Print Product Research For Previous Artists - Album Covers

This is Taylor Swift's album cover for her song 'You Belong With Me' that I analysed. It is a very simple album cover, with a MS of her, showing her bare skin and purity of her skin and face. Her hair is taking up most of the frame with the motion it is travelling in, as if it has been blown by a fan. The typography which is used for her name is very much like 'Taylor Swift'. It resembles her in a way and it actually looks like her writing. 'FEARLESS' isn't actually that bold, however it is stands out below her name against her skin. Even her makeup is very simple and natural, with smoky eyes and nude lips. The black background works well against her skin as it makes her stand out even more. The background is also out of focus, with her in shallow focus, making her stand out even more. 

This would be a very simple album cover to recreate and there wouldn't be much to it at all, however it really works well for her type of music and the genre that I am focussing on. I don't think that this album cover links to 'You Belong With Me', as within that video Taylor is portrayed as an innocent girl and although the album cover does that, the blackness of the cover doesn't link entirely with innocence.

Again, Colbie Caillat's album cover is very similar, highlighting the purity of herself with the white scarf over her head, the white background and the simplicity of her makeup. There is a different between this album and Taylor's album as Taylor is in black, yet Colbie is white, which suggests that Taylor Swift has more of a dark side, possibly bringing out more of her rock chick within her genre/songs, yet Colbie seems to be portrayed as very innocent. Taylor looks straight at the camera, however Colbie looks above at an angle, possibly suggesting that she is dreaming of something or hoping that something will come true. I really like this cover as it is what I kind of imagined my album cover like, as mine is called 'My Dreams', the whole looking up things works well as it's as if we're praying for our dreams to come true. Instead of a MS, a CU has been used to capture Colbie's emotions, which is really nice and works well.

The typography of her name is in a teal colour, in a rather scrawly text, however it works well against the white background and stands out, with the name of her album positioned similar to Taylor's, below her name, in a browny, green. This is completely different colouring to Taylor's as both of her writing is in white, however Colbie's is in two totally different colours. Although the album cover is the face of the whole album with a range of different songs on it, this album cover does actually represent 'Bubbly' very well as it links with the whole innocent country feel.

This is a very interesting album cover and it links to one of KT's music videos, however not to 'Invisible Empire' because that video is very plain and she is just shown in a black and white room. I think the whole country feeling and the wasteland area in the background of the album cover represents KT's personality, as she is very tom-boy like and the whole shirt and blazer look with the hat also works well with that, allowing the audience to get a feeling of her. 

Apart from those interpretations, I couldn't really think of why she used this 'reflective' pose as if she is thinking about something, so I did some research into the album. I found this:

"The title is inspired by the two batches of song from the album, Invisible Empire, recorded on April 2012, is the melancholic half that deals with her father's death and the theme of mortality, while the Crescent Moon half, recorded in November 2012, is full of songs that are more ethereal".

After reading that, I can now totally understand why she is in a suit and a hat because it's as if she is mourning her fathers death and the whole ethereal feeling adds to the wasteland setting, as she has space to think and reflect on the current events of everything.
I think that this album has the most meaning between Taylor's and Colbie's, as it holds a story behind it, however they're all interesting.

So far, i'd say that this album cover is the most artistic out of them all. I love the black and white background with the colourful umbrella being held up above her head. I just think it captures her lovely, soft persona and her natural songwriting ability with the natural background of the sea. Somehow, as she is not wearing any shoes, that also highlights her innocence in a way. The album cover doesn't however link explicitly to the song that I chose to analyse, 'Please Don't Say You Love Me', however it is just expressing her inner personality as a whole, showing that she is an easy-going individual with a quirky edge. The back of the album links together well with the front, as it connects with the colour scheme of the black and white/sepia tone.

I also managed to find some of her digipak items:

I love the CD design, as it links to the umbrella shown in her album cover. If I was to use one of my images of me and my guitar, I could use a CU of the guitar neck as the CD cover design. 

I love how the bottom of the front cover fits with the back of the CD, as that kind of shows a flowing nature, suggesting that there is a link between her songs and the way that she sings, so I really like this.

This is Sara Bareilles' CD that includes her song 'Brave' that I analysed for one of my 5 music videos. I love the black and white theme, as that links in with Gabrielle Aplin's CD cover, however it links in with my music video as well. 'The Blessed Unrest' is an unusual name for an album, however it could have numerous meanings. To me, the first thing that came to my mind was that she has worked so hard to become a singer and make it big and now that she has made it, she never has time to rest, however it is 'blessed' because she is now living her dream. This does work well with my theme of my album, 'My Dreams', as I am singing about 'Reach Out' and how I believe that people should reach out to others, however it doesn't explicitly link to the name of the album. This could possibly be the same case for Sara and also other artists, as I mentioned earlier that not all of the album covers link to the song that I've chosen to analyse. 

The typography used for this album cover is also extremely plain, like the other 4, however it really does work. I like the way it has been positioned and her name stands out in white capital writing and is unlined and underneath, the name of the album is in a sort of handwritten text, which is really nice. The writing has also been placed where there is no clouds behind the writing, possibly suggesting that she has a clear mind and thought process about her whole career and success.

I have found it hard to find some of their digipacks and the one that I could find was Gabrielle Aplin's...I think I do have Colbie and Taylor's album's in the house, so I will have a look and scan their digipak in.