ALBUM COVERS AND BRANDING

THE TASK I have to choose a range of album covers

from my chosen genre and find associated imagery, text, type face etc.

I need to identify brand identity, key images, key features.

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE

In their earlier days, they were primarily a part of the indie genre. In there first two albums, the typeface of the band’s name remains the same. This helps with brand identity as it allows the audience to recognise the font and name of the band whilst associating it with their other products.

The two images are similar to those in the music videos which are one of the main tracks of each album. The visual link between the video, digipack and advert vastly improves the brand identity as it allows the audience to recognise the imagery shown to us. The image from Ceremonials comes from the music video ‘Shake It Out’ and Lungs imagery comes from the song, ‘Lungs’. Even the imagery itself remains similar, showing us an image of Florence Welch, the lead singer, which furthers the brand identity as we now associate her with the band.

Using the uses and gratification theory, the audience identifies the brand and educate themselves whilst acknowledging the fact Florence and the Machine have created another album. This also encourages social interaction as the audience produce it as a topic of conversation amongst others. They know of the new album as they have acknowledged the band introduced to us.

CHASING GRACE

This album cover is taking from their most recent album in 2015 ‘Nowhere Near Old Enough’. This is one of their first albums to be released a part from their EPs.

The typeface of the band’s name is featured across all of the singles and EPs. This allows the audience to recognise their brand identity - when they see the font they will think Chasing Grace.

The imagery used is bright bold colours, which displays young children looking towards a woodland area.

The concept of the design is unique with the use of animations but as far as I know, there is no visual links between the cover and any of their music videos. This is lesson common for the indie genre as the visual link is vital as those of the indie genre are usually less known, therefore the visuals are important as it allow the audience to recognise the cover and establish the link from the music video as well. Nevertheless, it is an interesting and unique album cover that works well in terms of aesthetics as it grabs the audiences eyes.

THE WOMBATS

These two albums taken from The Wombats are ‘The Wombats Proudly Present… This Modern Glitch’ and ‘Glitterbug’, both from different parts in the band’s career.

The first album features their name in their original typeface and colour that has been featured on many of their previous albums, singles and EPs. This has become a part of their brand identity and has allowed the audience to associate it with the band.

The imagery used is more distinctive as it shows a crowd of people with pictures of a couch on a beach. It is insinuated that it is a mistake, it is a glitch which links with the album title.

However, their recent album has a change in font and style as well as colour. This could perhaps link to the imagery on Glitterbug as it features a child’s silhouette with a city backdrop. The red text matches the imagery which gives an overall appealing look to the album. It is an impressive edit and shows the progression of the band’s identity. They’ve started to progress to a more simplistic image as apposed to the alternative, quirky style of their earlier album.

MUMFORD AND SONS

These two covers are taken from ‘Sigh No More’ and ‘Babel’. The typeface of the band remains the same font and colour on each cover, a positive for brand identity as it allows the audience to recognise the band’s logo. Even the font of the album’s title remains the same, creating a visual link between the two. This allows the audience to associate the typeface with the band, improving their brand identity.

In both covers they’ve used images of themselves so that the audience recognises the band and the image they’re trying to represent. In the first cover, they’re hidden behind a window but we can see their instruments. This allows the audience to associate the band’s genre based on the instruments they play. Primarily, these two albums fall under the folk genre, and the instruments on display allows the audience to recognise this. In the second cover, we can see the band more clearly, improving the brand identity as the audience can see the faces behind the brand.

The imagery itself used in the second cover is more unique due to the blurred effect of the crowd. This brings all our focus onto the band then as they are the only images we can see clearly.

However, both album cover make no visual links between the print products and music videos. Yet, this isn’t much of a problem for this band as over the years there covers have become more iconic and many can easily associate the images with the band.

THE 1975

This the self titled album by The 1975 and is also their first one to create.

Firstly, the imagery used is in direct link to the music video for ‘Sex’ (the album version). This immediately creates a visual link between the print product and the video. This improves the brand identity as it allows the audience to recognise the colour scheme as well as the icon of the white box.

The colour scheme is also present in another hit single of theirs, ‘Chocolate’, strengthening the visuals between the music video and the print products.

The typeface of the band is also their iconic logo and is used on all the singles and EPs. The encourages the brand identity as it allows the audience to recognise their logo and know that this album is one of their products. The logo on this cover is shaped in the lights as well, so it’s still their logo but has been adapted to fit the schematics of the designs,

THE FAMILY CREST

This is ‘Beneath the Brine’ by the indie band The Family Crest and is their most recent released.

The logo of the band has remained the same on all of their singles and EPs. Although this logo has a slight variation in the c shape, the font and typeface remain the same. This improves their brand identity as it allows the audience to recognise their logo and their products as well as creating a link that we can associate next time we see their logo.

The colours used are simplistic and allows the title to stand out, captivating the audiences eyes. However, the image of the paint strokes used have no visual links with any of the music videos featured in the album. Again, this can have a serious effect on their brand image as they aren’t a well known brand and will be harder to create that visual link between the print products and their music videos.

Nonetheless, it is still a simplistic and stylish image and gives a nice overall effect.

CONCLUSION From the research I have gathered, here are the

following points I have learned of covers for the indie/fold genre1. A visual link is needed in order to make the brand

identity more memorable2. Simplistic styles are commonly used but there is also

a slight theme of outdoor areas (Chasing Grace, The Wombats)

3. The style of the covers are so unique and none look the same as each other – this gives me a lot of room to experiment within my concept as there are no set guidelines for how my images should look

4. A band logo is a must in order to improve brand identity especially as some of the band’s I have chosen aren't well known

INSPIRATION These are the following concepts I will take into

consideration when designing my print products:1. Silhouette effect of the city backdrop in The

Wombat’s Glitterbug – as I plan to film in urban scenes as well as woodland areas, this is a nice effect to use

2. Strong use of visual links from The 1975 – their popular products have a strong link in each other them and I hope to be as successful as them when creating the visual links between my print products and music video

3. Typeface of the band’s logo from The Family Crest- although it has been altered slightly throughout the years, it has remained of a similar style in terms of font and appearance.