Anti

By Rihanna

     Many people know who Rihanna is in todays generation. After her hit song "Umbrella" she became a well known name. Anti is the eighth studio album released early this year by the Barbadian singer with "Work" and "Woo".  The albums front cover does not have the title of the album or the name of the artist on it. So fans who had really anticipated it would have known what the cover would already look like.

     The cover has a kind of modern psychedelic feel to it because of its blurriness. The eye bounces around the composition without really focusing on anything, unless the viewer really tries. It is mainly a black and white photo of a child with a red overlay in the top left. The gold crown is covering the childs eyes and seems to be the only thing that is in focus; which it's not and blurred like the rest. The crown also doesn't have a colored overlay on it and is bright against the red and the black, so that is probably the emphasis to catch the viewers eye.  

     Whenever I saw this album in person, I noticed the tactile squares scattered across the composition. It has a brail feel to it because of it and gives the white space a blurriness to it also. The triple multiples makes the eye bounce to left and right of the child. The red space seems like torn paper in a way. The rule of thirds could also be used for this album cover; with the brailed squares and/or the gold crown for the front ground, the child as the middle ground, and the red tear as the back ground.      

Snowmine

Dialects

By the Snowmine

     I had just recently discovered this band and feel in love with their Dialects album cover. It has a surrealist feel to it. The cover shows a man standing on a cliff with surrounding mountains around him for the environment; I sort of think that it's an environment in a Central America country. The man is facing in the direction of the floating woman, but isn't looking directly at her. Does this mean that he sees more floating people in the horizon that we cannot see, or that the woman is a spirit of the environment. Who knows? But for the two figures, they are mostly centered with some distance between the two. 

     The image is obviously in black and white with some scratch marks and other marks across the image. This suggest that the photo was taken at a early time period then in todays generation. Also, by looking at how the figures are dressed also suggest a different time period. The man is wearing a button down shirt, baggy pants, and possible boots. So this outfit suggest that he traveled. He could have traveled alone or drifted off from the group he was traveling with, because you get this moment of isolation with him. The woman either appears to be naked or some sort of tribal clothing on. As previously stated, she could be a spirit from this environment. 

     Even though it is a black and white composition, the viewers eye is automatically drawn to the figures. They are the center of the image and are a little bit darker then their surroundings, so they are the emphasis. The composition is also based on the rule of thirds. I'm glad that the band and album name are lined up with the edge of the bottom right. If it was larger it would have defiantly ruined the image. The font is an off white sans serif, possibly Futura or Helvetica Light, with a simple line separating the band name from the album title. 

     Overall, I think this a great design. If the viewer pays close enough attention to the detail, like the clothing of the figures and the marks, he or she can make up their own story. The cover also ties into the bands music as well which is ambient rock.   

     

Brothers

By The Black Keys

     Even though this is a simple text cover, it is still a great design. Michael Carney, the art director, wanted to take a risk with the packaging for this album (Kennedy). Because of this album cover, Michael had won a Grammy for Best Recording Package  in 2011. He has been the art director for the band ever since the beginning and has design all of their covers. Michael is also a sculptor and photographer who graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design; and is the brother to Patrick ("Michael Carney"). 

     The cover reminds me of a plakate, an object poster, in a way. It is simply telling the viewer of what it is. This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers. The type is mostly centered on the cover, except for the colored emphasis on the bands name. There is a secondary emphasis on Brothers because it is the same size as The Black Keys, but is not colored. The font used for the cover sort of gives it a retro feel; since the band is considered indie rock and blues rock. 

     The cover also has a white boarder around the edges. But if the viewer looks closer, the edges aren't straight. That gives it a textured feel like it had been screen printed on or almost hand done. 

The cover also shows that it is following a grid system that is evident through the structured type and bordered edges.   

Links To Other Black Keys Covers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Camino_(The_Black_Keys_album)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_Blue_(album)

Citing

Kennedy, Gerrick. "Grammy Awards: Black Keys' 'Brothers' album designer Michael Carney talks          recording packaging win." La Times Blog. Los Angeles Time, 13 February 2011. Web. 13                  February 2016. 

"Michael Carney." Wikipedia. 27 March 2015. Web. 13 February 2016.