Charlotte Ansell -A2 Media - Research (Album/Poster Art)

Solemn Sun - 'Josef' EP Cover

3/9/2015

This is the official EP cover for the single 'Josef' by Solemn Sun (the song my music video is on).

The monochromatic colouration reflects the bleak and dark nature of the song and the water is a reference to some of the lyrics of the song.
"Keep your head above the water, cos if you don't you know you're sure to drown"

After looking at their official cover for the album/EP, it has become evident to me that my idea is highly different. I wish to portray alcoholism, with the alcohol being the water and the addiction being the drowning. Either that or, use the multitude of building shots that I have included with in the video to represent the feeling of being small compared to the rest of the world around you (worms eye view looking up at buildings given the perspective that the concrete figures are towering over the person).

Bonobo - 'Black Sands' Album Cover and Single Covers

3/9/2015

Bonobo appeals to their alternative audience through the use of abstract patterns and earthy natural colours. This would help to draw in their audience as it isn't 'commercial' in the sense of they art doesn't follow the trend of what is already out there, an 'artistic liscence' has been put in to place as the experimental art has been made - they haven't just reproduced what is already on the market.

For their remix versions of the albums, they use the same album cover yet they change the hue in order to 'remix' the album art to fit with the new feeling of the album. The original contains blues and greens which reflects the calm and relaxing nature of the album. The remixed version contains harsher colours which helps to translate the tones of the new version of the songs.

Online Consumption

3/9/2015

When 'Solemn Sun' is searched in Amazon Music & iTunes, this ^ is what appears. Most of the 67 search results(Amazon music) are of Solemn Sun or Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun which was the name of the band before they changed their image and sound.
Comparing the band's album covers to those of the others such as 'Solemn & Nomora' or 'Conrad Greggor' it can be seen that the album covers are fairly different. Although they all contain a range of use of nature, Solemn Sun's are more alternative with the use of the crow/black plague mask for 'A Song About Death'. The alternative nature of the covers is something which I will keep in mind when designing my own digi pak.

Lady Gaga

3/6/2015

Even though this poster is in black and white, it still has the ability to capture and audience. The use of the star image of Lady Gaga upon a poster promoting her music doesn't only make sense but it aids in grabbing attention.
The illuminated highlights also help to gain the attention of passers by/viewers of this poster as it stops the image from becoming flat meaning that there is almost a dimension of 'life' added to the visual.
The poster contains the image used on the album cover for 'Born this Way' - in using the same imagery the audience are able to make a more concrete link between all the elements of both artist and their work. It is a clever idea as not only does it cut down time in terms of producing the items but it is also a stronger idea as when the viewers go to browse their local music store, or iTunes/ other online music source, they are able to recognise the art work of which they had earlier witnessed meaning it makes it easier for them to go and by the advertised product if they were unsure or had forgotten the name of the artist or album.

MUSE

2/28/2015

Muse are an alternative/space rock band.
Their genre of music is reflected within their poster art work.
This helps to attract their target audience as it plays upon the futuristic nature reflecting the type of music that they produce. Muse wish to capture the attention of their already gained audience but also of those who may not have heard of them. The bright, almost garish, colours attract immediate attention to the poster the design is so 'in your face' - if this poster was A1 + in size there is no way that it can be missed.
They have managed to attract new audiences without losing the old ones - sometimes the introduction of colour isn't suited for various artists but as Muse has an energetic feel, the design sets to compliment that.
In the present day, people are looking for escapism rather than realism, this is something which is being offered by Muse's poster - the fantasy nature of the imagery offers the viewer of the poster to see a world in which they aren't used to witnessing - this may then cause a spark of interest, causing them to look further into 'Muse' - creating a larger audience for the band.

The Clash - 'London Calling'

12/11/2014

The album art for The Clash’s album ‘London Calling’ is one of the most iconic covers there has been in rock history. The Clash are very much a punk rock band and this particular album is post punk but it incorporates a huge variety of sounds on it including punk, reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock.

The image was taken by Pennie Smith but she never originally wanted it to be used as she thought it to be out of focus. It was in fact this quality that made it all the more appealing to the graphic designer Ray Lowry. The photographs captures the moment that the bassist of the band Paul Simonon as he was about to smash up his bass guitar. This photograph was in fact named the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine. It was chosen as it shows a loss of control, a quality that rock and roll had provoked. This image was an "accident", as it was taken Pennie Smith was moving backwards as the bass moved closer to her, the shutter was pressed just at the right moment to capture this moment.

The Clash’s music is heavily guitar based , the smashing of the guitar doesn't only reflect this but also the feeling of rebellion that the album has. The subject matters addressed in the album are those of social displacement, unemployment along with drug use and the responsibilities of adulthood. ‘The card cheat’, ‘Koka kola’ and ‘London Calling’ both reference drugs, ‘London Calling’ criticises the casual use of drugs “we ain't got no high, except for that one with the yellowy eye” where as the other song refer to under ground ‘opium den[s]’ and in ‘Koka Kola’ they refer to the advertisement world and that of coca cola as ‘ Kokaine’.

