CD Cover Textual Analysis

This is the album by Katy Perry called ‘One of the Boys’ released on June 17th 2008. This studio album has sold over 5million albums worldwide. The typography of the albums title is the same for the artists name however the name has been coloured blue adhering to the stereotype that boys like blue where as the artists name is in hot pink. Another stereotype being adhered here is of woman with the surrounding pink objects such as the record player floor, pink outfit, throw on the bench and the idea of a white picket fence, however the blue hat connotes ‘One of the Boys’, this is a rather quirky name for such a old fashioned girly cover. From the colours used we can tell the majority of the songs from this album should have an upbeat, feel good theme. This album would appeal more for those who are into pop music as Katy Perry is known for producing songs in that genre. Considering the title and the presentation of the album this could be aimed for both a male and female audience, more over female though. The name of the artists is positioned at the top and the album name at the bottom this shows popularity of the artist herself. Direct eyecontact engages the audiences. A full body shot of Katy in a seductive pose furthermore implies this album is aimed for both genders.

This album is by Paramore called ‘Riot’. Instantly we are drawn to the appearance of this CD cover by its striking graffiti style writing, the title is scribbled across many times as well as the bands nice – Paramore. This bizarre style of writing makes the album easily identifiable as it stands out, paramore are aimed at those who enjoy punk – rock genre music. The boldness of the main attraction ‘Riot’ in red connotes danger, loudness and boldness implying the variety of the songs in this album will be likewise. The plain background makes the writing stand out much more. The camouflage of the words in such a way shows Paramore are rebellious and a sense of creativeness due to the different sized, shaped and angles of the writing, this may also be seen in the songs of the album.

This is Cheryl Cole’s album ‘3 words’ released in October 2009. straight away the audience see a feminine side of Cole as her body posture is in such a position to seem nude however it is a medium close up and all that the audience can see is a delicate upper half. Despite the net headpiece there is direct eye contact to the audience. The typography of the artists name and albums name too is very feminine and is written on Cheryl’s body meaning it has a personal touch to the songs, by having a small font to the little bit of writing shows more significance to the artist. As it seems as if she is nude there is a clash with the head veil as it covers her face, contradicting this, the veil implies she is distant from the audienceFemininity has been used throughout the album cover, the veil, possibly naked body, flowers, makeup, therefore from this we know this is targeted at females and adheres the stereotypical view on women