Analysing CD covers – Mika, Aerosmith and my own CD cover

The two CD covers are very different when comparing and analysing the visual images and information available.

Both the CD covers have many images, colour, including the artists name and the name of actual CD album.The 'Mika' cover is very colourful and has used lots of different animated cartoon images. In the middle of the cover is the name of the artist (MIKA) which is written in very large, bold text. This will make it stand out and be more noticeable to buyers when placed in the middle of many other CD's.

Moreover the graffiti shadow gives more texture to the artist name.Among all the images the most eye-catching is the artist's name since it is in the centre of the cover. It appears to be coming out of the picture towards you. The colour is white which stands out and the shadows are a range of different colours, again making 'Mika' more obvious to the target audience.

There are a wide range of patterns for example, circles, thunder clouds, vehicles, flowers, birds, a rainbow and 'animated' pictures including machine cogs.I think this gives us clues about the genre of music this CD belongs to. The use of bright colours help to express to you that the music will also be quite bright and light. The other thing I have noticed is that on the back cover the tracks are related each of the pictures.Besides the 'Mika' title, there is a picture which is referring to the track called "Billy brown." Maybe this is the actual artists name and his image.

"Life in cartoon motion" explains that the artist's album appears to be about his thoughts and about imagining living in a catatonic world. The theme of the cover is all to do with cartoon motion. By looking at the detailed colourfulness and simplicity of the image it gives you a clue that this artist belongs to the pop music genre.Above the artists name there are colourful flowers and next to it there is a bird flying.

It has also got a floating piano and flowing clouds again reflecting the music type. The bird is reflecting the track song which is "any other world" it is mainly trying to take it to another level. Below there is a cartoon animated boy relaxing on the sofa and there are images showing what it is like inside a house, possibly his! Again the track "relax"(take it easy) is referring to the picture. Next to it there is a woman, she is probably dancing and this relates to the track song "big girl" (you are beautiful). It is mainly expressing that the girl is fully grown, beautiful woman.

The cover has a wide range of various coloured images, effects and patterns which I think circulates with life and how things work which the title track "love today" basically refers back to.In the picture you can see the colourful round circles and I assume that the track "lollipop and ring ring" is covering this picture.Most of the tracks are related to the front cover images which I think is very helpful in understanding the pictures much more clearly. The colours are all bright because of its genre - light hearted music and the text is big and bold which makes it more dramatic and much easier to recognise the artist and genre when purchasing.

The font used for the song titles is very soft and it flows. This matches very well with everything else on the cover.The 'Aerosmith cover is very specific with impressions of the devil and gothic type images. The target audience would find this album quickly when shopping because it is so simple to identify. Just by looking at the skull and it's dark, menacing background colour a fan would know who the artist is.This is their "very best of" album it has all their hits song included on it.

Above the large skull, the artist's name is written in a blurry white font. The design of the skull cleverly includes a picture of twins. It uses their heads for eye sockets. This makes the skull look more dramatic and like a devil, linking it to the name of the CD title at the bottom of the page and also to track 18.

There is a dog between them and it loosely links it to the track "last child" as it seems to be saying that the children are in danger. I think the skull is like the ashes of the ghost coming back to haunt you.Aerosmith's hit song "devil's got a new disguise," is good to show on the front cover because it persuades the buyers and this also makes it more noticeable. The most eye-catching is the skull since it almost covers the whole front of the album cover because it is so large.

It also gives clues on the genre of artist.The front letters are written in gothic style text which reflects that the artist is a rock band. The background colour is all in black, this is to do with how the artist represents their band name.The back of the CD cover also uses lots of images of the dead, skulls and devil masks which again link the pictures to the title.

This theme influences what kind of songs are on the CD. The front style is gothic, very dark and gloomy. 'Devil got a new disguise' is mainly talking about social issues possibly about the artist's life.The use of the image and their connection to the titles of the track reflect to the music genre. These images are used for their fans to show how the artists connect to the title, it tells the target audience what kind of music they produce in their albums.The use of the colour and text inform the target audience that the album is of their genre and lists the songs it features on it.

They also announce their specific hit track on the front cover to attract their fans. People always see the front cover first, and then they look at the back of the cover. This is because what's on the cover is a reflection of the artist's new album. The pictures are very much related to the songs.

For instance; the two covers are extremely different, one is a rock genre and the other is pop album, one is dark and frightening and the other is light and bright.Because of the colours and images in the layout you can identify very easily which genre they belong to - so can the target audience.The purpose of the cover is to sell more albums and to attract and influence audiences. The artist gives information about their thoughts relating to their new songs.The target audiences for 'Mika' are mainly people age 20 and above, who listen to soft music and want to relax or want peace. Whereas, the 'Aerosmith' album is mainly for teenagers and young adults age 14 above and for most people who are of a rebellious and loud nature who like to listen to heavy metal.

