MY ALBUM COVER DRAFTSBy Anthony Williams

• As I had to create a media product to go along with my music video I decided to create two a drafts of album covers. I tried to keep the conventions of hip-hop within both album cover but not using anything unconventional for example plain backgrounds, I believe I have achieved effectively.

WHY I CREATED MY ALBUM COVER DRAFTS

First draft ideaThis album cover at first glance would appear to be basic and normal although if you look closely the audience will notice the amount of detail put in. the large building and estates in the background this catches the audience’s eye making them wonder what type of building it is and why is it used to portray the artist. In front of the building shows a medium shot of the artist drake used as an example artist for my album cover. The medium shot shows the artist in full detail creating a connection with the audience which is the demands of the record label as this creates sales. He is shown wearing large sunglasses covering his eyes, this makes him look dark mysterious as he is not revealing himself to the audience. The artist separates himself from the background by being coloured black and white, this is used because the audience wants to point a message across that his music is different from what the audience normal listen to as many artists in hip-hop come from estates and flats.

The ‘Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics’ symbol used on the left hand side of the album cover is used to show the level mutuality of this album. This notifies parents of the content used within this album and whether or not they should buy it for their children.

The album cover “Real Hip-Hop” is written in a bold Blue text while have yellow borders. This makes the text stand out as it looks appealing and is eye catching. His name Mc Real is written in a plain white. The word REAL is an intertextual reference to Mc Real’s name as real meaning actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact. This is used to show that his album is real lyrics and facts of what hip-hop is and what it should be this also helps with his name implying that he is a real hip-hop artist . “Hip –Hop” also clearly points out to the audience what type of genre the album without strongly analysing the album cover.

This album cover stands out because of its main use of colourful graffiti. Graffiti is an art that identifies the genre and culture of hip-hop, this stating that the album is of hip-hop content. This album cover shows my artist 50 Cent who is used as an example, he is shown in a close up shot looking directly at the camera. This creates a connection with himself and the audience also this is the demands of the record label as it helps generate album sales. The artist is transparent thus blinding in with the graffiti background, this is used to make the audience aware he is one with graffiti therefore one with ‘hip-hop’.

The album cover “Real Hip-Hop” is written in a bold plain white containing no capitals this making the title less important but the artist name more significant. His name Mc Real is written in a large plain white but also being transparent blinding in with the graffiti background this creating the same effect as my artist’s image. The word REAL is an intertextual reference to Mc Real’s name as real meaning actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact. This is used to show that his album is real lyrics and facts of what hip-hop is and what it should be this also helps with his name implying that he is a real hip-hop artist . “Hip –Hop” also clearly points out to the audience what type of genre the album without strongly analysing the album cover.

The ‘Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics’ symbol used on the left hand side of the album cover is used to show the level mutuality of this album. This notifies parents of the content used within this album and whether or not they should buy it for their children.

Second draft idea