Research: Back of album

As part of one of my ancillary tasks, I created a album back cover to make my Digipak complete. To make sure I followed the correct codes and conventions, I researched into album back covers of artist's with the same genre and target audience as my own in the current market. The main conventions that all of these album's featured were:

 - Main image

-Bar code

-Track names

- Production credits

- Logo of record label

- Strips on each side of the back cover so when the album is stacked, the audience can recognise it

Although this back cover is very effective in the way the image relates to the music video for 'Love Story' because the artist is wearing a Victorian dress which she is wearing in the video, creating an intertextual reference, I do not like the white text on top of a cream background as the colours are not contrasted enough meaning that the text does not stand out to the audience on a first glance.

This back cover is also very effective- the image makes the back cover interesting and gives it a 'wow' effect. The artist's eye make up will attract the target audience to buy the product as the gaze theory is used here. The image also reflects the name of the album 'beautiful eyes' which I think is a effective convention. However, I think again that the text and the background do not contrast enough but this is a motif throughout Taylor Swifts album's to use light colours. This means that if the target audience were attracted to her last album because the colours are similar they think they will also be attracted to this album. If the colours suddenly changed to dark colours then the audience will feel that the type of music has also changed to perhaps a rock genre. The colours used here symbolise the happiness and delicate feel that Taylor Swift's lyrics bring across to the audience.

I think the colours used on this digipak are very well contrasted so that all the aspects of the cover stand out to the audience. The white text of the tracks and the record label stand out against the contrasted black background and the artist who is wearing black stands out against the white smoke effect that has been used. The glow of light used in the background gives the message to the audience that if they listen to this album, it will teach them how to shine.

 I thought this back cover was effective by the way the songs names are scattered over the page with the white lines, creating a very modern and unique effect. However, this is not the style I was aiming for my own product as I wanted to use an image of the artist in the background, letting me make the most of the photograph's that have not previously been used as a main image.

Although the photography used here is strong, I think that the track list does not contrast enough with the background meaning that the text does not stand out enough to the audience. I was sure to avoid this when creating my product as the text standing out is a common convention of a back cover, as I have found in my research.

This is a back cover that is similar to my own as it uses the same delicate and soft style and has the same pink light overlay. Another similarity between this one and my own is the style of the handwritten font used on the strips. I think that this is an album back cover that would attract my target audience and therefore it has inspired my own ideas, hoping for my back cover to also do this.