Band Shots

Below are a selection of shots we took of the band at the burnt down house in Hammersmith. We are hoping to use them for either the bands album cover or their press release. Either way, it was a good idea to take them !!!

I think these two images would make a really good front cover. They are a simple portrayal of the band and will easily show the consumer their identity as an indie band. The background is grimy yet beautifully textured which would link them even tighter to the indie genre.

This is a shot of the band posing infront of their instruments. It strengthens the view that they are signed to an indie label and we could use this for either their press release or the inside sleave/back cover for the album.

This final shot is the band posing through a destroyed part of a wall. If anything, it is just a really good photo, emphasising the uniqueness of their location. There are plenty of rough textures and the band look out of place - which i find strangely attractive!!!

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

This is an analysis of the new 'Arctic Monkeys' album Favourite Worst Nightmare


Images: The cover is really captivating. It contrasts the dull and grim terraced houses of Sheffield with interesting, colourful and mad artwork. The plain grays and blacks of the building and sky offer a stark contrast to the vibrant, bright, multi-coloured animations stuck inside the house.


The actually album itself is more exciting than a regular plastic CD case. It is a fold-out cover with many compartments to hold a lyrics list as well as photographs of the band.


The inside sleeve offers a more detailed version of the cover imagery - lots of very bright animated cartoons boxed inside a dirty house. This contained expression of colour suggests that the band (like the creatures) are ready to break free and let everything out. It offers a burst of energy, suggesting lots of noise. The manic pictures suggest distorted music and can be linked to the rock/indie genre (which is is from). It shows a band full of energy.

Text: The name of the band, 'Arctic Monkeys' it exaggerated in well stylised artistic writing. The name of the album 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' is also done in this syle. This name is a good one because it is a padadox, juxtaposing favourite with nightmare. This makes the consumer think and want to purchase the album.

The Text itself is positioned in the top left hand corner of the album which is generally where a consumer looks first to identify who the artist is. By doing this we are immedialy aware of whose album it is. Similarly the bright orange contrasts with the dull grey sky and makes the writing stand out even more. This is repeated on the tracklist on the reverse of the album.

The text itself is seperated from the image which makes it stand out more. You don't confuse the artist of the album name with the album art which can be really frustrating when you are in a shop looking for a perticular CD and you can't find it.

The quality of the album cover suggests that the band is mainstream - nice glossy cardboard cover, well made and presented neatly and professionally, a high quility animated piece of artwork done with professional printing ink.

Album Cover Research

Typical Features

Front
The name of the band/artist.
The name of the Album.
Album art - usually a picture of some sort (photograph/animation) representing either the artist or something about the album's name or what the songs represent.
Often a sticker on the front saying 'includes all the hits...'
Usually a 'parental advisory explicit content' logo

Back
A ordered tracklist of all the featured songs.
Often artwork, usually similar or continuing the artwork on the front cover.
The name of the record company who produced the album.
The name of the record label who promotes the band.
The year the album was released.
A bar code.

What is the point of an album cover?

Lets you know who the artist is and what the album is called.
Often artists make their covers as creative and visually excellent as possible so consumers will immediatly notice it out of a group of CD's.
It can advertise the genre of the music.
It can show characteristics of the band and make them seem appealing.
It lets you know who produced the band. If they are a new, unheard of band then if you recognise the record label you may want to hear them.
It lets you see what tracks are on the album - ones you may or may not recognise. It advertises all their hits so if you've heard a song on the radio you can buy the album if that song it on it.

Album Ideas

Here are a few examples of possible ambum ideas. Taken from established bands, they give an insight into different but easy styles that are effective and easy mimic.


This is 'Dizzee Rascals' album cover for 'Boy In Da Corner'. It isn't perticularly difficult to create as it is merely a pholotgraph with an edited background. It is effective in its simplicity and the bold black writing stands out in contrast to the yellow. The picture also fits the genre of the music, grime.















Although this artwork isn't from 'the maccabees' album cover, it is a cover they relased for the single 'first love' which i really like. The whole thing has been done on the computer and is drawn on (as if a child has done it). Contrasting to many album covers with photographs, this cover is effective because it is original and the drawn picture is vibrant and stands out.














This is 'The Stokes' newest album cover from 'First Impressions Of Earth'. The simplicity of the cover makes it a really effective one. Not much has actually been done to the black background other than a few inserted pictures but yet it still works. The albums name is written on all 4 corners of the cover.












The Rakes album cover is good because it is prodominantly composed of a single photograph taken of city landscape. Unlike Dizzee Rascals album where a man has been cut around to fit a created background, the rakes album just puts a picture in the middle of the cover but it still works well.















The Braverys album as you can see is more complicated than any of the other because a mythical beast has been drawn which would be very hard to do, especially in such detail. However, the other picture is a simplified version of the braverys cover and i think this works just as well. Although there isn't as much intregue and detial, the bold black and blue colours contrast and make the album stand out.