise outfit and makeup suggest a strong, independent woman posing for a school photo while also appealing to the male gaze. The use of light blue in the background represents innocence, contrasting Lana's serious expression and provocative clothing. Ben Howard's album "I Forget Where We Are" features a black and white, difficult-to-identify image of Ben that shows he already has recognition, appealing to his existing fan base. The layered, distorted floral image relates to his chilled out musical style but also implies an element of uncertainty,

1. Lana Del Reybrought outher album‘Bornto Die’back in2012 and has foundthatit wasverypopularand
has broughthera huge amountof success.The front coverof the albumto beginwithmakesthe viewer
ask a fewquestions.The albumisnamed ‘borntodie’howeverthe image shownhasnoconnotationsof
death,or anythingtodo withtopicof dyingat all for that matter.Insteadthe image showsaverycleancut
Lana witha sternlookon her face.Inthe backgroundof the image there isblue sky that promotesahappy
vibe.Thisclearcontrastof the title andimagerymakesthe viewerwanttolookfurtherintothe album.The
waythat she is dressedalsosaysa lotabout the style of music,andwhat she islike asa person.She is
dressedverypreciselyandneatly,withherflowingredhair,highcollarandstraightuprightposture.It’sas
if she’sposingfora school photo.There isalsoso sense of a sex appeal relatedtoLana.The use of the red
lipstickandsee throughshirtshowingherbraall relatestothe male gaze,and will drawinmen
stereotypically.She alsogivesthe senseof astrong independentwomanthroughthe waythatshe is
standingwithherseriousface.
The lightblue thatis inthe backgroundconnotesinnocence.ThiscontrastsLanaas she has a
veryseriousexpressiononherface,as well aswearingquite provocative clothing.The use
of the lowangle shotalsogivesa sense thatshe hassome sort of authorityoverusas the
audience.All of these factorsgive afeelingthatalthoughLanamaylooklike she isok,but
she isin fact sufferingonthe inside. The use of the highcontrastcolourssuch as the light
blue andthe white givesthe image afake effect.Thisaddstosense of tryingto coverup
howshe is trulyfeeling.
The white backgroundandblue writingof the backof the digipakcomplimentsthe front
coverreallywell.Thiscreatescontinuationthroughoutthe digipakanddrawsthe viewerin
makingthemwantto knowwhat the musicislike.There isfurthercontinuationonthe back
coverwiththe use of the negative wordingasshownonthe frontcoverwith‘Born to Die’
tisnegative choice of wordsaddsto the intensityandpushesthe meaningful narrative
towardsthe viewer.
Althoughthe cdseemsverysimplisticthere’sactuallyquitealotgoingon.The
white onthe cd connotesinnocence andpurity.Thisisthendirectlycontrastedby
the deepredof the roses.Notonlythe colourbut alsothe ideologiesthatroses
representpromote lust,passionandlove.ThisfurtherputsforwardhowLana want
to be represented.It’sasif she hastwosides,one of passionandlustand another
of innocence.

