Digipak Research: Conventions of Album Covers & Magazine Adverts

Conventions of Album Covers:

Front

Peace - Front Album Cover

• The main image on the front cover is usually a photograph of the artist / band or it's an illustrated symbol or image, representing their unique style.
• The name of the artist is often portrayed in a sharp eye catching typeface, making it clear to the audience.
• In terms of colour, for a pop album you would expect bright candy colours whereas for an indie rock album the colours would be particularly dark and dull e.g. black. A simplistic colour scheme is often composed to keep it simple yet effective.
• A bold simplistic font for the album name - the name of the album conventionally has a relation to what the songs are about or the implication / interpretation behind it.
• The font style can also be a representation of the genre of music which the artist or band belongs to.
• Bands often compose an iconic logo on their album to represent them, which they may also use on their promotional material e.g. tour adverts.

Back

Drake - Back Album Cover

• The songs / track list are conventionally listed in a centralised composition.
• Band promotion information e.g. their website.
• The back image typically links to the front image of the album cover.
• Copyright material / issues, to prevent anything be stolen.
• A bar-code is always present on the back cover for purchase and financial purposes.
• The distributor of the album is always listed and commonly have their logo portrayed.
• The year the album was made e.g. 2014.

Inside

• Simplistic image which matches the rest of the album theme.
• Where the CD is placed is often left blank, however some albums have an image or colour shade, which interlaces all of the album together.

Conventions of Magazine Adverts:

• The release date of the album or the phrase "OUT NOW"
• An image of the album cover - promoting it clear to the audience. 
• The name of the band and album are highlighted in a bold font, usually at the top of the page.
• Links to the artist / band social media websites.
• Artist / band website, where the audience can access more information about them.
• Reviews / Ratings of the album, praising it - this encourages the audience to buy it.
• Record label logo.
• Institutional logos of where you will be able to purchase the album (shop/online), for example, iTunes, HMV and Amazon.

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert Information

As London Grammar are an indie band and not recognized globally, the venues they play at are relatively small. They would not be playing at venues like the London O2 Arena, as they are for artists who are more mainstream. We researched where they played at earlier this year around the UK in order to incorporate accurate information onto our magazine advert, as we want to include upcoming tour dates around the UK.

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - The Black Keys

Digipak Research: Advert - Peace & Wolf Alice

This magazine advert displays how the band's iconic 'peace' logo is used as promotional material and can be seen as a form of iconography. Symbolism is a typical feature which is composed on promotional advertisement for bands as it creates a sense of belonging. In our music video, we captured a range of footage which composed iconic abstract representations which symbolise the feelings of the artist. Personally, I think it would look effective to integrate a sharp photo of e.g. 'the red wine bottle' we used, to represent the artist's deep feelings and emotions which are highlighted throughout the song.

I really love the simplistic approach to this magazine advert, as the thin handwriting styled font is centralised along the top against the pale shade of pink which connotes a subtle feeling. In the centre of the advert, a polaroid image is displayed of the band which expresses a vintage and old fashioned composition. The tour dates are composed in a clear bold font in a linear, centralised layout which I think looks effective. The focal point within this magazine advert is the photograph portrayed and I like how the background creates a border for it to stand out. For my magazine advert, I want to create a similar layout, following the concept of keeping it simplistic, but effective. 

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - Noah & The Whale

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - Bastille

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - Arctic Monkeys

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - Lana Del Rey

Digipak Research: Album Cover - Imagine Dragons

Digipak Research: Album Cover - Bastille

Digipak Research: Album Cover - HAIM

Digipak Research: Symbolic Album Covers: The Neighbourhood - I Love You

Digipak Research: Symbolic Album Covers: Bad Suns - Language & Perspective

These album covers consist of symbols and imagery which represent the band's image through iconography. The reason I decided to analyse these type of albums was purely due to the idea of constructing an alternative option to having the artist on the front cover. For example, our music video consists of various props which are significant to the visuals which were composed and hold a lot of meaning. We have ideas surrounding the notion of using a prop from our music video to be displayed on the front cover or the back of the cover - where the track listing appears.