Research On CD Covers

I have decided to research female RnB artist CD covers to try and ensure that Lizzie's cover reflects her genre and style effectively. As previously mentioned, my partener and I felt that Lizzie had a slight 'Leona Lewis' vibe.

This cover uses an extreme close up of the artists face, with the artist name and song title inserted above and below her face. The font is very simple, as is the artists make up. This implies that the artist is a raw talent, she's not heavily manufactured which appeals to many. The manufactured pop artists tend to be more heavily made up and the album colours use more eye catching images and fonts, but this is simple and effective with an 'it's about the music not the image' feel to it. I feel that this style could work very well for Lizzie's CD cover.

This Alicia Keys CD cover is also very simple but still very effective, although quite different from the Leona Lewis cover. The image of the artist is in black and white which, as a feature of our video, I feel that using a black and white image of the artist on the CD cover could be effective in creating a continuity throughout the package. The artist name is shown her in large lettering, again which i find very effective, however it still doesnt take away attention from the striking close up image of the artists face. The eye contact used on both this cover and on Leona Lewis' cover is very attention grabbing which is exactly what we need for Lizzie.

This Beyonce cover uses a mid shot of the artist. This shot is more sexualised than the shots seen on the previous covers. Beyonce's clevage, stomach and arms are here on show covered only by a glittered mesh top and she is pushing out her hip. This combined with the eye contact also used in the image attracts the male gaze. This could once again work for Lizzie as we need to attract a male audience. The background of the cover is plain and simple which makes the image of the artist stand out more. The artist name and title are once again quite simple so as not to draw attention away from the artist image.

I have included this N-Dubz cover as, like Lizzie, they were born and raised in London and this has been emphasised in their marketing. On this cover for example we see typical London style tower blocks behind the group. The use of images of London in the background enhances the selling point that the artists are British and staying true to that i.e not becoming "Americanised". I are also going to try to include this in our marketing of Lizzie, if not on the Cd cover then maybe on the poster instead.

I have also included this image of Ciara on the contents page of a magazine as I thought that using an image like this coule be very effective for the back cover of the CD and where the text is on the image could be the album track listings. The raised legs and stilletos are a phallic symbol and this sexualises the image and appeals to the male gaze.