Hello! Sorry for such a little word from myself, I have been a little busy with other projects in my life, but I'm more than happy to be back here, typing on a beige-coloured screen, typing about research...But I digress. Today I'm going to look at a couple of other artists who make album art to gain some inspiration for what my product could look like.
As with last time, with the topic of Patterns and Parties, we should probably clarify what I mean when I say certain words, this project is focused on music, and for myself, I would like to focus on the word album for this analysis since this is what I would like to make for now, although this might change. So, what,
to me, makes an art piece an "Album Cover"?
Now, To me, this is quite a simple but good definition of an album cover. But, I would like to also add to this. I guess you could say this is a rule for album covers really, or at least more complex ones, and that's that the album cover should be a sort of reflection of the music that you will be listening to, no matter how opaque or clear that reflection is. This is key so the viewer can be interested in the piece of music in the first place and listen to it. I should also add that a good album cover should also reflect not just the music, but the artist or band themselves. This links the two together better and makes the album feel like it was truly completely made by the artist/band at hand.
But enough about what I shall be using for this, let's talk about the artist at hand. I will be honest I didn't have much idea at all on where to start when looking for album cover artists because, well, it's just not an area that I look into much, and because of this I simply used my brief to find 3 artists to look at their work. yes, I know I usually use a single artist with three of their pieces but I am stepping up in the world, 3 Artists with t3 pieces each. This might take a while. But anyways, let us talk about an album cover artist called Peter Blake.
For a bit of history about him, Peter blake was born on the twenty-fifth of June, 1932 in Dartford, and has made many album covers, like for The Who's album in 2019 "WHO" along with the famous body of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" amongst other album covers. He also makes other art as well that isn't album covers, but we will be focusing on said album covers since it's more relevant to the topic at hand. So, let's look at one of the most famous album covers he has made for the beetles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
With this, what mediums do I think have been used to make this photo? Multiple, to put it shortly. To extend this, We first have the use of floristry, with the lovely flowers on the ground that have pretty colours, along with the text "BEATLES". Another medium we have here is live collating. What I mean by this is that, as you can see there are many people in the background. Now, they couldn't get all of these people for this album cover since a couple of them were dead, so what they have done instead is get cutouts of these people and put them in the background. This is also all a single photo, I can tell because of the great detail in the real Beatles, along with how the characters in the background look, along with the flowers and how they look very on set too. We can also see that the sky at the top looks like it was water colouring, due to its faded and distinct look that's associated with said watercolours. We also have painting used as a medium here, since we have the album name on the drum which could be painted on for this, but with the context of this image only, we can assume these sorts of things.
Now, what things does this make me think of "Album Cover?" Well, it first has the name of the album right in the middle, painted on the drum. We also have the name of the band at the bottom as well. Another thing we also see inside this is the band themselves, which as I have explained before really shows that this album was made by them, making said album feel more connected rather than a commercial product, despite it being such. We can also see that this tells us about the music at hand, since at least to me this looks like the "death of the Beatles" since there's a bunch of flowers on the floor and everybody is around, it shows that they are moving into a completely new style of music that's a lot happier, since we have brighter colours in this cover, along with perhaps using certain instruments like trumpets, since there's one in the album cover, along with objects like the statue in front of the hookah. To me, it looks kind of spiritual, which could be yet another reflection of what the music this album shall hold.
Well, what do I see in this? As I've said, I see this as a funeral for the Beatle's old style. As you can see, there are flowers on loose dirt, which can be seen as where the old Beatles lay, along with the words Beatles on top as well. We also have a bunch of people in the background, mainly famous people which IO see as just a design choice to use famous people although it could mean something more. we also see a lot of colour in this, with the blue sky, the green leaves of the palm tree on the right, along with the hints of yellow in the crowd of people, not to forget the old time-y brightly coloured outfits that the lonely hearts club is wearing and the flourishing colours of the flowers.
I will be honest I probably could talk more about this piece and the subtle details and their origins, like the reason why the Beatles are wearing the outfits they are, along with the people behind them and such but I honestly do not have time, I would like to focus on other things, like this next album cover that is also made by Peter Blake, "WHO" by The Who, their 12th studio album.
