Album cover art

In lesson we have assessed the importance of album art and highlighted the codes and conventions found in them. Album covers...:

• Establish the genre of the music
• Establish the identity of the artist
• Establishes the credibility of the artist and album itself
• Seek to attract audiences attention through striking imagery
• Act as a persuasive device by drawing the audience in
• Can be original/inventive/innovative/unique or conventional depending on what is sought
• Use codes and conventions to communicate with the audience

General conventions of an album cover

• Awards/accreditation
• Name of album
• Photo imagery
• Name of artist/band

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band Album Cover Analysis

• Pop art: An emerging of popular culture and high class art e.g. Andy Warhol and Peter Blake. Peter Blake created The Beatles album cover. It was considered revolutionary, combining pop music and art to form a new media form itself. This encouraged other to take their album covers seriously as it is a means of voicing the bands style/ideologies.
• Flowers - this represents a hippy like mentality of the band and is a code for nature and pretty/aesthetics. 
• Drum - this is a code for the Beatles being musically talented. The font style on the drum connotes circus fonts, which is symbolic of the fun, vibrant, entertaining and performance nature of the Beatles.
• Band members are holding instruments suggesting that they use music as a weapon
• Flamboyantly coloured costumes are juxtaposingly military in style.
• The serious facial expressions of The Beatles could reflect how they take their music seriously and, again, juxtaposes their hippy like mentality.
• Iconic people fill up the background. This may suggest that the Beatles themselves are iconic and their positioning at the forefront connotes their importance and hints that they are the new most current icons leading the way for music.
• Setting: Tropical Island= How the Beatles perceive themselves to be in their own league somewhat.
• Blue skies = connotes freedom, summer.
• Palm tree= exotic = The Beatles may be moving away from the mundaneness of British music and making their own more exotic music.

Nirvana/Nevermind

• This may connote how, as babies, we are taught to be obsessed or consumed with money
• The innocence of the baby and the supposed 'corruption' of the money is juxtaposing in itself
• As swimming itself is an instinct from the age of a baby, this may suggest that we want money instinctively.
• Carrot/stick approach = how people will do anything for money/bate like a fish
• Nakedness = vulnerability 
• (oppositional reading) Money = freedom and Water = freedom
• (preferred reading) the blueness and serenity of the ocean behind the baby reflects innocence and the baby is being led into the scary unknown by the money.
• The dollar bill may reflect American Society.
• The font style is bold = serious. As well as simple = honest/pure and connotes sophistication/strength and elegance. It is tall and thin which may symbolise how Nirvana are proud believe themselves to be important as well as all of these other factors.
• The font underneath is wobbly and distorted which may represent American Society.

This is an ideological album cover that aims to make a serious political statement.

Rage against the machine (self titled)

• This is also an ideological piece of media and reflects a political protest. This may mean that the band themselves are protesting against society.
• It has a newspaper set out: Font = cut out of a newspaper/black and white photo's.
• Simplistic as the photo speaks for itself as does the title of the band and album 'rage against the machine.' the machine possibly being the government/society.