The album is the second release from The XX, called ‘Coexist’. The

band have kept a simplistic

and minimalistic theme throughout their releases and posters, reflecting

the genre of their music

(electronic and minimalistic musical style)

The artwork is inspired by an iridescent oil spill,

which is in the shape of an

X, which obviously links to the bands name The XX

The use of the letter ‘X’ is a running

theme for the band , with

them creating many different versions of

the artwork from previous

albums and singles. Keeping an

identical size, shape

and font for the letter ‘X’

The XX like to keep the colour palette they use for the work

similar throughout. manly using black and white, however in

this cover and a few others they have used paste pinks, blues

and yellows, which gives the covers a iridescent quality 

the album cover completely revolves

around a graphic which is placed in the

centre. Although I’ve previously seen

covers that use have an object on the

cover this is the first time I’ve seen as

cover that is just a graphic. I thought

this was really eye catching.

The image on the cover appears to be made up of

three V shaped or triangular shapes, this could

represent the fact that there are three members in

the band, or possibly, it could be linked to the V in

the bands name, ‘CHVRCHES’. The shape is also

similar to the symbol for radiation. 

The bands name is ‘CHVRCHES’ and the

album name is ‘The Bones Of What You

Believe’, they are in a cream coloured font,

this colour can also be seen in the graphic

image above. ‘CHVRCHES’ is typed in

capitals with the ‘U’ being replaced with a ‘V’

and the ‘E’ placed with three horizontal lines.

This is how the bands time is written on all

their merchandise, this is a trend they follow

through. The album name is considerably

small for the cover of the album this gives the

view that the name is not the main

focal point.

 

The colour scheme is mainly black,

blue and red, with the occasional

flick of cream, violet and cream

through out. By using black and a

violet/blue colour against a deep

red background ensures that the

cover is eye catching and will

stand out on the shelf of a record

store.

The deluxe version of this album has

the same graphic on the cover, but

switches the position of blue and red.

Also ‘Deluxe Addition’ has been

added under the album name in a

small black font. The colours used

through out both cover are bright

for a ‘normal’ electronic, synth pop

The main focal point of this album cover is the artist herself ( Jessie

Ware). In a normal profile image on an album you would expect the

person in question to make eye contact with the audience, despite this

fact I feel the image works extremely well and you’re immediately drawn

to it because the timeless iconic feel the image has.

‘The gold edition’ version of the album was realised

at a later date, this contained track that were not

released on the standard edition. The same layout

and image has been used but this version features a

gold coloured font, rather than the black used on the

original. This clearly represents the fact that this is

the ‘gold edition.’

The simplistic black and white style of this cover works

really well to create a sophisticated, sleek and polished

look. This represents the artists and her genre/style of

music well. The black font against the white background

is bold and works well with the image of the artist between

two pieces of text

The artist’s name ‘Jessie Ware’ is

typed in a bold block capital font,

however it is slightly smaller

than the name of the album ‘

Devotion’ this is nearly to keep the

text to one line and doesn’t really

change the appearance of the album

too much, in comparison to how an

extra line of text would.

member of the music duo

(Aluna). This image heavily

relates to Laura Mulvey’s

‘Male Gaze’ theory as she

can be viewed from the

perspective of a heterosexual

male. especially due to the

position she is sat in. The

theory is also proven as the

male member of the duo

(George) is shown in the

background of Aluna staring

at her.

The colour palette of this album is mainly black . The lack of

colour helps the audience to be drawn to the image of Aluna

on the cover, this is also helped by the lighting that is directly on

her. The font for both the band and the album name is white

and looks sharp against the black background. The only other

colour used is a gold line between the band and album name 

Like the ‘CHVRCHES’ album, the name isn’t the main focal point.

However catches your attention a lot easier as it is a lot larger than

the font size on ‘CHURCHES.’ The font is simple and very clean cut,

it doesn’t distract from the main focal point of the cover 

female in the duo, she is relied on to

‘sell’  the music through her style,

looks and personality. This can

explain why she is dressed in very

little, a convention that is becoming

more and more common in

mainstream music. She is also

making direct eye contact with the

audience, like George who is in the

background and isn’t making any

eye contact. This tends to be

a convention in boy/girl music duos,

this is also seen in a  image of

MSMR where the girl is standing

slightly in front of the boy. The

girl is also making eye contact,

while the boy looks away.

The band time ‘Purity Ring’ is in teal block capitals at the top of the magazine

advert and is the largest piece of text of the advertisement.  Below this is the

name of the album they are releasing ‘Shrines’ which is in pale pink/ peach

colour. This teal and pink colour scheme runs through out the whole advert.

In the centre of the advert is a graphic image of a pair of lungs,a

pig and a girl with her hands circling them. As this image is directly

in the centre of the advert and is therefore the focal point of the

entire advert. The audience are immediately drawn to this first.

Below are the details of the release which states that it is ‘out now’. Underneath

this our reviews on the album, this isn’t something I’ve seen a lot of and I think

it works really well and is a good way to fill blank space on an advert. As much

as I like the reviews, I’m not sure its a convention I would use in my own advert.

The band members do not appear on this advert, this is another convention I’m

seeing, more so in less mainstream pop artists, but still a convention.

Although this works and looks good, I believe it is probably better to have

an image of the band in order for the audience to engage with the artist.

The background of this advert is completely black, this makes the colours of

the rest of the advert stand out and easily catch the eye of the reader. Again

this advert is publish in Loud & Quiet therefore the colours are muted as it is

printed on newspaper