(c) Hannah Ram 2010

2. Throughout the whole design
of the album the three colours
that are used are black, white
and red. The use of the bold,
red font helps to make the
album name stand out against
the monochrome background.
Furthermore, the red and
black words contrast against
each other, which would draw
their target audience’s
attention to the band name,
as well as the album title.
This background image
highlights that The Kooks are
an Indie band, as they are all
sitting around in a group
playing their instruments,
which accurately reflects the
DIY Indie ethos when it comes
to making music. Moreover,
their clothing (skinny jeans)
and floppy Indie style hair
would also reinforce their
Indie credentials.
The simple background is not only pleasing on the eye but also allows their potential target audience to focus on the key bits of
information on the cover – the album title and band name. The sparse, monochrome background also reinforces the importance of
making music to The Kooks, as there is nothing else to detract from the image of them playing their instruments, which highlights that
it is of central importance to them.
All of the band members in
this image are looking away
from the camera, which
suggests that their main focus
is to make music. This
therefore, creates an image of
a hardworking band that are
not overly confident or
arrogant.
This typography is used on all
of the different panels of the
album cover in order to create
a degree of consistency and
cohesiveness.
The font is quite simple, like
the rest of the album cover,
which suggests that The Kooks
are quite a simplistic band
that are not interested in
mainstream gimmicks. This
therefore, creates the image
that they are an authentic
Indie band, which would
appeal to their target
audience.
FRONT COVER

3. BACK COVER
The track listings for the
album are placed neatly on
the left-hand side in the
same black, bold font that
the band name is written in
on the front of the album
cover. This therefore, creates
an immediate connection
between the band and the
songs, which reinforces that
they have written and made
their own songs.
The simple monochrome
theme that characterised the
front cover can also be found
here on the back cover,
which creates a sense of
consistency .
As with most album covers,
the back cover of this album
for The Kooks has a barcode,
the record label logo, the
name of the producer, the
band’s website details and a
copyright notice. Like all of
the text on the rest of the
album cover it is written in
the same font as the band’s
name.
This photograph is very similar to the image that can be found at the front of the album cover. However, it is far more
blurry and pixelated than the first image. Moreover, it appears to have been taken from the drummer’s perspective,
which places the audience in his place giving us a private insight into what happens when the band are creating songs
etc. By doing this, The Kooks give the album a much more personal undertone and invite their target audience to relate
to them and their behaviour.

4. INSIDE PANELS
The inside panels of The Kooks album are much more colourful and
bright that the outside panels even though they use the same motif of
colours –red, white and black – as the outer cover. The CD itself also has
the copyright notice and record label logo that can be found on the back
panel of the album cover.
The CD is bright red, with black and white writing on it. The
contrasting nature of these colours would immediately attract the
person that has bought the album’s attention, as it stands out from
the rest of the inside cover.
On the inside panel there is yet another picture of The
Kooks, however, unlike the photographs on the outer
cover the majority of the band members are looking
towards the camera. Moreover, the mise-en-scene of
this image once again reinforces their Indie image
because of their clothing (checked shirt and tight tops)
and their distinctively Indie hairstyles.
In a small, white font there is another copyright
notice about the album and thank you notes from the
band to the people that helped produce the album.
The inclusion of this thank you note helps to create
the image that The Kooks are nice, gracious people,
which many of their target audience would find
appealing.

5. FRONT COVER
Interestingly, the band’s logo is
placed in the top left hand
corner of the front cover,
rather than in the centre.
(After looking at some of
Oasis’ previous album covers
this positioning seems to be
quite conventional).
The logo is in black and white,
which makes it stand out from
the coloured background image.
Similarly to The Kook’s album
cover, the typography used here
is clear and easy to read.
Furthermore, this logo is clearly
part of Oasis’ brand identity ,as
slight variations of this logo are
used on the majority of their
album covers. Thus, by including
the logo on this album they are
immediately creating a
connection between their other
work and this album.
The background image for this
album cover appears to have
been taken from the band’s
perspective, which ultimately
gives the album a more
personal tone. The
photograph depicts a large
group of people at a festival
listening to live music. This
image would appeal to both
their older and younger target
audience, as for the older
generation this scene would
bring back memories of their
youth, which reinforces the
album title ‘TIME FLIES’.
Moreover, in regards to their
younger audience this image
would also be appealing, as
the majority of them would
have been to a music festival
at one point or another.
The album title is written in large, bold, black capital letters, which
stand out from the background image in order to grab the attention
of their potential target audience.
The image also reinforces
Oasis’ as being an
Indie/Alternative band , as
stereotypically
Indie/Rock/Alternative band’s
perform at music festivals.

