What Makes an Album Cover Iconic?
Iconic- If something is considered to be iconic, they’re very influential, recognizable and revered.
To make an album cover iconic it must be remembered for decades that come after it and something the majority of people are knowing of. There may be a rule of code an artist may have broken in making the album making a difference within the time or something people have looked up to and followed. Examples of iconic albums are:
Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon
The image of the white beam splitting the prism stood the test of time because of the laws of science, transcending the music and becoming an icon in its own right.
The Beatles Abbey Road
The final album The Beatles made before their split had the location of them crossing the road of Abbey Road attract thousands of fans to come and visit it every year because of its simple easy to reach location.
Sex Pistols God Save The Queen
This album became iconic because of its found mockery of the queen who is expected to be respected by all but because of her lack to the country during tough times found less positive remarks made about her, this album is one of them which was the led to it all.
Who is James Reid?
A British Anarchist helped to define the rock punk scene in the 70s in Britain by his style of art mimicking ransom letters.
Who is Jonathon Barnbrook?
An abstract artist who became a frequent album designer for David Bowie in his later years leading up to his death creating abstract pieces.
Album Research
I chose to annotate three Kanye West covers to show a journey on the different styles he has experimented with within his music career. I annotated the albums to show the different graphics and colours that were used and why these specific colours may have been used and what they are trying to show through them. By annotating these albums, I have been given more of an idea on how to redesign my album and how to show a story through one.
I have chosen to use the Blond album by Frank Ocean because of its blank space, it inspired me to add colour to it and make it look more eye-catching. I collected images that correlate to the songs in the album; eg the ivy represents the song ivy in the album. Making a mood board for this makes me easier to come up with ideas and start to create my first ideas for my album cover. I want my album to have a dark night theme with a retro filter.