Individual Album Artwork

In preparation for creating our album artwork, we all individually created our own ideas and visions. This is my individual album design. Through our research of similar product, I found that it was particularly important to present the artist on the cover, so audiences value her star image.

The style I am going for is a more synthetic R&B type of artwork. I replicated the technical conventions such as using a mid shot and keeping the framing simple. I am therefore sticking to the R&B genre of music, where artists are typically on their cover to present their star image.

I plan to use a light shade of purple for the background and overall colour of the album. I feel like purple will compliment her star image well, and was incorporated into our music video such as the lip gloss. This shade of purple connotes a more sophisticated but still girly personality of the artist, as it is not a pink but not a masculine colour either. I was considering that there is more than song on this album, in which they vary in mood, style and theme. I think this shade is a good overall colour to use for the album, as it can represent all different kinds of tracks on the album.

In addition to this, I have included similar symbolic conventions in the album that are present in our music video. In particular, I liked the idea of incorporating the snake into the artwork. This is present throughout her campaign, and becomes almost an iconography for her. This links to her star image of being constructed as mysterious and powerful. It effectively gives her a unique selling point for her target audience of 16-21 females.

I think this design appeals to both her target audience and a male audience, as she is shown to be a powerful and sexy figure. She is wearing modern and up to trend outfits, along with her hair and makeup. The purple shade tells the target audience that she is a young artist, as it is a youthful colour associated with a younger generation. The composition is likewise very simple, suggesting that it is not a complex artist and therefore suitable for the younger audience.

In this artwork, my artist is constructed as a feminine and sexy figure, but with power and confidence. The whole campaign is revolved around her, evident from the concept that she is the only subject in the album. She is associated with a snake, which turns into her iconography and almost a logo. Audiences will think of her and the snake to be sneaky, manipulative and dominant. From the symbolic conventions however, such as costume, she is shown to be fashionable, stylish and a very modern artist; keeping up with today's trends.

I have discovered that although technical conventions can be more associated with other genres, it is the symbolic convention that defines which genre it is placed in. For example, I have used a close up, a typical technical convention seen in more acoustic genres. However, with the mise-en-scene of her hair, her eyes looking at the camera, and the background purple colour: these define the genre as a more pop-R&B genre.

FRONT:

INSIDE:

CD:

BACK:

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