6. BACK COVER
Contrastingly, the image used on the back cover of Oasis’ album is the complete opposite to the one shown
on the front panel, as it depicts the chaotic aftermath of the festival. Furthermore, unlike the front cover,
which has a vintage, pink coloured tint that is easy on the eye, the use of sepia creates a harsh tone to the
back cover that is not as aesthetically pleasing as the image on the front cover.
This side panel just includes
basic information, such as the
album title, band logo and
record label logo.
Like most album covers,
Oasis’ album contains the
conventional information
that can be found on the
back cover: a barcode, a
copyright notice, the
band’s website details and
the record label’s logo and
name.
On the back cover the track
listings are placed rather
chaotically near the bottom
right hand corner, which
ultimately emphasizes the
reckless and cluttered
background image. Unlike
most album covers, the track
listings are not organised
numerically and instead the
song titles vary is size. This is
quite unconventional and
anti-mainstream and would
therefore, appeal to their
potential target audience
who are likely to have anti-
mainstream ideas and
attitudes.
There are no images of
the band on this album
cover. This could be
because Oasis are a very
well-known and
established
Indie/Alternative /Rock
band and therefore, do
not need to appear on
their album cover, as their
target audience will
already know who they
are and what they stand
for.

7. CD FROM THE INSIDE PANEL
Like the CD from The
Kook’s album ‘Inside In
Inside Out’ this CD has
the band’s name and
album title on it. As with
the front cover of Oasis’
album the text is written
in a simple and organised
way, which would be easy
for their target audience
to read. This connection
with the front cover of
the album creates a sense
of consistency between
the inside panels and the
outside panels.
The CD also has Oasis’
website details, the
record label’s name and
logo and the copyright
details are written around
the side of the CD in small
white font.
The CD itself is a calm, pastel colour, which makes the harsh, black
font stand out and grab people’s attention. Furthermore, it also
reinforces the link between the inner panels and the outside cover,
as the front cover of the album had a slight pink tint to it.

8. FRONT COVER
This warning label is a sticker that has been placed on top of the
album cover. Ultimately, it warns potential buyers about the song
content.
The mise-en-scene of
this photograph
reinforces the fact that
the Arctic Monkeys are
an Indie/Alternative
band, because two of
the band members
have floppy , ‘Indie’,
styled haircuts and the
band are wearing quite
retro, ‘Indie ‘ clothing
(denim jacket and dark
skinny jeans).
There is also a retro feel to
this album cover because the
picture is quite faded , which
makes it look slightly old and
dated. Moreover, as with The
Kooks’ album cover none of
the band members are
looking towards the camera ,
which makes them seem like
an authentic Indie/Alternative
band, because its suggests
that they haven’t been styled
and are therefore, not just
another manufactured boy
band.
The band’s name is written in
a large black font over this
white hoodie so that it
stands out from the
background and grabs their
target audience’s attention,
as black and white contrast
against each other. The font
used is quite quirky and cool,
which creates the image that
the Arctic Monkeys are a
quirky and cool band.
The album title, ‘Humbug’,
has been placed in the top
left hand corner of the front
album cover. However, it is
not part of the actual image,
as it is actually a sticker that
has been placed on top of
the plastic jewel case. The
font is simple but bold, which
makes it stand out from the
background image. Also the
background of the sticker is
gold, which has connotations
of treasure and jewels. This
therefore, suggests that the
album is precious and
valuable, which would make
people want to buy it.

9. BACK COVER
Like all the other album
covers that I have
analysed, this album cover
has a barcode. However, it
is a lot smaller than the
other barcodes that I have
seen so far.
The Arctic Monkey’s album ‘Humbug’ contains all of the conventional information that can be found on back album covers. For
example, it has their record companies logo and their band website details. However, unlike the other albums I have looked at it
doesn’t contain a lengthy copyright notice, although it does have the copyright symbol. It also has the record label’s website details,
the record label’s address and details of where the album was manufactured.
This side panel has
the band’s name
and the album title
written on it in a
clear and simple
font.
The track listings on the
back of the album cover
are not organised
numerically but are still
organised in a clear and
simple manner. The font
used for the song titles is
the same font that is used
for the album title, which
creates a degree of
coherence and
consistency across the
whole album.
Unlike the other
back covers that I
have analysed so far
this one has no
image on the back,
which makes the
text really easy to
read and makes it
stand out from the
plain background.
Moreover, the
album title and
band name are
written on the back
album cover too,
which none of the
other album covers
that I have analysed
have done.
The typography used for the band’s name is quite wild and crazy, which creates the image
that the Arctic Monkeys are a crazy and cool band. This image would appeal to their target
audience because it highlights that they are just ordinary people that like having fun, which
makes them easy to relate too.

10. CD FROM THE INSIDE PANEL
Unlike the other two CD designs that I have
analysed, the CD for Arctic Monkeys’ album
‘Humbug’ has a comedic element to it, which XFM
suggest is of a ‘key interest’ to their potential target
audience. Therefore, it would appeal to their
audience, whilst simultaneously creating the
impression that the Arctic Monkeys’ are a cool,
quirky and original band. Moreover, it is quite
unconventional as it does not contain the album
name or full band name. Also the small, white
writing at the bottom is illegible so I am unsure of
whether it contains a copyright notice – however,
even if that text is a copyright notice it is usually
small.
This CD has been
designed to look like a
pie. The letters ‘A’ and ‘M’
that are diagonally placed
across the pie stand for
the band’s name - Arctic
Monkeys.