This document analyzes and summarizes the album artwork for several albums, including Drake's Nothing Was the Same, The Weeknd's Starboy, and Stormzy's Gang Signs & Prayer. For Drake's album, the artwork depicts him as a child and as an adult to represent his journey, and uses colors of white and blue to symbolize themes in the songs. The Weeknd's album uses bright colors to depict contrasting emotions, with him in dark colors to represent mystery. Stormzy's album depicts him as Jesus at a dark last supper to represent religious and betrayal themes addressed in the songs.

1. Analysis of digipaks

2. Drake – Nothing Was The
SameDrake states:
“It’s a child version of myself
starring at myself now. When I
try to think back through this
journey, it’s so hard to pinpoint
all these moments and it gets
foggy. Even on past albums
when I been trying to tell this
story, I’ve got there, but maybe
not got there all the way. What
that album art is to me is that
this is my most clear, concise
thoughts from now and my best
recollection of then.”
When buying a physical copy of the album, consumers will
notice it is a real oil painting made by Kadir Nelson, who
also produced Michael Jackson’s 2010 album cover for
‘Michael’. This is to show that the album is not just music,
but a work of art. This therefore makes the album more
acclaimed, and may make audiences pay more attention to
the artwork and lyrics in the songs than they might have
done with a ‘normal’ album cover.
Both images serve as the
front and back of the
album, and were places in
stores as they are below.
This further shows Drakes
intention to display that
this album is merely
about his journey, which
he wants to share with his
audience.
The title of the album along with the artist’ name is placed on the
bottom right and left corners, acting as a real mirror, displaying
that the two people on the covers are the same people but at
different times, furthermore displaying showing Drakes journey.
The font does not seem to be bold or standout and blends in with
the background. This may show Drakes attitude to fame and him
wanting to keep a low profile but make a name for himself in
music. It also illustrates that he wanted consumers to buy the
album because of the artwork and not because it is a ‘Drake
album.’
The color white and blue
have connotations of purity,
wisdom, faith, intellect and
honesty, which are what all
the songs on the album
display. The different shades
of blue makes the album
more eye-catching to the
consumer.
This is the deluxe version of the
album. The older version of him was
used for the deluxe version of
Nothing Was The Same, to display
how there is more to him now and
illustrates that he is more
knowledgeable in life than he once
was. He is also looking to the left
which shows that the rapper feels
nostalgic and reflective of his past.
The child's facial expression
seems to be optimistic and
inspired at what he sees. The
album encourages his
audience to dream big as you
never know what you can
become and in this case the
little boy did not know the
mega-star he would become.
The back of the album has
kept the color scheme of
blue- keeping the theme of
his journey throughout.
The artists brand
logo is presented at
the back showing
that this is Drake’s
own work.
The background of the
sky the message that
possibilities are endless
as the sky is never
ending.