The album cover doesn't only show the rebellion of the era but also the edginess of the punk genre and that they aren't afraid to go on stage and smash things up. It is a sign of rebelling against what is expected of them and breaking out from society and all the issues that were present at the time, much like the idea of global warming presented in the song ‘London Calling’ - see lyrics below [1].

[1]

The album cover for London Calling was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.

The cover artwork was designed by Ray Lowry and was a tribute to Elvis Presley’s self titled debut album. This was done through the use of typography, the colours used in the title and the positioning.

Neon Trees - 'Picture Show'

12/11/2014

The album ‘Picture Show’ is Neon Trees second studio album that they released. Neon Trees have a range of music genres from pop rock, alternative rock, indie rock to New Wave. Their album ‘Picture Show’ is however, alternative rock.

The song ‘Everybody talks’ is basically about love and lust. He wants to know why she won’t ‘’look my [his] way’’. The lyrics ‘’I'm a sorry sucker and this happens all the time’’ connotes that he falls in love too easily and is unable to stop himself from doing so. This relates back to the album cover as the man is admiring the woman's face of which is on the curtains and the fact that the photograph has been taken in a bedroom set helps to reinforce the connotations of lustfulness.

In the song ‘Teenage sounds’ it describes how they are ‘’sick of everyone trying to be famous’’ this again can relate to the album but in a completely different way to the point described above. The woman looks as though she is trying to emulate Marilyn Monroe through the use of her bright red lipstick with a 1980’s twist with the heart shaped sunglasses. The song ‘Weekend’ also talks about how they could ‘‘pretend for the weekend’’. The way in which this could be interpreted is through people losing individuality and being heavily driven by the influences of others and therefore seeing the success of others and jumping upon the bandwagon and expecting that they too will one day turn out like who they imitated. This relates to the lyrics ‘’I'm sick of living under everybody's shadow’’ which suggests that he [the band] are fed up with those who have little talent who make it far despite not having a genuine ability.

The album art has been created by setting up a bedroom setting. The lighting has been placed behind and to the right of the camera and is a mix of white and red light. The colour red is connected with sex and danger and therefore connotes that there is a threat that women pose to men and the way they make them act. Throughout the whole album there is either a sense of fakery or one of lust and wanting to be with someone both ideas are represented through the album cover. The woman’s image has either been physically placed onto the material or projected this can be seen from the way in which the curtains fall and the folds continue and line up. It would be hard to edit and image over the top in post production but not impossible, from looking at the image I feel as though it is physically in the room.

The title of the album is ‘Picture Show’ this is referenced in the song ‘Hooray for Hollywood’. This again relates to the album cover as it is talking about fame and fortune, there is also a list of names sung in the song, one of them being Marilyn’s name. This explains the iconic look that the woman is being shown to have. There are many ways in which the album art can be interpreted and many ways in which the songs can change those ideas.

His dreams have the ability to remove him from reality and create false pretences. The woman on his curtains is there to stop him feeling on his own and crazy when no one else is around.

Fall Out Boy - 'Save Rock and Roll'

12/11/2014

The Phoenix Lyrics

Fall Out Boy’s album cover was a photograph taken by Roger Stonehouse in Burma. There was no intention for this photograph to be used on an album cover but when the band discovered this image they found something that was fitting to their album’s over all sound and message. On their official website they explained what they saw in the photography, this is what they said; ‘’ We came across the punk and monk image on the Internet and it really solidified what we were trying to get across on the record: The idea of old and new clashing. Tradition and change coming together’’.

Fall Out Boy’s genre is pop punk/rock. Their song ‘The Phoenix’ contains the lyrics written above (1). This relates to the Album art work as it is talking about taking an old idea an making it new. In the world that we live in, traditional values are slowly being lost and taken over by new ideas. However there are now some older ideas that are being re-introduced and revamped and brought up to date, much like the phoenix being raised in the song, the mythological phoenix has the ability to raise itself from the ashes much like the ideas being brought back. This album was the first that they produced after going on a four year break, the album cover also connotes ideas of the band reforming and switching up the music they release and they changes that they made in themselves. Along with the ideas of clash of culture and the change happening in society it also shows the change within themselves. Old ideas are being held onto, some people are launching them selves into changed where as others cling on to what they know and are afraid to let go. The photograph shows that western ideas such as clothing have been brought into a once independent and highly traditional country such as Burma. The song ‘The phoenix’ is a lot about rebellion too. The line “So we can take the world back from the heart-attacked
One maniac at a time we will take it back” implies that the people who are oppressed or different will break out of the shell of society and make their mark upon the way in which the world is viewed. Fall Out Boy are reinventing themselves but are still holding on to what it was that got them to where they are. This album has a distinct difference in sound to the previous ones that they produced when they first started making music.

This image was taken as it is seen. There have been no obvious effects added and it was taken in the location. It is hard to tell whether the boys were dressed for the image and knew each other before or, whether they were simply taken off the street and are unaware who one another is. It is most likely that the camera was put onto manual focus in order to have the foreground fully focused and the background blurred. The AC/DC logo has however been erased from the ‘punks’ t-shirt, this has either been done due to copyright issues or that they band didn't want to promote AC/DC.