Textual Analysis of Back Cover 3

This is the back cover for Michael Jacksons history album. This cover follows the same image of the sky but this time without the image of Michael Jackson. The use of sky follows the same imagery taken from the front cover as the sky on the front cover is showing the statues highness and power. This is a good idea because it follow the same image for the front and back covers which looks well presented and shows that it has a meaning behind it because its not just all over the place and not followed. The text is all the same font style. The album has two discs and the album title is put before the start of both sets of lyrics for both disks. Again HIS is an italic and bigger font to the TORY this is emphasising that its HIS history meaning Michael Jacksons. The first disk before the lyrics it says History Begins and the for the second set of lyrics it says History Continues this is showing that with both disks of amazing songs its emphasising that Michael Jackson has had an illustrious career. The lyrics are all in the same font of block capitals which shows it easy to see for the audience and it also goes well with the background again making it easy to read. At the top left it shows a quote from the actual singer himself Michael Jackson which will make the audience want to buy the album so they have an actual quotation of what Michael said. This album cover doesn’t have a bar code which is fairly unique because most albums follow the convention of having a bar cover at either the bottom right or left hand side of the cover. The trademark logos of the distributors and the text about the producers are at the bottom right hand side and this text is significantly smaller than the rest of the text as it isn’t seen as important as the main titles and lyrics of the album.

Textual Analysis of Front Cover 3

The album is a Michael Jackson album called History. It was released in 1995 and it contains all the greatest hits up to that date. This album got to number 1 in several countries and was a massive hit in the whole world.

The main focus of the cover is the massive statue of Michael Jackson that instantly implies that he is the main priority of the album and he is the king of pop. The title of his name and the title of the album vary in sizes and font however, all the text is in block capitals which gives more impact than normal text. The fact that Jackson and History is in a bigger font is because the use of Jackson is showing his last name and that he is the only Jackson around and History is the name of the album so that’s what he wants everyone to see when they’re in the shops to purchase the album. The statue of Michael Jackson is an actual statue what was made in real life. Statues of people such as famous people are to represent their work in their specific industry, they usually show the history of that certain person as their history has shaped life. So this statue of Michael Jackson goes with the title of the album ‘History’ as the statue is historic of his career. The background of the sky indicates that the statue is standing tall and further expressing his King of Pop status. The statue on the album will be shown to the audience when they see the album and they will instantly know its Michael Jackson because he is so iconic to his career and this statue emphasises this.

Textual Analysis of Back Cover 2

This is the back cover for Death Cab For Cuties album Plans. This cover looks much like the front cover but differently set out. This back cover is more dark and mysterious where the front cover is easy to see. Again the back cover used the same photo of the plant but its harder to see. The use of the wholes in the wall at the back is again used to show the sun shining through like it did on the front cover. However, on this cover the light is much brighter whereas the plant is darker. This is showing the alternate to the front cover which will show the audience both sides of each main part of the covers. The lyrics are set out to the left hand side of the cover just one after the other again using the same font style and colour. The cover is very basic and doesn’t really say much about it. The lyrics are dark colours like the rest of the cover showing a mysterious style. The bar code is at the bottom left hand side of the cover with the text about the record label and band website is on the right hand side. The bands website is used on the cover which is good for the audience as it allows them to view the website if they have a computer with the internet. The cover overall doesn’t really look very presentable as it looks quite basic and easy to make however, this doesn’t give any facts that the band are the same as the album has sold exceptionally well.

Textual Analysis of Front Cover 2

This album cover is showing my chosen band Death Cab For Cutie’s 6th studio album which was brought out back in 2005.

This album cover doesn’t really display much, its basically the title of the band and title of the album overlaying on the cover which is of grass and a plant. The background of the album is out of focus symbolising that it’s the title and plant which they want to emphasise mainly to audience. The album cover sends an image to the audience that there isn’t really a story behind the cover. The title doesn’t go with the cover and the imaging of title, the title is trying to get the point across that nobody makes a plan they live their life how it pans out and that emphasises that the album doesn’t have anything set out in stone it will come across how the band have wanted it to. The title of the album PLANS is shown in block capitals so that it is the main important meaning behind the album it want to give that certain meaning to each song which is represented to the audience. The band name is in normal letters which no capitals as the band are saying the title is more important than the band name because the band have been around several years whereas the album title has never been around before so it is more important to get that title across. The image is showing a contrast of colours between red and green which are fairly colour and stand out however, the background is full black with light shining through. Overall the cover is quite dark and possible represents how mellow the album is and how easy it comes across because the cover is also easy. The cover overall is easily set out and it doesn’t look like much effort has gone into the cover whereas the album is amazing. So I think the album is trying to get across that its quite mellow and easy to listen to which the album cover also represents.