Now, I have never listened to or heard of The Who until they did a recent collaboration with Pretty Green, a brand that's known to be affiliated with The Beatles. The only thing I know about these people is that they are known for being punk before punk was a thing, which I find pretty cool. But anyways, let's talk about this album cover.
So, what mediums do I think have been used here? First of all, I think this is a photo collage since it has a lovely texture to the overall album cover, But it might also just be a texture photo that's over the entire piece, along with a smart filter over it. If it is digital, I feel like he's made a couple of these designs (like the heart and the green and red square) using adobe illustrator, along with grabbing pictures from the internet and putting them in, like the picture of beans or the batman and robin picture, along with possibly making his photography like in the bottom right, where we see
Now, what does this make me think of "Album Cover"? Well, it first does have the name of the album in the middle, which is WHO, along with the name of the band who made this album which is The Who. In this respect, I feel like The Who should be bigger than Peter Blake in this respect, since they're the ones who made the album, although I do respect Peter's name being here at all since he did make the album cover. But I digress, we can tell this is first going to be different to their regular music. This is because, on the second row and images 5 and 4, we have a picture of a person, which could be the main singer of the band, with the image next to it saying "detour" with an arrow pointing in the other direction. This could be a reference to how this album will be different from the regular kind of music they make, or as they call it, a detour. We can also tell this is gonna be a little punk-like, because of the picture of the United Kingdom flag since it's mostly used in the punk scene. One more thing I guess I could give this points is the fact its colourful which attracts the eye, along with its interesting composition with the pictures and the border. But apart from what I can gather from this visual analysation though, that's about all I can see that makes it a good album cover and I struggle to see how this shows off their music, although with such a "classic" kind of look, we could say that this is an album that's made with the style of The Who's heyday?
Well, what do I see in this? I see a simple collage involving photographs of celebs, album covers and overall interesting pictures, complemented with Perter's iconic bold coloured graphics, mixed with his colourful double borders but with the mix of the text in the middle saying "WHO" to make it still look like an album cover.
I would like to first apologise for this analysis of this album cover, it's a bit confusing for me I will admit, but in my defence, I am only using the image by itself, instead of doing any sort of background research before this one here. But this is all about how it looks, not the story of the graphic right? I disagree but I am going to pretend that I do agree with my statement. Okay, less rambling, the last album from this artist, let's look at the other album that he did for The Who, that's also referenced in this album, Face Dances by The Who.
Now, I also haven't listened to a single song from this album, or as you know, anything about these people, I can assume that this is a band now though, since doing the smallest bit of research that the four people see in this is the band members! seen in the image on our left. Oh, I should also say that only one of these was painted by Peter Blake since they got 16 separate artists to draw these for them. The one Peter made is in the very bottom left with the blue background, but although this was we also have the overall collage style and border that could be inspired by Peter Blake, unless he was the one who organised all of this together.
So, what mediums have been used here? Well, we can see that this has been primarily pained from the brush strokes seen in many pictures, although some could also be via pen, like the one above the bottom left, or pencils like the bottom right picture. I could also see these all being edited into a single image, or that they all are canvas and are just put next to one another, but the first option seems more viable to do compared to the second option.
So, what makes this an album cover? Well, we can first see that it does indeed have the title or the record at the very top, a bit small and hard to read but I still think it looks pretty cool for this, although it is missing the name of the band which makes them harder to identify, to make up for this they do instead include images of the band members themselves which once again connects them to the album that they are making, which to me, makes good album design since it makes it more personal feeling. Now, to talk about how this is a good album design. I think this is a good design because of something that I haven't talked about yet, and that's how relevant the album art is to the name. Making the album cover similar to the title makes it easier to associate one with another, and vice versa as well. This also is a good album cover because it has brighter hits of colour, which is a library of other album covers next to it, making this one stand out.
Now, what do I see in this? I see sixteen different pieces of art, each set of four based on one of the band members of The Who. With this, we can also see a black outline around the entire album cover, probably to centre the eye onto the art itself, each piece of art has a different take on the image that they have been given, with some making very realistic versions of the band member at hand, and sometimes we get things like the lower middle right. To move on swiftly, we also see the title "Face Dances" in white text and with a sort of handwritten font, unless it is also handwritten which wouldn't be surprising.
