Album artwork

• The album cover design establishes the genre of the music
• It establishes the artist
• It establishes the credibility of the artists and the album itself
• It seeks to attract audiences attention through striking imagery
• It acts as a persuasive device to draw audiences in
• The cover can be original/inventive/innovative/unique or conventional depending on what is sought
• Album covers use codes & conventions to communicate with the audience

Coventions - album name, artist name and a centralised image are the main 3 conventions involved within an album cover.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles

• Follows the conventions of having the band name, band themselves and album name all on the front of the album.
• Merging popular culture and high art - pop art style cover
• Revolutionary album cover - functional as a work of stand-alone art
• Flowers included in the cover; code for the 'hippy' lifestyle and culture
• The font on the bass drum; code for a circus style
• The artists are centralised to show their importance, which is a convention of album covers
• The blue sky in the background, along with the palm trees connote that the band are on their own 'fame island', with the rest of the idols included in the image

Nevermind - Nirvana

• Shows a baby chasing a dollar on a fish hook - the message is that we are all sucked in to the American society and money from a very young age, as if nothing else matters; connotes greed
• The baby is shown in endless water; code for freedom and purity being manipulated by the dollar
• The hook connotes the baby being baited by money
• The dollar is code for the American economy and way of life
• The album cover makes a genuine political statement, and thus want to be taken seriously

Definitely Maybe - Oasis

• Follows the conventions of the band being included in the cover, the band name appearing and the top an the album name also appearing at the top.
• There are many codes within the picture.
• The Manchester City framed picture promotes they are Mancunian, which is an important area in terms of the indie scene
• The wine connotes a party scene with sophistication, similarly to Benson & Hedges Gold
• Liam Gallagher, the frontman and songwriter, is shown at the centre and the forefront lying down, to show off his arrogance and position in the band.
• Musicality is connoted through Noel holding his guitar in a relaxed and confident manner.
• The band are watching TV to connote they are just regular guys, and are perhaps similar to a family or a unit, as one.
• Their logo is black and white for a simple yet sophisticated look, yet juxtaposed with a trashy tabloid font.

Master of Puppets - Metallica

• Follows the convention of having the band name and the album name both featured on the cover.
• Does not feature the band; less focus on the artists themselves, rather the message of the music.
• The cover features war graves, with puppet strings attached. This album is the criticism of war and how soldiers are merely pawns controlled by their governments. This album's lyrics all focus on war.
• The iconic Metallica logo is featured in large, covering almost 1/3rd of the entire cover.
• The red sky connotes an apocalyptic time of mass war.
• The endless rows of graves show the amount of deaths from wars.
• As a genuine political statement, this is Metallica wanting to be taken seriously.

Ninja Tuna - Mr Scruff

• Includes both the artist name and the album name, with the artist name on top.
• The main focus is a very playful, light-hearted doodle image of a few fish in a very childish manner in a squiggly blue fish. This shows the playful manner of the album, and that it has no real message; rather it is simply fun music. It could also show that the music 
• The simplicity of the album cover shows how the artist simply wants to have fun with the music, rather than promote his own character or give a message.
• The light colours again give a light feel to the cover.