Young people who are looking to find their own identity may find this genre of music is suitable for them.Overall, I think 'Mika' is the best CD cover because it has used very colourful background and it is neat and easier to see and understand the pictures and what they represent. The tracks are very much related to society. However, the 'Aerosmith' CD has a background colour that is all black and it is not clear to see. I think Mika cover is the best one mainly because I do not like the heavy metal genre and I do not like gloomy, dark colours where the information is difficult to read and understand. Plus, different people have different choices of music so it's important that the CD covers relate to the music you wish to buy.

Promoting my own bandMy band's name is called "Wonder Girls". There are three member named Yumiko and Sasa, who are the backing vocalists and dancers. Stella, the third member, is the main vocalist. All three are young and beautiful, aged from 19 to 23. They are very popular worldwide. The kind of music they produce is R&B and pop.

If I were to promote my band I would have to advertise their music and tour dates. I would use magazines to promote them. This would allow a large number of people to find out about what tour dates are available. A lot of people are addicted to magazines and like buying them so that they can find as much as possible about famous people and they like to read the gossip about celebrities and various artist's personal lives. I would use the magazine to set up interviews with my band so as to promote positive, fun images of the band.A smaller version of our promotional poster would be an idea that we could consider when arranging interviews with various magazines, especially ones such as 'NME' and 'MOJO'.

Going to concerts and performing live in front of their fans gives the band some feedback on how well they are performing and this allows them to see the support from their fans and any kind of interaction with their fans will enhance their image to the public. This kind of interaction makes their fans feel special and encourages them to continue to support or discover more information about them and their personal lives.Performances contribute to making large profits and can improve the bands profile with the public.A website for the band is another way of helping fans chat with them increasing their popularity and making them more available to everyday people. The website would be a great way to inform the target audience about the release of any new albums and albums that are planned for the future.

Artists or bands want to let their fans know as soon as possible because some fans become so obsessed with them and want more information about their songs as soon as they can. All of this helps improve the status of any bandPromotional products would be another method I would consider as they also help to sell or promote a band and the profits can be very high. For instance artist images on a mug, printed on to scarves or t-shirts help them make the artist popular and put their name forward. Some members of the public may not of heard of that particular band but would consider listening to the music if they like the look of the t-shirt.

Creating a poster in a shopping mall in relation to the band might get the public to know more about them and raise their interest in when and where they can see them live. Fans might also find it attractive to see their favourite band up on a big poster. The same posters could be marketed for the younger fans to pin up on their bedroom walls.I believe that all of these things are the most informative and best way to promote a new band.Overall, by doing this it will help me promote my band successfully and make huge profit.

My own CD coverThe artist CD cover I made is for 'Sara Lee'. She is a new singer and her first album is out now. The cover is very simple because it is her first album and I want the audiences to recognise her for who she is and win her audience's hearts by with her music.I decided to draw her name using arrows and graphics to get people's attention. This represents how the artist is moving forward, and possibly representing changes in the future.

'This love' is her hit track on the album and I decided to put in on to the front cover, hopefully persuading her fans to buy her album.I think that people always see the front cover first, then only then will they look at the back to see what the tracks are. The images I drew very much related to the tracks because I thought it will link to what the front cover is trying to express. For instance the lollipop is related to the track called 'lollipop.' The heart shapes are on both the front and back cover brining both sides of the CD cover together. I liked the idea of rainbows and above I wrote 'follow the rainbow.

' She is a new singer on the music scene and because of this she has to gain more popularity and this mainly trying to say that she has a long way to go to become successful in the music industry.The colours are very bright and mostly feminine because of her genre of music she produces. I drew an image of her holding a rose, this relates to her song, 'red rose'. The album is leaning towards love songs and ballads. Heart shapes express that most of the CD features love songs, this links to today younger generation.

As you can hopefully realise, the genre is pop. This is represented by the many bright colours and the colourful pictures.I decided to keep the background colour white so that the bright and simple pictures stand out.The target audiences for my album are mainly teenagers, especially girls age 15+ and above. Again, this is because of the tracks which mainly feature songs relating to being in a relationship and what teenagers go through in their life.

Furthermore they listen to these kinds of songs to express their feelings about their loved ones.EvaluationFor my CD Cover I had to design a CD album for a new artist. I decided to do this for a new singer called Sara Lee, who's album is 'out now'.Her tracks mainly features sad, love songs which relates a lot to what teenagers go through today.Her CD album cover is very simple and has lots of animated pictures. Sara Lee's music is of the pop genre.

This is because of the tracks of the album and it's simplicity of the background colours. It has used lots of feminine colour effects to give more texture and to make it stand out in a group of other CD's. Also the colours used are all bright to make it more dramatic and noticeable for the audiences to recognise. The colours also reflect her image and her body language.

For this album the target audiences are everyone who listens to pop music especially teenagers and young adults, this is because the tracks mainly features love songs and this kind of music is mostly listened to by teenagers who are girls. Many teens girls listen to pop songs because they want to feel relaxed or they want help expressing their feelings towards love.It will fit in well with the current market because it has got all the demand needs for what people want to listen to and the tracks are quite similar to the current hit songs by other female singers so I think it will be a very positive start and hopefully successful in the current market.