Well, I think that was quite interesting. From what I can take from this overall is that Peter Blake is quite a creative person who focuses on multiple areas from painting, to collages to graphics, it this truly interesting to look at his work. But hey, I've been told that I should look at other people's artwork too. This is where the next album cover designer comes into mind, and this time we shall be looking at Liz Harry.
Now, for the album covers, I am going to be covering, they do not look like her current style at all. Her album covers are a lot darker and moody compared to her newer pastel wonderland. I will be honest the only reason why I made this look like her newer work is that I could not for the life of me find a single picture of her during her older work unless I just needed to search longer. But that doesn't matter, this graphic took too long to make a completely new one.
Okay now just a tinge of back story to Liz, just because I want to and not for marks at all. I would tell you where she was born and that but I just cannot find it, but I have found that she took a degree in fine art and studied graphic design, to then make the brand JUNO which blew up, which also led to her making the first two album covers for the Artic Monkeys along with working with I Blame Coco and The Feeling. both being bands.
Okay, less about her portfolio and more about her album work, and let's start with a nice one, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" By the Arctic Monkeys.
Now I am excited to do this because I do like the Artic Monkeys, but I'm more of a fan of their newer stuff I will admit, but I can appreciate their older stuff. Now, I will admit unlike The Who I have listened to this album before, so some of these analyses might be a little biased on how the music sounds too. But anyways, less rambling and more talking about the album cover itself.
So, what mediums do I think have been used? This is quite simple really, this is a photograph. I could see it being a film photo but then again it might just be the filters they used on digital photos to make it look this way. We can also see that Liz has used graphic design software, probably illustrator, to make the text using the pen tool, along with using photoshop to combine the two. With this, I think she has also used the black and white tool in photoshop and set it to its colder temperature to get this cold tone for it.
So, what makes this an album cover? Well, it first has a picture of one Chris McClure, who doesn't exactly have much to do with the band but was chosen because, to me, he has the look that fits the sort of vibe that the overall album has, which is a kind of "I don't care and I do what I want" whilst taking a pull from his cigarette, which for me makes this a very good album since, well as I've said, shows you in a visual representation of what the album is like. Even the colder temperature also could lead us to think that this isn't a warm happier album but instead a colder, harder, but the not sad album. We also have the font that the Artic Monkey's Title is in, which reminds me of a more rounded and type-writer font, which for me fits the calmer, happier parts of the album.
Well, What do I see? I see a picture of Chris McClure wearing a white shirt with the top button undone with a haze in his eyes, possibly drunk, with a cloth background, which could be seen as that they are at a big show that he is going to perform at, taking a puff from a cigarette. With this, I also see that it has an overall blue with a tinge of the green and black filter across the photograph, paired with the graphic in the top left which reads "Artic Monkeys"
Now, I have not heard a single song from this Album apart from the song "505" so I will have a small biased, but I wouldn't assume it would be all like 505. But anyways, let us get into the analysis.
So, what mediums have been used in this album cover? Like the last one, we can see that this has the main use being photography. Specifically, here we have the picture of what looks like a council housing estate. With this as well, we can tell that Liz has used editing software once again to make the text in the top left once again, but this time in a different colour and style. I also feel like Liz has done a similar idea of making the image black and white, but rather than doing this process on the camera, I feel like she has done this after editing, but left the three rooms with the interesting graphics on the wall colour, to show a big pop in a colour that contrasts with the black and white moodiness of the black and white. For me his is is where we get to see the beginning of Liz's use of colour in her graphics which would someday blossom into what we have now.
