CD / Digi Pak Cover Analysis

 

I am…Sasha Fierce – 2008

Beyoncé’s album cover denotes an image of her topless, holding herself. Her posture signifies that she is a powerful and a strong female character because she is upright and has a stern facial expression. The text also implies power and wealth because it is written in silver and in capitals hence showing that she is successful and a significant individual. It is also quite an elegant and strong font hence again, linking back to the artist.

The fact that she is topless juxtaposes this because it gives this sense of vulnerability hence we are able to connote that Beyoncé is quite an open individual. It also links into her album because her album is rather personal and emotional therefore the fact that she is stripped, suggests that her music within the album will also be quite raw. This links into her success and how her success and popularity means that she is somewhat stripped bare of her personal and own life. As well as this, it could also represent how she is a feminist and how she believes that we are all equal regardless of gender. Therefore the fact that she is covering up her body signifies that she is trying to portray that she is just like everybody else and she doesn’t want her femininity and her body to define her and who she is. In addition, the colour also links into the message because the use of black and white and only this within the front album cover suggests again that she doesn’t want to be defined by her race etc. It connotes this sense of equality and it is also powerful because the black and white suggests that she wanted to emphasise the photo and the message as opposed to the colours used.

Fearless – 2008

Taylor Swift’s album cover denotes an image of her looking away from the camera with her hair blowing around her. The album is called Fearless and the image works well with this because her hair blowing around her makes her somewhat look like a lion hence we can connote that she is a strong and fierce character. It also makes her look wild and fun. Despite this, she also looks quite angelic and young because her hair is in ringlets hence connoting that she is quite childlike and naïve. The image and overall album cover looks quite light hence gives the impression that she is angelic and flawless. The fact that she is wearing quite a revealing dress again signifies her femininity and her vulnerability as an artist. It’s quite a simple cover hence connotes her simplicity as an artist and how she is quite an emotional and personal artist. The colours used light brown, gold, and white, are all quite representative of her background as this country girl therefore connoting that her music is quite natural and she as an artist is too. The bold, white text again signify the fact that she is quite an innocent and emotional artist but it could also connote the fact that she is strong and stands out; she is a different and unique artist. Despite this, the overall look of the cover makes Taylor look feminine and attractive hence appealing to her target audience.

  Nine Track Mind – 2016

Charlie Puth’s album cover denotes an image of him turned to the right wearing a green shirt. The bright yellow background is not only bold which makes the image of the artist stand out on the cover more, but it also signifies his creative and colourful personality and hence could suggest that his music is very upbeat and cheery. Yellow can also connote happiness and joy thus we get positive vibes from Charlie Puth. This contrasts his outfit because he is wearing a shirt and this connotes formality and perhaps even his success because it relates to business. This links into his hair and facial expression because his hair is slicked back and this suggests that he takes pride in his appearance and tries to present himself well all the time. His quite serious facial expression suggests that Charlie is serious about his music career and despite being able to have fun, he takes some things seriously. His position is also important because it somewhat allows us to see more of his mind whereas if he was facing towards the camera, we would focus on his face.

The font has also been written in a really quirky format and this connotes that Charlie has a personality which is unlike any other – he is an individual. It is also thin therefore the emphasis is more on him as opposed to the name; he is almost recognizable just by his face and you don’t need to hear his name to know who he is. This suggests his success and popularity. It is also quite a clean and professional font because it is thin.