
In contrast to the previous album cover I looked at, this artist falls under the R&B genre which is stereotypically very different to the rock/alternative scene. This is not only reflected through their music but is also reflected in their styles of clothing and through their choice of imagery and styles of album covers.
The most noticeable difference between the two is the colours in the imagery. The colours in this cover are extremely bright as opposed to the dark colourwash in the Kings of Leon cover. Both covers attract the listener’s attention but do so in different ways. Another similarity in the use of colour between the two images is the use of colourwash, the Kings of Leon album is the more noticeable colour wash as it is almost greyscale and dark. However this image also contains a subtle blue colourwash. The mise-on-scene has been selected to match this blue theme which creates a stylish co-ordinated cover to mirror the stereotypes of the genre.
The text used on this album cover is very large, however, it does not overpower the cover as it is transparent in the centre rather than being block colour. It displays clearly the name of the artist and the album in a font that is easy to read. This is the opposite of what was used in the KOL album where the writing wasn’t easy to recognise compared to the image and was written in a font that linked in with the photographic style of the image.
The main focus of the image here is the artist (Akon) who is depicted as wealthy, stylish and successful artist and has luxurious settings in the background of the photograph. This high class lifestyle is a stereotype often associated with R&B music as it sells a lifestyle to the listener along with the music. This connection between a lifestyle and a product is commonly used in marketing with any product. The mise-on-scene reinforces this desirable lifestyle with the background being luxurious and also with the artists clothing i.e. the suit, earring and sunglasses.
Even though both albums show the artist(s) as the main focus for the cover, this album conforms to the rule of thirds and shows a medium camera shot allowing the viewer to see more of the artist. The artist is also standing in a powerful pose with his head looking up which shows admiration, confidence and power. The KOL album also depicts these qualities but through facial expressions rather than body language. The KOL cover also uses symmetry rather than the rule of thirds and a close up camera shot to show the intense facial expressions and the artistic editing.
Both albums use photography as the main base for the imagery and then edit around the image, even though similar techniques have been used, the outcomes are completely different. This is because the intentions were very different due to the genres and the meaning that the artists wanted to create for the face of their albums. I felt KOL wanted to portray the image of different components coming together to form a unit, which could symbolise the strength of the band. I also thought that they wanted to show a powerful and strong image associated with heir band which they did through the use of a bird of pray. Akon creates the same meaning but through himself and his body language which looks confident as he looks comfortable and powerful.
Overall this album cover is effective for the market its aimed at and conforms to the stereotypes of R&B. Although it may look like a simple cover which consists of a photograph and text, it is actually far more complex and shows hidden meaning and also demonstrates stereotypes.
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