Album covers (Research)

Album cover research. 

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Ed Sheeran- Plus.

1) I think this album cover relates to the music, firstly because the colour orange is referred with Ed Sheeran a lot and also because it's just quite plain and simple, it has only a picture of him  so the imagery straight away is very pain and simple, which relates to his music which is again very quite plain and simple, it's not about the appearance, people do not like him because of how he looks, they like him because of his talent, therefore the cover has been stripped down to basics, similar to his music which concentrates more so on vocals and accuracy.
The text placement down the right hand corner again seems quite simple and plain yet quite thick and bold, so still showing the focus of the album.
The photography isn't greatly clear and focused yet you still see what you need to see, the basic idea of having him on the cover so that those buying into the album know the artist they're getting.
Ed Sheeran's genre which is acoustic is again very plain focusing on what is already there, and not adding any overly special effects, which is what I believe the cover reflects.
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Frank Ocean- Channel Orange.

2) Again this album cover relates well to the musician (Frank Ocean) again because his genre of music which is R&B with a vocal twist, the vocal twist means that most of his music is very plain and simple, stripped down to his voice only with the occasional addition of keyboard, there's no fast tracks included in this album therefore it's simply about his voice, show casing his talent, therefore the cover of the album (the channel section) may relate to his voice, the real beauty of the album. In other words the album cover doesn't have to say anything because his voice speaks for itself.

 The cover therefore is not the average R&B singers album cover, the photography is non existent, it's back-grounded in the colour of the album name and the title, this again stripping the album down to basics, the covers placement of text is straight in the middle of the album, almost as though it's the albums main focus, this therefore shows the message of the album, yet still very simple.

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Rihanna- Talk That Talk.

3) The final albums I have chosen were Rihanna's 'Talk That Talk' album covers.

These both relate to the music well because the covers are both a bit risky (which the music on this album also is), which is different to her previous albums, so by her blowing smoke in the black and white album and doing a different pose to the 'girly girl' previous albums shows the changing of her music, so the resemblance from the change of her appearance also relates to the change of her newer more edgier music. 

Rihanna's genre of music in very broad she's known to experiment with all kinds, such as: pop, reggae, R&B, dance, hip hop therefore this albums showcases a variety, which is a bit different, therefore that's why the album cover proves a bit different to anything she has done before.

The albums placement of text again shows an edge to the cover, in the first cover shown, (the colored cover) the album title has been made to look like a tattoo on Rihanna's arm, this could be controversial, especially to a musician with a variety age group of listeners, again showing a different more edgier side to the singer.

The placement of text in the second cover (black and white) isn't so edgy yet still in capital letters breaks away from the usual 'girly girl' thin writing known for many female artists covers.

Photography wise the covers are very outstanding, the photo is the main focus of both the albums, you already know what you're buying into straight away by the cover, the photos almost represent a mean looking image, maybe saying that she's breaking away from the usual, starting something different, going down a new route.

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