This is the research I completed when searching for album covers related to my chosen genre of music videos.

1. ALBUM COVERS AND
BRANDING

2. THE TASK
 I have to choose a range of album covers from my
chosen genre and find associated imagery, text,
type face etc.
 I need to identify brand identity, key images, key
features.

3. FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE

4.  In their earlier days, they were primarily a part of the
indie genre. In there first two albums, the typeface of the
band’s name remains the same. This helps with brand
identity as it allows the audience to recognise the font and
name of the band whilst associating it with their other
products.
 The two images are similar to those in the music videos
which are one of the main tracks of each album. The visual
link between the video, digipack and advert vastly
improves the brand identity as it allows the audience to
recognise the imagery shown to us. The image from
Ceremonials comes from the music video ‘Shake It Out’ and
Lungs imagery comes from the song, ‘Lungs’. Even the
imagery itself remains similar, showing us an image of
Florence Welch, the lead singer, which furthers the brand
identity as we now associate her with the band.
 Using the uses and gratification theory, the audience
identifies the brand and educate themselves whilst
acknowledging the fact Florence and the Machine have
created another album. This also encourages social
interaction as the audience produce it as a topic of
conversation amongst others. They know of the new album
as they have acknowledged the band introduced to us.

5. CHASING GRACE

6.  This album cover is taking from their most recent album in
2015 ‘Nowhere Near Old Enough’. This is one of their first
albums to be released a part from their EPs.
 The typeface of the band’s name is featured across all of
the singles and EPs. This allows the audience to recognise
their brand identity - when they see the font they will
think Chasing Grace.
 The imagery used is bright bold colours, which displays
young children looking towards a woodland area.
 The concept of the design is unique with the use of
animations but as far as I know, there is no visual links
between the cover and any of their music videos. This is
lesson common for the indie genre as the visual link is vital
as those of the indie genre are usually less known,
therefore the visuals are important as it allow the audience
to recognise the cover and establish the link from the
music video as well. Nevertheless, it is an interesting and
unique album cover that works well in terms of aesthetics
as it grabs the audiences eyes.

7. THE WOMBATS

8.  These two albums taken from The Wombats are ‘The
Wombats Proudly Present… This Modern Glitch’ and
‘Glitterbug’, both from different parts in the band’s career.
 The first album features their name in their original
typeface and colour that has been featured on many of their
previous albums, singles and EPs. This has become a part
of their brand identity and has allowed the audience to
associate it with the band.
 The imagery used is more distinctive as it shows a crowd of
people with pictures of a couch on a beach. It is insinuated
that it is a mistake, it is a glitch which links with the album
title.
 However, their recent album has a change in font and style
as well as colour. This could perhaps link to the imagery on
Glitterbug as it features a child’s silhouette with a city
backdrop. The red text matches the imagery which gives an
overall appealing look to the album. It is an impressive edit
and shows the progression of the band’s identity. They’ve
started to progress to a more simplistic image as apposed to
the alternative, quirky style of their earlier album.

9. MUMFORD AND SONS

10.  These two covers are taken from ‘Sigh No More’ and ‘Babel’. The
typeface of the band remains the same font and colour on each
cover, a positive for brand identity as it allows the audience to
recognise the band’s logo. Even the font of the album’s title
remains the same, creating a visual link between the two. This
allows the audience to associate the typeface with the band,
improving their brand identity.
 In both covers they’ve used images of themselves so that the
audience recognises the band and the image they’re trying to
represent. In the first cover, they’re hidden behind a window but
we can see their instruments. This allows the audience to
associate the band’s genre based on the instruments they play.
Primarily, these two albums fall under the folk genre, and the
instruments on display allows the audience to recognise this. In
the second cover, we can see the band more clearly, improving the
brand identity as the audience can see the faces behind the brand.
 The imagery itself used in the second cover is more unique due to
the blurred effect of the crowd. This brings all our focus onto the
band then as they are the only images we can see clearly.
 However, both album cover make no visual links between the
print products and music videos. Yet, this isn’t much of a problem
for this band as over the years there covers have become more
iconic and many can easily associate the images with the band.

11. THE 1975

12.  This the self titled album by The 1975 and is also
their first one to create.
 Firstly, the imagery used is in direct link to the music
video for ‘Sex’ (the album version). This immediately
creates a visual link between the print product and
the video. This improves the brand identity as it
allows the audience to recognise the colour scheme as
well as the icon of the white box.
 The colour scheme is also present in another hit
single of theirs, ‘Chocolate’, strengthening the visuals
between the music video and the print products.
 The typeface of the band is also their iconic logo and
is used on all the singles and EPs. The encourages the
brand identity as it allows the audience to recognise
their logo and know that this album is one of their
products. The logo on this cover is shaped in the
lights as well, so it’s still their logo but has been
adapted to fit the schematics of the designs,

13. THE FAMILY CREST

14.  This is ‘Beneath the Brine’ by the indie band The Family
Crest and is their most recent released.
 The logo of the band has remained the same on all of their
singles and EPs. Although this logo has a slight variation
in the c shape, the font and typeface remain the same. This
improves their brand identity as it allows the audience to
recognise their logo and their products as well as creating a
link that we can associate next time we see their logo.
 The colours used are simplistic and allows the title to stand
out, captivating the audiences eyes. However, the image of
the paint strokes used have no visual links with any of the
music videos featured in the album. Again, this can have a
serious effect on their brand image as they aren’t a well
known brand and will be harder to create that visual link
between the print products and their music videos.
 Nonetheless, it is still a simplistic and stylish image and
gives a nice overall effect.

15. CONCLUSION
 From the research I have gathered, here are the
following points I have learned of covers for the
indie/fold genre
1. A visual link is needed in order to make the brand
identity more memorable
2. Simplistic styles are commonly used but there is
also a slight theme of outdoor areas (Chasing Grace,
The Wombats)
3. The style of the covers are so unique and none look
the same as each other – this gives me a lot of room
to experiment within my concept as there are no set
guidelines for how my images should look
4. A band logo is a must in order to improve brand
identity especially as some of the band’s I have
chosen aren't well known

16. INSPIRATION
 These are the following concepts I will take into
consideration when designing my print products:
1. Silhouette effect of the city backdrop in The
Wombat’s Glitterbug – as I plan to film in urban
scenes as well as woodland areas, this is a nice
effect to use
2. Strong use of visual links from The 1975 – their
popular products have a strong link in each other
them and I hope to be as successful as them when
creating the visual links between my print products
and music video
3. Typeface of the band’s logo from The Family Crest-
although it has been altered slightly throughout the
years, it has remained of a similar style in terms of
font and appearance.