JB - Analysis Of Print Media of Album Cover

The album Cover and Advert which i will be advertising is going to be Arctic Monkeys - Humbug which was released in the U.K on August 24th 2009. The genre of the track is clearly evident as it has the grainy, Polaroid picture effect. Indie albums are always related to the rough, collage styled album covers which look to have a very amateur style to it.

There are a few visual techniques which are used, one of them is that they have used the rule of thirds, the first person you are drawn to is the top left of the rule of thirds, they have done this on purpose as they have given the audience an illusion tactility as they have guided them to the front man, Alex Turner. In turn of this they have now used his arm as a leading line to follow it to the artists name, so they can familiarise themselves with the front man and the band name. The typography of this album name is that it is not on a straight line, which leaves it with a scruffy effect which also connotes the bands representation and will conform with the genre of indie. We notice from the front man that he has his hand over his mouth with him looking like he is laughing, this connotes that the music has a light side to it and has some humour added into it. The lighting levels have not been changed and imperfections have not been touched up in this album cover, this connotes that they are un glamorous and don't want to be associated with the celebrity circuit of the music industry with a photoshopped album cover and want to keep it lo fi, the lighting appears very poor, so it does not show much background, however the lighting is just good enough to have a quite clear view of the artists. There is some white space on this cover, there are two parts to the cover, a large photo and a small photo which looks like it is attached to a wall, this is to give it a simple and minimalistic look to it so it appears effortless. They can follow Dyers paradox as the album cover may look ordinary and amateur, however they are extraordinary through there talent they show on the actual CD which connotes that they are very down to earth and can relate to the consumer, even though they have this very strong talent in music.
This album cover does add to their meta narrative as a very simplistic and rough edged band which coincide well with the indie genre, if you look at previous album covers from the same artists, they have the artists on the front cover, predominantly the lead singer and a very simple artist name and sometimes the album name, the album as well is called 'humbug' which adds to their meta narrative as they are re known for there attitude, the photo which is taken of the band on the album cover however looks like it is rejecting this as Alex Turner looks like he is enjoying himself and looking away playfully. Humbug as well leads to intertexuality, this album name can be ironic intertexuality from the film, 'A Christmas Carol' as Scrooge, one of the characters in the movie, was a very grumpy old man, which connotes that there music is full of attitude, however this could also mean that they are using it playfully in tongue and cheek, it could be contradictory. The consumer can relate to the traits of this album cover as all people would have taken photos using a disposable or Polaroid camera so they can be able to reproduce something which the Arctic Monkeys have made which connotes that the group are not targeting there audience for the upper classes but from middle to lower classes.