CD cover research

All CD covers have the following conventions; they portray the genre of the band and the music, the lettering/font styles and sizes need to be considered, what image there is, if the image of the artist/s is what you would expect, the representation of the artist/s and also the target audience for the artist/s needs to be considered when making a CD cover.

Girls Aloud - Out of control album

All of the girls have their own space within the album cover, and none of the images greatly overlap. This shows that the target audience will be able to see clearly all five band members and the poses in which they are doing. The poses suggest different things about their personalities, they bring different things to the band and make the cover look more interesting to look at. Some of them are doing sexual poses, this suggests that they are partly being used as sexual icons to promote their image. This compliments the girls aloud video in the previous blog because it carries on the idea of them being role models for females and want to be like them and also to expand the target audience to males and displays the social desirable woman which men would want to be with. However this could give young women an unrealistic view on what they should look like and some men may expect them to look this way.
The clothes in which they are wearing are something which would be portrayed as the cutting edge in the fashion industry. The bold colours of the clothes show them as confident, also they are all wearing cocktail dresses which could be worn on a night out or a special occasion which show that the band is glamorous.

The black, mirror type floor and the black title of girls aloud boxed around them stand out because of the white background on the walls. It also gives the impression of a boxed in effect. The mirrored floor makes the whole scene look more modern and up to date, which suggests that they are a very modern band and also suggesting the idea that they are glamorous.

The use of the white and silver stools on the album cover display creativity and enable them to pose in different ways to each other.

At the bottom of the album cover in the white border the name of the band; "Girls Aloud" is in black so it stands out from the white background and will be eye catching to a target audience. The title of the album ; "Out of control" is below the band name, in lower case and also in a bright pink colour. This shows that it isn't as important as the band name, however it is still eye catching to the target audience because it stands out.

Chris Brown - Exclusive, The Forever Edition

Chris brown is off centre in the frame and stood facing to his left with his head turned to his right as if he is looking at something. This is defining his figure more than if he was facing the way his body was. The background of the picture has been edited to have a grey effect to it. It looks like an old town inspired by the 1920's however it has been modernised to suit the target audience of today. The satellites which are behind Chris Brown suggest that he has a global fanbase, which is true because he is doing a global tour this year. He is the only thing in colour apart from his name which make him stand out from the cover and make it eye-catching to the target audience. The clothing is 1920's gangster inspired, and very smart which suggests that he takes pride in his apperance and is also meant to appeal to the target audience of young women. He is wearing the colours red and black which compliment eachother and make him stand out from the background. The connotation of the red colour is that it symbolises love, anger, blood and can also portray him as sexy.

Love because he is loved by his fanbase.

Anger and blood because of his 1920's gangster inspired image.

Sexy, so he would be desirable to the target audience which would mainly be young, preferably teenaged girls.

The name "Chris Brown" is in the top left corner. It is quite large and is in a bold red colour, which stands out on the dark background, this would catch the target audiences eye, which would lead to closer examination of the product.

In the word "exclusive" the "x" is larger than the rest of the text - this would draw the audience to the word and then they will read it. It also establishes that it is exclusive, which would make the audience feel special because they are getting and exclusive album. The title of the album is "The Forever Edition" which confirms that it is an exclusive album and makes it sound like a "one-off" because it has the word edition at the end of it. These two titles are in a silvery white colour and are slightly smaller in font size than Chris Brown's name which suggests they aren't as important.

Also all four lines of text are in an old style of writing which establishes the 1920's inspired look further. The words are all in capitals which show that it is urgent and needs to be read, which attracts the target audience to the cd cover. These two factors combined also make the cover look more interesting

The Saturdays - Chasing Lights

All the girls are posing in their own set of spaces however there are some overlaps between them which suggests the relationship between them and that they are close within the band. This gives the impression to the target audience that they are close, good friends, not just as a band but in their personal lives as well which suggests to the fans that they aren't just in it for the fame and fortune. They are all posing and leaning back casually which suggests a laid back attitude. However all of their postures make them look very attentive and as if they are about to get up and walk, the photoshopped on shadows also look they are going to be left behind, they are all looking off screen at something,  these factors suggest that they could be looking into their future, they are ready to progress into the future and leave their past-selves behind as they are a fairly new band. This is also suggested by the steps that they are sitting and standing on. They all look very dominant in the way they are posing which gives a feel of independence. This image is portrayed because they may want to inspire the target audience of young, teen aged women into being more independent as this is the type of society we live in.

All of the band members are wearing black leggings/tights and black shoes. This links them all together to show that they are all part of the same band. Each girl is wearing a different colour - they are all bold colours which make them stand out of the grey background and also suggest that they bring different qualities to the band. The floaty and silk-like dresses suggest that they look goddess like which suggests that the fans will look up to them as Greeks look up to the gods and goddesses.

There is also a label of hit singles which have been released from this album - this would encourage the target audience to buy the album if they have heard the songs and liked them. This is white on a dark grey background to make it stand out.

The band name "The Saturdays" is in the font style of modern techno which is inspired by the 80's style. This gives the band an individual look and makes the band name stand out, along with the black colour on an off-white background.