SCOTT'S ALBUM ARTWORK
These images are based upon one theoretical artist's various different musical guises:
'Quiet Contemplation'
Here is Scott, in a simple sunlit portrait photograph. The lack of any reference points in the photograph leaves this wide open to interpretation as to which genre the music contained on the album will be. The simple layout, and plain white Veranda font, might suggest a purity of vision, if not musical content - so the artist may well record simplistic folk or acoustic songs along the lines of Bob Dylan or Billy Bragg. On the other hand, the straightforward head and shoulders could suggest that this is in fact a solo pop artist - but the unshaven look, and non-airbrushed nature of the image is not stereotypical of that style of covers. The denim jacket could be a hint at a style of music - does this represent a country and western theme? - but the ubiquity of denim in rock and pop music renders the jacket virtually impotent as a point of reference. Even the title 'Quiet Contemplation' is more a reflection on the appearance of the photograph than what could be on the recording. This is an example of an album cover that could accompany pretty much any genre, due to its lack of visual 'clues' within the image and neutral appearance.
'From Within My Heart'
Another portrait shot, but this time a more finely-tuned, targeted approach. The assumption might be easily made that this is an ex-soap star, or reality TV show contest winner, clean-shaven and carefully airbrushed to appeal to a wide 'consumer' audience. The neutral background, contemporary hair style, slight smile and album title all suggest a stereotypical 'pop' artist, trying to be inoffensive and recognisable. But it could, of course, be an artist from another genre attempting to be ironic - as could the following alternative cover to the same album...
This version of 'From Within My Heart' uses the same typography and text colour, but turns the title on its head
by making it a reference to the copious amount of blood in the picture. Again, if responding to 'first impressions', this
picture may give the impression that the album is by a rock artist, such as Andrew WK does on his album 'I Get Wet' (below).
If preconceptions were to be twisted, it cannot be certain that this is a rock act: could it be the exact same 'pop' artist in the
earlier version of 'From Within My Heart' attempting to "rough up" his image? When Robbie Williams can strip away
his skin in computer-enhanced promotional videos, this seems a distinct possibility.
'The Selector'
In contrast to the previous image, the cover for Scott's 'The Selector' album hints heavily at what could be contained within the packaging. A Technics turntable, drum machines, samplers, mixers and a white label 12 inch single would lead those viewing the picture to suspect that this album was either a DJ mix compilation, or an electronic dance or hip hop artist. Of course, this could all be an elaborate postmodern way of promoting music of a completely different genre, but it would be safe to assume that this was pandering heavily to stereotypes, and attempting to attract the attention of dance music aficionados. The 'cut out' PhotoShop filter and enhanced colours gives the image a vibrant, cartoon-like aesthetic, in keeping with the way in which much dance music is illustrated. This is a good example of using established clichés, codes and conventions to appeal to fans of a particular style of music.
'Rough and Ready'
Here we see Scott in his guise as a performer of 'nu-metal' music, writing and recording loud and aggressive rock songs with an underlying hip-hop rhythmic feel. Although he is very career-minded, his first album 'Rough And Ready' promotes him very much as a 'bad boy' of rock - as this album cover suggests, with its sinister cat's eyes, graffiti-covered wall and smoking cigarette. The artist name and album title takes the well-established 'parental advisory' sticker (that warns of explicit lyrical content on recordings) and twists it around, wearing it almost as a 'badge of honour'. It is felt that the intertextual use of this logo will attract fans of nu-metal, rock and hip-hop that often see a warning sticker on an album as a sign of credibility. This album is intended to have a target audience of teenagers and college students. An alternative cover design was also designed (below) which is an exaggerated pastiche of the parental advisory sticker. This design consists simply of two rectangular black blocks on a white background, with the album and artist name in capital letters. While this creates a striking - and simple - design, it is felt that the cover featuring a photograph of Scott conveys more of his 'image' than the text cover can.
'Phases'
The music featured on an album with artwork like this could be from any genre whatsoever. Its intertextual theme of a replicated 'pop art' style emblem is taken directly from the work of Andy Warhol (and, in turn, those of Peter Saville's sleeve designs for Factory Records). This is an example of an album cover where the design work itself becomes the context of how the artist is represented - in this case, utilising a 'stamp' filter on Adobe PhotoShop, applied to a cropped selection of Scott's face. Each stamped 'head' uses complimentary tertiary colours from the colour wheel, to give a 'flowing' and modulating effect to the picture as a whole - enhanced by the white-to-black background gradient.
'Masterblaster'
This album cover was created to promote Scott as a producer/performer of instrumental, sample-based contemporary dance music. The explosion in the image (which has been effected with a 'paint daub' PhotoShop filter to give it a stylised, modern look) attempts to give the picture a sense of energy, reflecting that present in the music. The MV Sans font is embossed for the artist name, creating a slick look. For the album title, the orange type is outlined thinly in yellow, and given an orange outer glow to simulate the appearance of flames, complimenting the explosion in the main image. While this picture was created with a dance artist in mind, it could easily illustrate any number of genres. Its anonymous style and the lack of a picture of the actual artist makes this image very suitable for dance music, where often the label releasing the music is more significant than the act producing it.
'Bling Bling'
This portrayal of Scott as a white rapper is another observation of stereotypes.
We see him crouching in an alleyway, in front of a graffiti-covered wall. This is intended to give him an air of 'authenticity',
implying that he comes from 'the streets' and speaks from a level at which those buying his music can relate to. Although he may not
specifically be a rap star, the title of the album, 'Bling Bling' is a colloquial term used by rap and modern R'n'B artists for
being wealthy. His appearance is a deliberate pastiche of Eminem's image, with jeans, a vest, tattoos and a 'beanie' hat,
while the 'parental advisory' sticker is again featured as a clue to the potentially offensive content on the recording - a
warning that may well encourage more people to buy it, than those it warns away.
But what of the alternative version below?
What would a rap artist be doing hanging around in the same location wearing
a dinner jacket? Demonstrating his newfound wealth, perhaps? Or is this image again being playful with preconceptions? One possibility
is that this version of 'Scott the Rapper' has been dressed formally as an ironic observation of his slum surroundings. However, the
lack of an explicit content warning on this cover hints that this could be an artist from a completely different genre working in
a similarly ironic way. It could be that this artist often dresses this way - as a classical musician or easy listening vocalist - and
has been placed in this context to appeal to a potentially different audience, or simply as an attempt to stand out from other
artists in the same genre.
Click here to go to Jane's full artwork. © Andrew Morrison 2004. Copyright control. All rights reserved.
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