Textual Analysis of Back Cover 1

The back cover for Chris Browns album Graffiti is set out in three columns as the lyrics are on the left then the photo of Chris Brown in the middle and the rest of the lyrics on the right side of the cover. The main emphasis of the cover is again the photo of Chris Brown as its not really following and meaning to the cover however, the photo look quite futuristic with the use of the glasses as they look unique which is emphasising his own style and music scene. The way the lyrics are set out allow the cover space to be used up so it isn’t leave much blank space. The lyrics use a unique font style which both the front and back covers follow which is the graffiti style font. This font is used for all the important text on the covers which is a good way to follow the structure and unique meaning of the word graffiti which is both the title of the album and the font style. The use of a dark blue background goes well with the white text as its easy to see for the audience. The bottom half of the cover shows all the information about the producer of the album and the record label who is distributing it this text is all in the same font as its more serious and isn’t really part of the album style. The bar cover is also set out on the bottom right hand side which again fills up the space this allows the cover to look well presented and set out which gives a sense of a well worked cover.

Textual Analysis of Front Cover 1

This front cover is for Chris Browns' latest album Graffiti. It was released in 2009 and is his latest album to be released.

The album is called Graffiti and it shows the album singer Chris Brown holding a can of spray paint expressing the album name graffiti as he is making graffiti. Chris Brown is the main focus of the album as he is the biggest thing on the album he is stood holding a guitar on his back and a can of spray paint. The guitar shows that his album is moving into a kind of rock genre which is different to his other albums. It shows the rock side of the album just by showing him with a guitar because people are used to see Chris Brown as just a singer but this album cover showing him with a guitar will instantly show his audience that he is going a different way now and putting some rock into his music. The album doesn’t have his own name on it, it just has the album name. This is saying that he has made such a big name for himself that he doesn’t need his name on the album because people will already know who he is just by showing himself on the album. The album name Graffiti is in a unique graffiti font which Chris Brown is shown spraying himself from the spray paint can therefore showing why its called Graffiti. Unlike other albums this cover is emphasising the album name and due to Chris Brown shown making the album name himself its giving a sort of meaning behind the cover which is how I want my album cover to come across. The hand what Chris Brown is using to spray the graffiti is bionic this is showing a sense of futuristic further emphasising that his album will be like nothing anyone has ever heard him sing before. The album is quite dark and this shows the dark side of the album and how its changed from upbeat to more of a rock sound. It also shows the seriousness of the album and how Chris Brown wants his audience to see that he is serious about this album.

Subsidiary Product 1 - CD Covers Analysis of Codes and Conventions

When an artist or band produce the covers for their CD released album they follow several codes and conventions in which every CD covers follow for example, The main title being the band/artist name, the title of the album, main photo for the album then for the back cover of the album they use a bar code, track list for the album, the main photo, distribution logos and possibly the band or artists website.

The main title/masthead which ever cover follows is the band or artists name and this will probably always be the first or second biggest font on the cover as it’s saying to the audience that this album is theirs. They will use this to try and attract the audience to buy the album because if the artist or band are popular then their name will be the biggest font or the most stylish font so that their audience will see it and instantly know that it’s the album they want to buy. As most bands and artists follow this convention some choose not to have their own name on the album and this may be because they’re very popular and if they use their self as the main photo then their audience will already know that this album is the one they want to buy even without having their name on it. The next convention is the title of the album every artist/band has this on their album because its showing their audience a possible brief introduction about the album by giving the album name. The title of the album isn’t very popular on album covers in the sense of attractiveness but it does show the audience that it’s a new album because all the artists/bands albums will have different names. Font colour is also what bands/artists use to express attractiveness because sometimes they use very colourful fonts to catch the eye of their audience however, sometimes the font colour follows the colours of the main photo which provides consistency for the audience. The album title also sometimes provides how the album is trying to be expressed for example sometimes bands/artists will use stylish fonts or unique fonts to what the album is about and this will show their audience a possible genre behind the album. Next is the main photo for the album and this is basically the most important part of the album as it’s the part which is most attractive for the audience as it draws them in to whose album it is and what the album is about. A lot of bands/artists use photos of themselves which instantly shows their audience whose album it is which is a good way to find the album easily in the shops however, it could be seen as boring to use a photo of themselves. So some bands and artists use photos which aren’t themselves and possibly give of what kind of genre the album is.

The back cover of an album has conventions which bands and artists usually all follow the same way. Every album usually has a bar code at either the left or right bottom corner of the cover and the is basically use so that the shops who are selling the album can scan to get the price of the album. The track list for the album is always on the back cover of the album and this gives a very brief insight for the audience for what kind of songs the album will consist of. Even though you can’t physically listen to the songs by their names they still give the audience a sense of meaning behind the songs. Back covers like the front usually always have a main photo in which will cover the whole background of the cover and then the text will overlap in front of the photo. Around the bar code, albums usually have distribution logos which show what record label are distributing the album and their audience will recognise this however, they’re only very small logos as they aren’t very important. Finally near the bar code again the band or artist usually show their website URL so that their audience have a different way to access information and news about he band or artist.

Overall with these codes and conventions it allows people who are buying the albums to instantly know that’s its an album as every band or artist usually follow them.