Album Cover Analysis

I have chosen to look at Plain White T's - Every Second Counts for my album cover analysis. Although I do own the album, I am not a particularly massive fan of their music anymore, but I wanted to analyse this cover anyway because I find it really interesting and unique. 

IMAGE

• The front cover is a collage of the band members layered over some doodles & drawings, and because the shots of the band are all separate ones put together (unlike a typical boyband shot of them all together) it suggests the band members are all individuals rather than being 'clones' of one another.
• The brown background appears to be like paper, although in a more vintage style, and this adds to effect of the doodle drawings and as the style is very arty the drawings on the front, back & inside which create a continuous theme throughout
• The images all look a little bit rough and messy, but it makes the drawings look more realistic and edgy as the white edging of the band photo's make them seem like an actualy collage rather than being neatly cut out which would look fake
• The main image is black and white which adds more effect to the rest of the cover, but also makes the band stand out as they are different to the rest of the imagery surrounding them - it also makes it look more retro style
• The photos are obviously posed but the band is wearing casual, yet stylish clothing which makes you think that they don't take themselves too seriously
• The font is blue which juxtaposes to the rest of the cover which uses quite mild, neutral colours
• The band is central on the cover, as is the track list on the back of the album which places importance on both band and songs.

TEXT

• The text is in block form for both the band title, and the track listing on the back and they are all in capitals
• Underneath the band name is a more script like font which contrasts with the bold band name above it. As the album title is quite small, and below the band name it suggests that perhaps there is more beneath the surface in their music, and with them as a band.
• The block writing is easy to read, and even though on the back cover there is a lot of artwork surrounding the text, the track list is separated by a rough outline which still fits with the theme
• The font on the back is the same as the font used for the band name on the cover which sticks with the style of the album

FUNCTIONS

• Front: To promote the artist, to make them look good and make them appealing to their audience. It is entirely about the band as there is no extra information on the front to distract you from them.
• Back: The back is far more insitutional information, such as the record label, website and barcode and it is to let the audience know of any more detail they want to know other than the obvious. The track list is also useful to let people know what songs are on the album and what type of music the songs will be.
• Inside sleeve: To give a further insight into the band through photographs and also has the lyrics so that the fans can learn the words and sing along.

(disc & back cover)

POTENTIAL TARGET AUDIENCE

• I think their target audience is quite wide from this cover. The drawings make it more indie and cool, but then adults may also be attracted to the unique retro style of the cover. The drawings make the cover more commercial than the band would normally be considered, but their natural niche is shown through the types of casual photos on the cover and inside.
• It's their fourth album, so by this point they probably already had a fanbase which means they don't need to promote themselves as 'perfect' so much as an artist who puts emphasis on their beauty to sell records. Their imperfections is what attracts their audience, as fans of the indie/pop genre don't always buy into the 'perfect' representation of artists.