Album Artwork Analysis Paper

Paige Johnston

Mark Jaskowski

English 101

23 October 2015

Album Artwork Analysis To analyze an album cover there are multiple steps to take to figure out the true meaning, why that artist chose to put what he or she did on their cover. For someone to provide a quality and effective cover that entices their target audience to want to buy the album there are a few general ideas that need to be considered: the purpose, context of the image, genre, effectiveness, audience and relationship to the viewer, and finally who is the artist being portrayed on the artwork. There are other visual elements that play into an effective design of artwork and these will also be explained in detail into why the author chose the design principles that they did.

The five basic principles of design that will be analyzed on their artwork are: balance, alignment, grouping, repetition, and contrast. For an artist to create an effective and appealing image to their target audience this requires a clear, simple, and carefully thought out message. Artists who create album cover’s can go in about any direction they choose to create the artwork they have

She does have handwritten on the cover her initials T.S., writing the initials herself, adds a more personable touch that interacts with her fan base. Adding personable touches on the cover is another way Taylor is trying to communicate with her fans. When the fans see the font it expresses more personality than if she had just typed her name on the cover. Another example of how Taylor is communicating herself through the cover is the main eye-catching image is she, but unlike Drake’s cover, her whole face is not shown. This simple touch is proving that she knows she does not need her full name, or whole face to be recognized by her fans that want to purchase her