Good and Bad album covers!

To help with the making of our digi packs, we decided to look at some existing ones to see what works in the industry and what doesn't in different genres.

Pop;

One Direction - This album cover is a good example for a pop album cover because by the picture of the boys we can see that they look happy, like theyre having fun - so you automatically assume that the album will be fun, lively songs. As far as the layout goes, it's very simple. Just a photo of the band having fun. The band name is very clear across the top, the black writing contrasting with the pale blue background. Their logo is also very prominent. With the logo being on the top of album and single covers, people will recognise it whenever they see it in future on any other merchandise they release.

Christina Aguilera - Personally I don't think that this is a very good album cover. Theres no image of the artist apart from the image of an eye which may not even belong to the star. The name doesn't really stand out, the colour blends in with the image, unless you are viewing it up close. The name of the album has the same problem in my opinion. None of the images really go together either. The word 'Fighter' is generally used as a strong, powerful phrase but here it doesn't resemble it's normal meaning. The same goes with the main picture, it doesn't really go with the name of the Album.



Classical;

Katherine Jenkins - now this is a bad example of a classical album cover. For starters, the image doesn't look like her, so it wouldn't make someone recognise her instantly. Adding to this the photo of her looks like it would be a bit more fitting for a possible pop video. Following this, there's no difference between the name of the album or the name of the artist. With the writing being in white, it blends in with the picture of her face. Theres nothing particularly eye catching about this cover and it doesn't really look classical either.

Katherine Jenkins - This album is by the same artist but looks completely different. This is a good example of a Classical album. It's very elegant. We can see she is wearing a nice evening dress, decorated with pearls and diamonds. Her make up and hair again are very elegant and quite natural looking. And although the name of the album and her name are the same colour and are in white, it is very clear what's what. Her name stands out because it' all in capitals and a different font to the name 'Sacred Arias'. If someone was to see this in a shot or surrounded by lots of other albums, this would stand out and be more obvious that it's her.


R'n'B 

Rihanna - This is a perfect cover for this genre, I think. The black and white is quite powerful, especially with the colour of her name, right across the the middle. The way her name has been placed makes it really eye catching, and it's clear that that is the name of the artist, and that's the most important aspect of the picture. The title of the album is still eye catching, even though it's so small and simple, with it being in which infront of such a dark background. I also feel it looks just right for an R'n'B album, with her look and the whole look of the cover.

Rihanna - Again, I have used the same artist here. This is a very bad example of an R'n'B album cover. It looks very gothic and not like Rihanna at all. The image doesn't include the artist's name anywhere, just the first enitial of it. Which because that's not how she's known, it's not instantly recognisable as her. Especially with this picture of her, the way she's holding her face, with heavy black make up. It just not how Rihannah is known. The title of the album is also very unclear, unless you looks closely you barely see it at all.