Well, what makes this a good album cover? First off, we can see that we have the name of the band, along with the name of the album in the top left like last time. This helps us know who made the album and what the album is called. Now, let's talk about how this is a good album cover. Now, although this may sound odd to you to me this makes sense, but the splash of green is a nice touch that makes it stand out a little bit but not much to be obnoxious. this is because if we look at some of the best album covers of the time, they are mostly darker black and white tones. Some might say that this makes this artic monkeys album blend in then. But, this album has hits of olive, and looking through there weren't many album covers with such a green on, which to me would make it stand out, although I can agree that it could have stood out better if we take getting peoples attention on a shelf with a bunch of other albums out of the equation then this is good. Now, let's talk about how the album cover itself helps us understand the music inside. I've already touched on this before so I won't tell you here, but we can see that the album is going to be a bit grungey, because of the dark dark tones with little to no whites along with the desolate houses shown, but this also has a charm to it since it also shows some brighter colours in the windows of the house closest to the camera. We can also tell that this isn't going to be as fluid on some tracks as WPSIATWIN (Artic Monkey's First Studio Album) had, since the font used in this text in the top left is a lot blockier and bold, which could say that the tracks would be more bombastic and unruly, this unruly nature is especially shown in the title of the album that's underneath the name of the band, since the words are going up and down and wobbly.
That was a lot of words, anyways, what do I see in this? I see A picture taken in the dark, but not like nighttime but a cloudy dark day, of some council houses with colourful rooms with the lights on in one of the houses, paired with the olive text in the top left that reads "ARTIC MONKEYS FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE" in an olive colour and a blocky, wavey font.
I will be honest, that was my favourite one to analyse and I could honestly go on, but I simply do not have the time for that. So sadly, I will have to move on to the final album cover I will be analysing from Liz Harry, and that shall be "Quicker" by I Blame Coco.
I have never heard of this person in my life. I could only assume they are also from the 2000s because this has that kind of look, I'm not too sure how to explain it any better but I swear I can see it. But apart from this, this also looks edgy, but I will get along with that later. So, back to the usual.
So, what mediums have been used here? This seems simple. We can first tell, as for the other album covers Liz has made, this is once again based on a photograph. Then we can also see editing has been used, probably photoshop, to add the text, along with the colours and textures that are layered over this photo. I could see things like contrast and saturation being messed with on the original photograph, but I just honestly do not feel like talking about that.
What makes this a good album cover? Well, first of all, we can see that it has the name of the track "Quicker" and the name of the artist as well, I Blame Coco. To me though, I feel like they have made the title of the song too small and focused too hard on the artist. I know I didn't say this for the artic monkey albums, but for me at least they were more tasteful with the size of the text, along with how it didn't take up the entire image and wasn't one of the focus points of the album like Favourite Worst Nightmare used darker colours on their text so it didn't take away from the main art on the cover. With this though, I also like how this has the artist on the cover, which for me, connects the artist with the song, and also lets people know that this song was made by them, so when they perhaps go on TV, people will recognise them. To also comment on how this connects with the song too, after having a listen to said song, I can kind of see how this matches the song itself. The song's lyrics are quite dark but the overall sound of it is quite dancy and upper beat. This is reflected in the album cover with, what could be considered an edgy, overall look that the artist went for, whilst having hits of purple and brighter colour on the cover. you can also tell that this is aimed at a younger audience specifically, because of the use of a more sketchy kind of font. This indicates that it was made for younger audiences because it appeals to such audiences with its rebellious set of feelings of the font, along with the detail of the tape holding on to the name of the artist, its as if it wasn't supposed to be there but the person on the cover put it on there.
So finally, what do I see in this album cover? That is quite simple, I see a picture of the artist I Blame Coco looking deeply into something out of the camera, wearing what seems to be a white trench coat, white shirt and a necklace. to move from the lady herself, we see text on the lower part of the image with text that looks like it's stuck to the camera that reads the name of the artist, I Blame Coco. on top of this at the top right of the big text reads the name of the actual name of the song, Quicker. With this, we see a purple sort of gradient on the right along with some overexp[oser on the left. We have quite a bit of cracking texture on the left, as we have paint splatter, to could be the same stuff on dirty mirrors on the right and middle of the entire album cover.
Can I be honest with you? After listening to that song for this research, I think it's just an overall bad song, it's not nice to listen to, I don't even wanna know how I listened to it twice without my ears. But hey, I'm here to analyse album covers, not critique music, if I wanted to do that I would be taking a different course. Anyways, we only have one more artist I will be looking at for this, and this is Peter Saville. (Interesting, two Peters on this analysis post.)
