Print Productions Planning // Similar Album Covers.

Before I start to properly plan out my Digipak print production, I felt it would be useful to conduct a little research into the artwork of bands of a similar genre to the Artist/track I produced the music video for, Vanilla. The track I made the video for ('Suede') is a very upbeat and disco influenced track, so I have chosen artwork from contemporary bands and artists who make disco or disco influenced electronic music. I hope that by looking at the aesthetic and font choices of some of these album covers, I will gain some form of inspiration and inform my designs. 

Daft Punk-Discovery

[LISTEN]

This is the cover art for the album 'Discovery' by the French Dance producer duo Daft Punk. This album is mainly comprised of high-energy upbeat dance-pop with disco and funk influences. It was produced and composed entirely electronically, with use of synths, vocodered vocals and samples dominating the make-up of the album. This is reflected with the simple artwork of the Daft Punk logo, as used on the majority of their studio albums, rendered in a metallic liquid, with a subtle multi-coloured under-glow. The reflective liquid reflects the bright, futuristic electronic production of the album and its high quality pop sheen, with the subtle colour connoting the albums varied but upbeat song writing. It is a very minimalist album cover, but a striking one. It is a highly artificial image, not aligning with any particularly obvious real world context, but an aesthetically pleasing one, and this reflects the artificially composed nature of the music. It is a meticulous cover for a meticulous album, with a very strong identity, and the two go together perfectly.

Breakbot-By Your Side

[listen]

This is the cover art for the album 'By Your Side' by French Disco/Electro artist Breakbot. Like the other two albums, it is a disco influenced electro-pop album, but incorporates a more organic and lively orchestrated aspect. Where as the other two albums rely more on the use of synths and samples, By Your Side's compositions include many live sounding instruments, with samples of bass guitars, strings, piano and other acoustic instruments  featuring in the mix. In addition, the song writing takes a more laid-back and luscious tone, creating chilled out funk love songs with various vocal collaborators. This is all reflected in the artwork and packaging, which presents the album as if it were a half unwrapped chocolate bar. This artwork, itself a variation on a common theme throughout Breakbot's artwork [2] [3], and helps to maintain and attract Breakbot's loyal audience.  It connotes the smooth and rich tone of the album, and its complex instrumentation, by suggesting the rich, smooth taste of chocolate with the chocolate texture. It is also a very aesthetically interesting and alluring cover, playing with the very concept of album artwork itself by packaging it as an entirely different product. I feel it is a very successful and interesting cover and will consider it when designing mine.

Cut Copy-Bright Like Neon Love

This is the cover art for the album 'Bright Like Neon Love' by the Australian Synth-Pop band Cut-Copy. The genre of this release can be best described as a cross between the warm, disco-influenced electro-pop of bands like 'The Human League' and the effect pedal laden indie-rock of bands like My Bloody Valentine. The use of a woman wearing bright lipstick and sunglasses is a common electronic trope more commonly associated with the camp and futuristic aesthetic of the electro-clash scene of the mid 00's, that Cut Copy related to. This is accentuated by the use of the reflection of New York city in the sunglasses, re-enforcing the high glamour and sheen of the electro genre. The indie genre is also reflected in the cover, with the use of the photo-montage technique, which connotes the DIY aspect of the music. This is a good album cover that communicates the style of the music well, meaning it is appropriate for the purpose.