3. The weeknd-
starboyThis is the seventh studio album from the
Weeknd, and the most different from the rest
of the other album artworks he has created.
Previous artwork contained very minimal
amounts of color, and kept to a black and white
theme. I think that the artist did this to show
that the album is different from any other
album he has produced, and immediately
displays this through his artwork, therefore
initially showing the consumer that they should
unexpected something different from this
album.
The colors used are bright, bold and eye catching. The bright yellow has connotations of happiness,
joy, energy and is a color that produces a natural warming effect and cheerfulness. This is contrasting
with the color of red, which has connotations of war, passion anger, danger and strength. Red is a
very intense color creating very natural passionate emotions. These are two contrasting colors
showing that the music in the album is a variation of emotions, taking listeners through every
emotion possible. Dark blue and black are also prominent colors on the artwork, and have
connotations of trust, loyalty, intelligence and mystery. All colors have share an equal amount of
space on the front cover displaying that they are equally important. However, The Weeknd is in the
dark colors of navy and black, displaying that he is the dark, mysterious character that affects his life,
and everything else is joyous and passionate but he is the danger.
The placement of the title of the album is in
bold, sans serif font, and is written in
uppercase. This diverts the attention of the
consumer directly to the title first because of
its bold font and coloring. The title of
‘starboy’ has connotations of someone who is
important and mesmerizing. It is also above
the artists’ head which displays that he is the
‘starboy’, that he is the focal aspect of the
album.
The track list has kept to the color scheme of red and yellow,
however, there is no indication of the navy and black as there was
on the front cover. This further shows that he is the dark being of
the album. The titles ‘starboy’ and ‘The Weeknd’ are placed
opposite each other, almost mirroring on another, displaying that
he is the ‘starboy’ of the album. The production companies are
written in small, almost unreadable to the consumer, illustrating
that it is an unimportant factor to the consumer. The song titles
are also written in bold and who features on the album are written
in a small font, displaying that he wants his audience to focus on
the music rather than who is in the song.
The weeknd’s body language on the front cover shows someone who is
distressed, troubled and displeased. His direct stare into the camera makes the
audience feel as if they have the same troubles as him and therefore listening to
the songs on the album will let his audiences in on what is causing him the
distress that he is presenting on the front of his album cover. Another, prominent
aspect of the front cover is that he is wearing a large crucifix necklace, which
suggests that the album has a theme of religion in it. Nevertheless, the fact that
he is wearing all black and a leather jacket, displays that he is rebelling religion
and what religion says you must do and is being sinful. This relates back to the
idea that he is wearing all black which shows that he is a dark character.
The parental advisory sign is also in yellow,
keeping the the albums color scheme

4. Stormzy- Gang Signs &
Prayer
This is grime artist, Stormzy’s first debut
album which released on February 23rd,
2017. The album was the first ever grime
album to have all its songs in the charts at
the same time, and the only grime album to
sell so many physical copies.
The artwork is supposed to be a depiction of
the last supper, where Stormzy is Jesus Christ,
which is why he is not wearing a mask as it
shows his purity and individualism. However,
this is a darker, more cynical version of the last
supper, which Is shown through the prominent
color of black. Also, all the figures on the front
cover are wearing masks, so we are unable to
tell the identities of each character and
therefore unaware of whom is there to out of
good or bad intentions. This gives the
consumer an insight on the kind of theme that
may occur through the songs; betrayal, hurt
and religion.
The title of the album, ‘gang signs and prayer’
gives the consumer an insight on what the
album is about, it paints very contradicting
themes throughout the album but also shows
that Stormzy is reviewing every aspect of his
life throughout this album. It is a contrasting
album title as people who are associated with
gangs usually commit high levels of crime,
which is sinful in many religions. The title also
suggests that the individuals sat on the table
are all part of a gang but have deep beliefs
about their religion.
The artists’ name is written in small lettering
on the top right hand corner, along with the
title of the album. Stormzy did this to show
that the image on the from cover is more
important than his name and the title of the
album. It is also written in white so it cant
stand out from the image but also to show
purity and intelligence.
The color scheme of the album is mainly
black with white lettering. The image on the
front contains only black objects and the
faces of the individuals are only shown
because of some off stage lighting. This
shows that the content of the album is very
dark, and truthful. The white lettering is
chosen because it is the only color that can
be used with black and will still keep the
album neat, without looking too busy. The
white lettering also symbolizes purity,
honesty, intelligence and strength. Which is
how the artist wants to come across to his
audiences.
Each individual on the front cover, are
staring directly into the camera, which is
slightly intimidating, where ever you move
their eyes are always focusing on you. This
may make consumers more obliged to buy
copies as they may feel the album is directly
aimed for them. Stormzy is positioned in
the middle, making him the focal point of
the front cover, he is also the only figure
not wearing a mask which may make
audiences feel more comfortable as it is
more personal to see his face. There is also
a greater amount of artificial light on him,
furthermore making him the center of
attention.
The parental advisory sign is largest of all the
signs on the back of the album displaying that it
is a very raw, emotional album, which younger
audiences may not understand.
The album is very plain in terms of color, however, the story it presents through the color of black and the image on the front cover is very powerful
and displays the content of the music immediately. The production credits are written in small, which once again focuses on the content of the album.