From looking a little bit into the graphics that he's made, I already love him. The work that he has done is exactly the kind of stuff that I want to do, graphic design with a clever but simple take on it. Such simple designs in concept like making an album cover with a bunch of lines that are wiggly but show something important. Or the abstract feel of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark LP, a vinyl that he designed the packaging for. Even with his start on making posters to promote events like The Factory Poster. Even looking at some of his work, I find it amazing.
For a tidbit of information and this particular Peter, he was born on October 9th of 1955 in Manchester and made his start in co-founding factory records, where he designed countless amounts of album sleeves and covers. I won't say more because it's unnecessary. Speaking of unnecessary, I don't think I need to explain who this album cover belongs to because it's so synonymous, with "Unknown Pleasures" by Joy Divison.
Now, I have also never listened to Joy Division, and it's now setting in that I probably should listen to the albums these artists make, so I can analyse these covers better. But, I also think it's a good idea not to do so either because then it shows the effectiveness of the album cover to people who have never listened to the band before.
So, what mediums do I think have been used in this album cover? Now, usually, I would have said that this was made digitally. But, this was made in 1979, when computers were green and black and also when photoshop didn't exist, since it was made in 1987, so this stumps me, but I do have a theory. I think that this was first drawn as a concept, then used the print screening technique, but I'm honestly not too sure. For the texture we can see on the album cover though, that was made with embossing from the underside of the cardboard.
Well, what makes this a good album cover? From the rules I have set out, it isn't a good album cover. There is no mention of the artist or name on the front, although it is on the back instead of the front, there aren't any big colours that make it stand out on a black background, there's none of that. But, that's what made it so revolutionary. Keep in mind, this was made in 1979 when the album covers were bright and always had some sort of big graphic with some name on it. Not this though, with it going against the grain with a small graphic with a simple black and white surface, it made it stand out more than if it followed these rules I set up, which makes this an amazing album cover. To add as well, the cover is just lovely to look at, as if it was meant to be more of an art piece rather than a
cover. With this too, the detail of the embossed box to have this cube-ish sort of texture makes it stand out the moment you feel it, making you a lot more interested to keep hold of it and buy it. From a little research about the band, I know that they are a rock band, so this makes sense for the album cover, and also for listening to the music (Yes I know I said I wasn't going to but the curiosity killed this cat, who is also me) and now the album cover shows to reflects on the music on the record, where the songs do feel like that have that sort of space like the album doesn't, with the texture of the cover could also reflect the use of deep guitars rumble which is best shown in songs like "Shadow Play", "Wilderness" and others. The main graphic could be a reflection of the use of string-based instruments in this record, or it could be because of the trippy sort of feeling I get when I listen to the album, but I'm not too sure without looking at other people's opinions on what it could be.
So, what do I see on this album cover? I see a mountain range that's illustrated as white lines. This graphic is quite small compared to the rest of the canvas, which is all black and also has a lovely texture that's quite cube-y. The material I can see is that it's also made out of cardboard, since how you can see the outline of the record, meaning it is a weaker material like cardboard.
This was a fun one to look at, since as I've said it breaks the mould of what I think is a good album cover, so I might start using a looser definition of a good album cover, and that will be that if it reflects the music and nothing more. This is because since this album cover has been world-renowned for its interesting graphics and overall mould-breaking design of the time, it shows that it doesn't need to have a title on the front, as long as that image is rememberable. But I digress, here is another album that he has designed, this time from the other famous client he works with, New Order, with their record, Blue Monday.
Well, this one I think is really cool. With this too, it's even harder to analyse. This is because this is a lot more of a "Yeah these are simple shapes but they have a whole bunch of meaning" which is hard to analyse when it comes to the position that I am currently in. As usual, though, the only information I am going to be giving myself when it comes to information on this album cover is the music and that's about it. Okay, let's get into the design part.
So, what mediums were used in this? We first have actually cutting, I'm not too sure the medium term for that but it's something. We also have printing being used for this, since this is a mass-produced product it would be best to use ink to make this. I am not too sure how companies make silver shiny thin sleeves like that though, maybe spray paint? but that's all I have got.