2. I forgetwhere we were releasedin2014 is the secondalbumto be broughtout bythe singer/song
writerBenHoward.Beingthat thiswasn’thisfirstalbumhe had alreadymade a prominentfootprintin
the musicindustry,andhad developedalarge following.The factthat Benisalreadya reasonablywell
knowartistcan be showninthe cover of hisalbum.The cover showsan image of Beninblack white in
lightingthatcan be describedaschiaroscuro.Due to thisitmakesit quite difficulttotell whoitisinthe
image.Asa resultthisshowsthatBen alreadyisa prominentartistaspeople whohave heardhismusic
will be able totell whoitison the front of the cover.Asa resultit showshe alreadyhasa decentfan
base that thisalbumappealsto.
The way the image of the flowershasbeenlayeredandgivenasortof 3D effectdistorts
the image.Thisrelateswell tothe style of the musicthatBenmakesas it givesoff a
chilledout,relaxedfeel thatisstronglyshowninhisstyle of music.Howeverthe use of
the distortedimage canalsoshowconfusion.Thislinksintothe title of the album‘Iforget
where we are’.The use of thispatternisusedthroughoutthe albumandgivesthe sense
that there isan elementof uncertaintywithinthe album.
Like the frontcover of the album,the back coveris alsoverysimplistic.Althoughsome may
feel thata simplisticdesignmaynotappeal topeople Ifeel it mayinfact dothe opposite.
The simplicitydrawspeople inandmakesthemwanttoknowwhat maybe within,makes
themask question.The use of the simplicityalsoshowsthatBenalreadyhasa decent
following,anddoesn’treallyneedtoappeal tothe massesas he alreadyhasa large fanbase
that don’tneedwinningoverwithaflashyalbumcover.
The cd has beendesignedwithall the patternsonthe digipakall tiedintoone.The flowerdesignhas
beenplacedaroundthe edge of the cd, while the blackandwhite effecthasbeenusedonthe main
part of the cd withthe writinginwhite andthe restin a dark greycolour.Thisbringsall of the design
that has beenusedinthe digipaktogether.Thiscanbe shownto draw the viewerinfromthe outer
edgesof the pak to the centre,where the cdwill be placed.

3. The image of the man shownonthe front of the albumdisplaysan average,normal,workingclass
guy.The audience caneasilyrelate tothisperson,itjustlookslikeanaverage guyyou’dsee onthe
street.Due to thisinstantrelationsome people mayhave withthe albumcoveritmaymake them
more likelytobuythe albumas itdraws themin.
The style of musiccan clearlybe shownthroughthe digipak.ArcticMonkeysare knownfortheir
indie rockmusic,this isshownthroughthe picture usedinthe blackand white filter.The image
showsthe man smokingacigarette,thisisstereotypicallyan“edgy”thingto dothat can be related
to indie rock.People interestedinthisstyle of musiccaninstantlyrelate tothe albumcover,without
evenhearingtheirmusicorknowingthemasa band.
The Arctic Monkeysreleasedtheirdebutalbum‘whateverpeoplesay,that’swhatI’mnot’in 2006.
Beingthatthis wasthere firstalbumtheyhadto make an impressiononthe public,aswell as
creatinga target audience. Due to the Arctic Monkeystryingtomake a place forthemselvesinan
everexpandingmusicworldtheyneededtostickout,while alsosettlingintoaspecificgenre to
create a solidfanbase.
The colour scheme alsoreflectsthe styleof musicquite obviouslythroughthe blackand
white thathas beenused.Darkercoloursare commonplace inindie musicasit directly
promotesthe genre of music.The colourscan be linkedtoa more meaningful feel tothe
musicthat ismore relatable tothe male audience,hence the use of darkercolours
throughoutindie rockmusic.
The imagesof the cigarettesgivesthe senseof rebellion.It’sseenasquite a
‘badass’ thingto do.This can relate totheirmusicas inthe waythat theygo
againstsocietybyportrayingsmokingascool theyalsogo againstwhat the
people mightactuallywanttolistento.They’vedone theirownthing,talking
abouttheirownexperiencesandthingsthey’ve gone through intheirown
personal lives,ratherthanthe commongenerictopicscoveredbythe
majorityof artistsaboutat the time.
The designof the digipak isverysimplistic.Thisiscommonamongmanyotherdigipaks.Thisisdone toaim the
readertowardsthe importantinformationthat the bandwantthemto read,inan efforttodrawthemin and
hopefullybuythe album.A lotof the time thisis whatpeople want,especiallythose interestedinthe Artic
Monkeys.Thisisbecause the maintargetaudience isteens,whocan’tbe botheredwithlongdrawnoutbitsof
informationandinsteadlookforstraighttothe pointadsthat give themwhattheywant toknowinstantly