CD cover analysis

The Notorious B.I.G. - The Final Chapter

• What materials/techniques have been used?
• This piece looks to be a collage done digitally using scannings of newspaper articles with digital mastering over the top.
• Why are these materials/techniques appropriate to the design?
• As it was an album of all his collaborations before he died they released this album as a tribute to him so i think they used the newspaper articles of his death to create this album cover meaning the collage is very emotional and appropriate to thew circumstances. 
• What is communicated about the artist or music through the design?
• His death is shown in the album art by the subtitle of 'the final chapter' showing that its the last full album of his to be released.
• Describe and explain what other decisions have been made about colour, composition etc
• The colour red could represent his death as in red for blood and the use of newspaper articles of his death shows that this is a well thought out piece of art.
• How has typography been used? Font, colour, position, size, technique?
• font has been chosen to look similar to that of a newspaper style also the use of the colour red to represent the blood of his death. The  placement just makes it easy to read and its placed in a well thought out spot that means its the first thing you read when you see the art.
• Has anything influenced the design or does it remind you of anything?
• The artist who created this is clearly skilled and interested in collages and can be one of any other artist inspiration to create this piece such as Natsko Seki for the use of colour in the design and any other collage artist for the format as its a very basic but effective newspaper collage.

 The Beatles - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Peter Blake

• What materials/techniques have been used?
• this is another collage piece you can tell this as there are multiple pictures of the beatles but unlike the other piece it is completely man made and i know this as this album was released before digital design had even started to be used.
• Why are these materials/techniques appropriate to the design?
• This design shows the history of the beatles and how much they have changed with is why it is such an effective album cover, also the fact that it has bonus people in it just to show a communion of people signifies the 'Club' mentioned in the name.
• What is communicated about the artist or music through the design?
• the history of the beatles is shown on this album because it shows the majority of the styles they went through in terms of clothing and because of the collage showing many different images of them it is pretty obvious as to who wrote this album.
• Describe and explain what other decisions have been made about colour, composition etc
• it seems that colour hasn't really been 100% thought about due to the huge variety of colour used on this cover but then again the placement of said colour seems to work very well.
• How has typography been used? Font, colour, position, size, technique?
• the drum head being used as the canvas for the album name is a very interesting idea that i like and the flower arrangement for the band name i think is also a very unique piece and as its all been made due to having no digital help on this cover shows real talent for the artists who made this.

 The Police - Synchronicity

• What materials/techniques have been used?
• this piece looks like it has been made digitally but due to the timing of its creation its doubtful that it was made to this quality digitally so it seems like a very basic collage/ mixed media idea due to the mass amount of images and the single stroke of paint going over the top.
• Why are these materials/techniques appropriate to the design?
• the pictures used are very emotional and as this is a semi emotional album it makes sense and the use of the 3 primary colours is very effective.
• What is communicated about the artist or music through the design?
• the artist seems to be a lot more emotional than they actually are due to the imagery used on this piece, this shows a very deep and intensive side to the police and the artist that created this piece.
• Describe and explain what other decisions have been made about colour, composition etc
• the use of colour in this piece is very particular as they have only used the 3 primary colours as a highlight to the image and its only an overlay due to the fact you can see the images so clearly through the strokes.
• How has typography been used? Font, colour, position, size, technique?
• the typography looks as if it has been hand painted and this shows a real personal effectiveness to the image also with the band name and album name being the same size it shows that the band name isn't more important than the name of the album which is rare normally artists have one or the other being larger and easier to notice.