Research and Analysis of Album Packs

This is the front cover art for Lady Gaga's 2008 album, 'The Fame'.
The cover features the titled artist, Lady Gaga on an extreme close-up of her face. The artist is wearing big interesting glasses, which mask most of her face, and this is very reminiscent of Lady Gaga's style that she portrays on a day to day basis. The way her face is covered up could also be used to make her seem mysterious to the person buying the album, considering this was for her debut.
The colour scheme here seems to be mostly blacks, greys and whites, with the exception of Lady Gaga's skin tone. The artist name 'Lady Gaga' is displayed across the bottom of the cover in a bold font that catches the attention despite everything going on in the image. The title of the album is embedded into Gaga's glasses which is an interesting design feature. The white on black glasses makes the title stand out from the rest of the cover also, as it is a stark contrast.


This is the back cover art for Lady Gaga's album 'The Fame', as shown above. Again, the titled artist is shown here, but in a medium profile shot which captures most of her body. The artwork shown here is linked with the artwork on the front cover of the CD, as the artist shown is the same, with the same striking make-up applied to her face and the same props, like the crystal microphone she holds, however this is more prominent in this image. The colour scheme for the rear cover is mostly blacks and greys, which coordinate with Lady Gaga's black outfit. The fact that she is wearing a black skintight catsuit shows a darker side to the artist's personality and an edginess, so it is only fitting that she wear black.
Behind the artist there is a fuzz of light that surrounds her, which seems to emulate from her bright hair and the bright microphone. This could also be symbolic of her being a star and the backup lights that artists have on stage when performing. This could be a mimick of that.
The track list is shown in white and grey and sticks out from the black background. There are more tracks than
usually seen on an album, perhaps due to this being a debut. The artists name 'Lady Gaga' is also displayed across the cover, which is perhaps repeated because the album is a debut and is trying to sell as household name. There is a lot of production and artist information (websites ect) supplied, again probably due to the fact of the album being a debut, and being the first chance at advertising the artist properly.

This is the front cover art for the 2009 album released by British recording artist, Lily Allen. The main album shot features a wide shot of large playful-like letter, with the title artist LilyAllen loungedon it. The letter is a large L which presumably stands for 'Lily'.
The colour scheme of the cover is predominantly black and pale pink, which is even reflected by the artist's appearance, who is seen wearing a pink dress and with black hair. I think this colour scheme was chosen as it reflects the artists femininity with the pink, and perhaps reflects the softness of some of the songs, whereas I think the black represents the attitude that Lily Allen is known to have, together with her fiesty nature.
The outfit that Lily wears quite sophisticated, especially given the head-dress that she wears, with the fascinator on top. I think this perhaps suggests that she has grown up since her first album, and is ready for a more elegant approach to music. The dress is elegant also, and drapes over the front of the L which I think looks really artistic and adds interest to the image. I think the fact that Lily is assuming the shape of the L is an interesting feature, as it takes care not to make Lily overpower the shot, as she is merely following the lines of the L. Lily is also seen with her eyes closed, which shows serenity and makes the image seem soft and sophisticated.
The fonts used to display the artist name and title of the album are interesting. Again, these follow the black and pink colour scheme that the cover has taken up. The artist name is in presumably the same font as the giant L is portraying. The album name underneath is a pink swirly handwritten style font, which again makes the cover seem sophisticated and feminine.

The back cover art for Lily Allen's 'It's Not You, It's Me' album does not feature the artist herself, but it is tied in with the front cover art wit the use of the large playful letters like the one seen on the front cover. The backdrop is the same as the one that is featured on the front cover, it being the same colour ect. The only difference being that this shot is seeming taken from further away than the cover shot. The image is displayed across the middle of the back cover, which is an interesting way of arranging the content.
The track listing is featured above the image, in two columns. The track listing is relatively small in comparison to the image on the front, however it is still easily readable. There are 12 tracks featured here, which is an average number of tracks to be featured on any album. The tracks are displayed in the same font as what is used on the front cover when displaying 'Lily Allen', although just smaller. Alongside the track list is a sentence stating the producer and recorder of the album. Underneath this is general information about the album, including copyright laws and affiliates involved in the production process. In the bottom right hand corner, there features a barcode, which is a neccessary feature of any album. In the bottom left hand corner, there are record/production company labels that are related to the albums release, and also websites on which to find out more information about the album artist. The spine of the album is black, with pink font displaying the title 'Lily Allen, It's Not Me It's You' in the same style as what is seen on the front cover.

This is the front cover art for the 2009 album '3 Words' by British recording artist, Cheryl Cole. The album's main feature is a close up of the title artist, Cheryl Cole, whom is wearing an unusual head-dress perhaps to make her look like a piece of art. This is also incorporated in the backdrop for the cover, which is covered in grey brush stroke effects. The cover is all black and white, which keeps the design fairly simple, which perhaps relates to the title of the album '3 Words' which is fairly simple itself. The artist is seen from the shoulders up only, which focuses all the attention on the artist and she is seen in a profile shot looking over her shoulder straight into the camera. The head-dress is in contrasting black and white colours which work well against each other and add to the simplistic nature of the design. Even though the cover is fairly simplistic as I keep saying, the intricacy of the head-dress Cheryl is wearing, adds some depth to the cover and makes it more interesting. As Cheryl is a noted style icon, it also reinforces her status and makes the cover fashionable as well as artistic. The title 'Cheryl Cole, 3 Words' is displayed across Cheryl's shoulder in a feminine calligraphic tattoo design. This may also realte to the fact that Cheryl has tattoos herself, and also to reinforce the femininity of the cover.

The rear cover for Cheryl Cole's album is plainer ans simpler than the front cover of the album. The brush stroke effect is also used as the back drop here, although the colours used are more brown-based than grey.
Down the left hand side of the album, the tracks are listed in a vertical column, with 11 tracks in total.
The tracks are displayed in thee same font as the title on the front cover, with the added details next to some of the fonts in a smaller, simpler font. The album has an average number of tracks on it, based on the other two albums that I have looked at.
In the right hand bottom corner of the album is a barcode, which is main convention that features on all albums if it is due to be sold. Above this is a small paragraph of all the affiliates that went into the making of the album and the copyright statements. There also features logos for the production and record company that the record was released under. The spine of the album is also shown here, where it just features the name of the album with the same tattoo style title as previously seen.