Album Cover Research

By Scott Galloway

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The Album '4' by Beyoncé has a very stereotypical and conventional Album Cover for her pop and r&b genre of music. The album cover has a plain, one coloured background, with a large image of the artist on on the center. This is used to promote herself and is also used to help the audience relate to the artist as they can clearly see she is on the front of the cover and are more inclined to buy it.

The use of the bright purple dress contrast with the plain and calm coloured background, this is also used to the further promote and emphasise the glamorous of the artist and make her standout from the background.

The simple use of the capital letters in title combined with the formal style font adds a sense of class and sophistication to her album. This can also refer to how the artist views wants her audience to view her work.

The use of the Font that the band name and album name is written in  is used to help  customers identify with the artists. It is a common convention for artists in the genre of rock to have a symbolic font or logo which the audience can identify with. It shows the audience who the album was made by.

It can also be used to promote the band and their persona through the type of font that is used. 

The use of the colours, black, red and 'off' white, can be used a connotations of violence and destruction which could be reflected in the songs that make up the album. This is a common convention in the genre of rock as they are associated with anger, violence and sometimes criminal acts.  

The use of the illustration on the album cover is related to the album name and can help the audience understand the ideal behind it. It is relating the word 'Mothership' to the blimp which used to be the largest air craft in the world. Through this, the audience can use this to help them understand the meaning behind the cover are and band name. 

The use of the style of the font that the artists name is in, can act as a 'label' or brand for the audience to identify with. It allows the customers to relate with the artist and will know its the artists work. It is also used to promote the artist, as there isn't a picture of them on the cover of the album, the font and lettering act as a 'brand label' for the artist, it can bee used to promote their persona and music style without actually seeing the artist. This is a common convention I have come accross with hip/hop albums.    

The colouring of the chair can be used to emphasise the meaning of the artists work and the genre of hip/hop itself. The gold combined with the royal blue is done to show connotations of luxury and getting money to afford the best. which is a common theme that runs throughout the genre itself.

Additionally, the use of the album cover, is used so the customers can relate and identify with the album. The use on the play on words is used to add a more personal touch to

the album and the pun itself can reveal different areas of the artists personality.