Pool

Pool

By Porches

     Pool , 2016, is the third album that artist has released. I couldn't get good information on the members of the band or a specific genre of music; all I could gather is there is an official member Frankie Cosmos. Pool is put together and designed graphically well compared to the bands other two albums, Ronald Paris and Slow Dance In The Cosmos. 

     The reason I said that this album is clearly gridded and clean. There is a squared off water colored painting in the center of the frame. The rest of the cover is a broad, thick white boarder. Pool is a light pink, which they might of pulled out from the image, small serif type centered above the image. Since it is so light against the white frame, it gets lost and is barely noticeable.
     The most eye catching thing about this cover is the pinkish/orange basketball. It is a great contrast against the pink and blue watercolored background. It also keeps my attention because it's deflating and doesn't have as much detail as the hand does. The hand bleeds off, the only object that is bleeding off, the right framing of the image. Even though it uses tones from the pink background, it has great detail and shading in it. The watercolored background of this image is sort of interesting. At first, I thought it was the sky with the basketball and the hand referencing The Creation Of Adam. I guess anybody can view the image that why and come up with a reason on why the artist/designer did it. Depending on the viewers perspective, the ball seems to be floating and a random, young hand is reaching to possibly retrieve it. As previously stated, it depends on the individuals perspective when they first see it. It could be referencing toward a religious statement or just a common accident.    

Screws Get Loose

Screws Get Loose

By Those Darlins

     Those Darlins formed in Murfreesboro, TN in 2006 after members Jessi Zazu, Nikki Kvarnes, and Kelley Anderson met at Southern Rock & Roll Camp. They first began doing cover songs and used traditional southern instruments, like the washboard, and nontraditional ones. In 2008, the band released "Wild One" from their self titled alum Those Darlins. The band was asked to open for The Black Keys, which furthered Those Darlins profile. 

     In 2011, the band with now fourth member Linwood Regensburg, an official member and songwriter, went to the studio to record their second album, Screws Get Loose. This time the album was engineered by Ed Rawls, which led the album to sound more Garage Punk. 

     The cover is a simple black and white photo of a woman. This time though it's not just a photograph of a beautiful woman for the cover, and I'm pretty sure it's not one of the members also. Her face is facing away from the camera as she seems to be digging one of her fingers into her nose. There is a high contrast; the majority of the top of the cover is black as the bottom is a light gray and white. She seems like a classy sort of woman because she is wearing a fur coat and has well done makeup. Maybe the stress of a job and/or her personal life got to her and she did something that a "normal" person wouldn't be doing. She is doing something strange considering she is an adult woman, and the photo just happens be taken in this moment of her life. Even though this photo has movement in it, it seems really well adjusted and focused. 

     Those Darlins and Screws Get Loose are horizontally tilted near the upper right corner. The gold retro looking font of the bands name is a great contrast of the dark background; also the white spot in the upper right corner also leads us to the text. The name of the album is smaller then the bands name and tucked under it centered. Even though it has a great emphasis on the bands name and a great contrast of the light on dark, I feel liked they sort of smacked it on the cover. Maybe if the designer moved the image to the left and the text close to her finger, it would have been a better led on. The pointing finger could have led the viewer to the text. 

Woodland

By The Paper Kites

     Woodland was the first EP of the indie band The Paper Kites, released in 2011. With singles like "Featherstone" and "Bloom", the band became popular and soon played at small clubs around Australia.

     The cover for Woodland is a very nice digital collage of a serene place somewhere in the woods. The green plants around the white text is a nice frame for it; it sort of lead the viewer straight to the text. Even though the text is centered and white against a dark background for the emphasis, it is also asymmetrical. The sans serif font seems to be hand written on the cover and it seems to fit in with the other elements of the composition. The only problem that I do have with it is that the I in kites blends in with the thin tree trunk and the E gets sort of lost because of the orange color.   

     The rule of thirds is easily detectable on this cover. As previously stated the title and the bands name is the emphasis of the cover, even though it is the middle ground. The front ground has a nice texture from the details of the flowers, leaves, and bushes both at the top and the bottom of the cover. After I read the text, my eye then goes down to the plant life because of all of the complimentary colors. Even though the plant life is asymmetrical at the bottom of the page, it is also mirroring each other. The reason I say that it goes from tall, to short in the middle, then goes back to tall. The background are the thin dark brown trees with some pink and green textures behind them. Maybe it's possible that we're outside the woods and we see some mysterious beauty behind the trees, who knows? But the more I look at the artwork, it looks more hand painted instead of digitally collaged. 

     The cover all together is beautifully unified and a piece of art by itself. The cover represents the style of music which the band does, which is relaxing. Even though it has some flaws with the text getting lost in the background, it is still a wonderful cover.