Assignment 1: CD & Album Covers Covers Assignment
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For this assignment, McKenna decided to focus on covers that were not simply photos of the singer or singers, as that cut the pool of candidate covers roughly in half. We're not belittling photography and photographic manipulation here, just focusing on drawn and/or painted art instead to make comparisons a little easier. Oranges and tangerines rather than oranges and apples, you might say.
She also wishes to make it clear that she knows practically nothing about music or the music business beyond not sounding absolutely horrific while she sings along. Most of the weird imagery on your typical album cover makes no sense to her whatsoever. The following analyses are personal opinion only.
She also wishes to make it clear that she knows practically nothing about music or the music business beyond not sounding absolutely horrific while she sings along. Most of the weird imagery on your typical album cover makes no sense to her whatsoever. The following analyses are personal opinion only.
Favorite CD Cover: Mischief- S J Tucker July 2010
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My favorite CD cover- and coincidentally, my favorite CD. The design is clean and uncluttered- just a few paintings of the artist and representations of several songs in the collection- the Cheshire Kitten, one of the ravens from the library, and a mask of the Were-owl (and those striped stockings I will forever associate with track #11, Witchka, for some unfathomable reason). The subjects are whimsical and have a rather fantastic bent- especially the mask she's holding- and all the main figures have a look of mischief to them, perfectly in keeping with the title and theme of the CD. The colors lean mainly to purple, a strong, fantastic color, but aren't overwhelming and don't clutter the image. Everything is clear, related to the content of the songs, make sense, and are arranged in a way that the eye goes in an oval circuit around all the faces without much hindrance. While the pale color of the word Mischief does make it slightly hard to make out, it is roughly the same color as the background patterning, so that ties in and makes the low contrast of the title less of a flaw. This would appeal to people wanting something fun and out of the ordinary- look at the woman's face there. How can she NOT be up to something with an expression like that?
Favorite Album Cover: A Salty Dog- Procol Harum May 1969
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The sum total of my exposure to Procol Harum is in the form of a throwaway joke from a track on The Arrogant Worms' SemiConducted album, about how in a particular place in Canada there's a radio station that plays nothing but Procol Harum music. Still, I really like this album cover. Sporting the all-pervasive blue-and-orange color scheme, the design is simple and makes sense with the title- a coastal scene behind a life ring and a scruffy sailor. It's kind of fun too, and makes me really hope that the songs on this album have a piratical theme. There's an air of adventure to this nautical image and would appeal to those who have a love for the sea. The larger size of an album cover doesn't seem to pose any particular advantage in this case, given the simplicity of the image. A more crowded or busy image would certainly benefit from a larger size, but here, the larger size just means we get to see a bigger version of an already lovely picture.
Bad Album Cover: Bad Reputation- The Ritchie Family 1979
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I just.... why? Why the incandescent red background? Why the small supernovas reflecting off the black leather and chrome? Why black leather on the women and red Speedos on the otherwise naked and overmuscled men? Why is the title of the album so tiny as to be nearly invisible? Why is that one dude staring at the elbow of the woman on the far right? And is it actually possible to sit on a motorcycle like that? It's nearly impossible to make anything out in this image between the cranked-up contrast and the retina-searing glare. You have to squint to realize that's actually a Doberman in front there instead of a random stump- assuming you didn't have to put on sunglasses to be able to look at this image for more than a few seconds.. At least the title of this is apt- just judging by the image alone I would agree that this group of people probably do have a bad reputation. If their music is anything like this image, it's crowded and badly balanced soundwise. Would I buy this album? Heck no. This image could stand getting that glare toned way down, the contrast reset so you can actually make things out, and the figures should be rearranged into something beyond a bunch of people standing around a bike (with the added bonus of one man mistaking this for an underwear company photoshoot and another demonstrating how one goes to the bathroom in the middle of the woods. And a random Doberman.). And the title needs to be made not-infinitesimal.