Well, what makes this a good album cover? First thing, it's recognisable. I don't think I have ever seen n album cover that looks like this before this piece was released. The hit of a bunch of colours in different shapes was a very new idea during this period. With this tool, the multiple spots on the part that are white are actually pieces of cardboard missing, this is made to show the silver sleeve that it has inside, which looks really good in real life, it just isn't shown in the best light using this scanner. This silver is also eye-catching and recognisable. Listening to the song whilst writing this, you can really tell this matches the song exactly. The song has a futuristic kind of feeling, almost spacey. This is reflected in the cover with the overly simple cover with slits in it, to show that it's futuristic. This also makes sense for why it has silver inside since silver was associated with the idea of the future in the 1980s. The song also still has a fun and upbeat feeling but is more future with its synths and interesting tricks. This is also reflected in the cover, with there being a bunch of different colours on the right side, with said colours being in quite geometric shapes rather than flow-ey, to focus on the future feeling.
Well, what do I see in this? I see a mainly black album cover with a couple of holes in it to show off the silver sleeve for the record inside. With this, we also see that it's made from cardboard, since the edges are a little damaged, and also said damage is known to be from cardboard. The finish on this cover is quite matte with a smooth texture, unlike the other album sleeve we have reviewed. With all this, on the right we have a hit of colours, arranged from green, to orange, to even purple.
I don't think you understand how relieved I am from doing all of that, and now that I only have one more thing to do makes me feel absolutely amazing. But enough about gushing about almost being done, we have one final one to do. I will admit I have only realised now that I have been exclusively looking at Peter's three biggest album covers he has made. This one is the third biggest, with such being "Closer" by New Order.
This is the final one I will be doing. I find this as a stark contrast to Peter's other work, because this has the use of photography instead, along with being predominantly white, rather than black like his other two popular covers. Anyways, back to your usual scheduled programming.
So, what mediums were used? Obviously, this used photography, since this picture looks very very realistic, although it could also be an old oil painting. I have a feeling that if this was a photo, it was taken on an old old camera, like the ones that used to only come out in black and white, because of the specs of white that are spread across this photo or painting. For the outside text and all that, that was probably hand drawn first, and then all of these assets were put onto some sort of printing machine, but I could not tell you what sort of printing mechanism they would have used.
Well, why do I think this is a good album cover? I think this is because of such a simple cover for the front. It is very simple, but elegant in design that I have seen inspire other graphics in the real world, and I find it astonishing that this album cover has such wide appeal. This is also a good album cover because the overall design is quite nice to look at, we have the black square that focuses us into the text and the photo, the photo that is visually interesting, and the text which has this sort of esteemed kind of vibe. I also think that the image and title, closer, go hand in hand when it comes to how they are collected. The image looks to be somebody dying. This reflects on the title because this said title is Closer, which means this album is referring to being closer to death, or closer to heaven, or hell, or something along the lines of such. Listening to the album, as usual, Peter has made well with making sure that the music is heavily reflected in the album art. The album does feel quite black and white, without any sort of colour since it is quite heavy. With this as well, the saddening imagery is also reflected in the music since it is quite edgy in sound.
Well, what do I see? I see a white cardboard sleeve with a black line that's in the shape of a square, printed on it. With this, I also see the text "Closer" which is also printed in black, with a quotation on each side, but not like above the word, more in line with the word. this is all complimented with a highly detailed picture of what seems to be a funeral in the 1900s.
PS - I was going to put a footer with all of the resources that I used for this to show where I got my information, but my brother went on my computer and now I can't get them again. I also should have looked into the lyrics of these albums to see how they reflect on the album cover also, since Grant did an entire lesson on that. But in my defence, these two weeks have been quite busy with working on weddings, editing photos for said weddings, creating content for a client of mine to post on social media, and holidays such as Halloween, bonfire night and my sister's birthday. It sucks to see that I could have done so much better now that I reflect on this, but at the same time, I do not fault myself for this, I did what I can with the time I have left.
Comments