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Alternative rock genre

Coldplay Mylo Xyloto

The colours on this album are bright, eye catching and fun. The name of the album is Mylo Xyloto. The band claimed in some interviews that the term didn’t have a meaning and in others described it as the album’s characters, the girl being ‘mylo’ and the boy ‘xyloto’. The title is unusual and this is conventional to the genre. The font on the album cover is the same for all the text on it giving a bright, bold and loud look to the album, mirroring the sound of the songs on the album and also the look of a lot of other alternative rock album covers. The album doesn’t feature any of the band members on the cover, which is a common feature in this genre as the albums tend to be more about the artists music than the promotion of the band as celebrities. The representation of the band is similar to most of the digipaks I am looking at in that it makes them look quirky, loud and focused more on the music than themselves as artists. This digipaks is very conventional to the genre, through the colours and font it uses, however it is an uncommon feature to not include the band’s name on the front of the album.

Muse: the 2nd Law

The colours on the album stand out as they are over a black background and the image on the front is what the eye is first drawn to, creating mystery over what the image actually represents. The name of the band is at the top, obviously the key feature, followed by the title of the album, The 2nd law. The apparent use of this scientific title, according to the band’s bassist, is the creation of the album being inspired by two things, a law of physics and the future of the Human race. This quirky, enigmatic title to the album is conventional to the alternative rock genre, with an underlying theme also being a common feature. The font on the cover also fits into the conventional look, with the style continuing throughout the whole album cover. It is bright, bold and straight to the point, fitting into the look and feel of the alternative rock genre. This album again does not include any images or information of the artists themselves as again this digipak seems to be more about promoting the band’s music and songs, rather than the band themselves. The look of the album fits in perfectly with the alternative rock genre, from the colours to the font and layout of the album cover.

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Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand

The colours of the third album I am looking at are a lot more simple, with a back background and a use of yellow and orange for the title to make the words stand out on the digipak. There is no image on the album cover, showing that this album has no distractions, it is clear and simple that it is focused completely on the band and its music. Another sign of this is the fact that the band decided to name their album ‘Franz Ferdinand’ which is the same as the Artist. This supports my point more in that the aim seems to be as much promotion as possible for the band and their latest music. The layout of the album is conventional, with big, bold font, taking up almost the entire album cover, with no other information standing out or being of any importance to the target audience and consumers of the product. This is yet another digipak that has the stereotypical, alternative rock look and could be easily placed in that particular genre.

Green Day: Uno

The colours on this particular album cover are slightly more bright and clashing than the others that I have looked at. The use of black around the edge of the image give an almost grimy, mould look to the album showing it as unperfected and almost rebellious, possibly representing the feel of the band. The image also gives this kind of idea, using a heavily edited photo of the lead singer of the band, the skin has been edited to be bright white, the hair black and the eyes have been crossed out, giving the image a childlike, immature feel to it. The back also shows a similar image which also shows that the band is heavily rock influenced. The title of the album is UNO! Which is followed by two other albums named DOS! And TRES! Forming a trilogy of albums. Excluding the image, this digipak is very conventional to the alternative rock genre, using bright colours, bold, large font and themes that represent the music and band. The use of image is outside the ordinary of the genre, by using the lead singer’s face as the main feature to look at for the audience. This promotes the band as an artist, contrasting the others that have chosen to instead promote the music on the album.

These digipak contain common features that appear on the majority of alternative rock album covers. They include the use of colour, usually contrasting bright colours against black, a large, bold font, usually attracting the audience’s eye to the text first. Also, the layout is similar throughout, with the band name being the most important feature on the album colour. Overall, the digipaks I have

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looked at within the alternative rock genre use these features to represent, the specific genre, their band as individuals, and the music that is included on the album.

Other examples: