Kate Nash- Made of Bricks

To help me in the process of creating my Album Artwork for Ellie Tanner, I have decided to look at Kate Nash's "Made of Bricks" album. I have chosen to look at Kate Nash because as an artist she falls into a similar genre to that of Ellie. 

This is Kate Nash's Debut Album and the artwork is really important as it is the first impression we get of her as an artist, before we even hear her music. For this reason her name is larger than the title of the album, because it is introducing her and establishing her brand. This is a convention I have seen in many other artist's debut albums, like the ones below:

All of these debut albums have the artist/band name as the only text on the cover. This is due to the importance of establishing who the band are, as artists and people. The style of font used is also important as it helps to portray the artist image. The style of font used for the text on Nash's Album has a handwritten and very informal feel. It portrays a very playful feel and we would expect to this theme to be carried on through her music.

In the foreground of the album we have the artist, with her back to the audience but she is facing around. This  gives the feeling that she is going/ walking somewhere, but by turning her head towards the audience it is as if she is inviting us to go to this place/ on her musical journey with her. Her pose is an allusion to that of the iconic Marilyn Monroe (below), who was one of the sexiest pinups of the 20th century.

The artist clothes in this cover convey a sultry and sexy feeling. This because red carries connotations of sex, passion and love, but also anger and fire. I believe that this is a statement about her music but also her personality, as Kate Nash's lyrics are very playful and romantic but also fiery, feisty and punchy, especially the "foundations" track. 

In this cover I think Nash wanted to convey her pride of where she has come from. I think she has done this through the background. The house is quintessentially english and with the red clay tile roof, and white wood window frames. The house almost looks like a dolls house, which also adds to the playful feeling. The pruned hedges have middles class connotations and therefore could be an allusion to the artist background. These structured hedges are contrasted against the overgrown grass and daisies. 

It is noticeable that Kate Nash is superimposed and I think that the designer has done this on purpose as a postmodern technique making us aware that what we are looking at isn't real. It's done to show us that they aren't pretending it is either. 

To help me when I create my back cover for my album, I have also looked at the back of "Made of Bricks" to see how the Kate Nash's production team created a cohesive packaging. 

There are certain conventions that I will need to adhere to when creating my back cover, such as a barcode, track list, copyright information and record label logo. These will all be things that I will look to include when I create my back cover. 

The playful writing used on the front cover is carried over to continue the artists brand image. As a whole it is a very simplistic back cover, but I think it works well with the front cover as the front cover is fairly complex so it is made for purpose. It isn't made as a piece of art it is more for function. This idea is something that I will keep in mind when I create my album designs. 

As a whole I really like this album and the playful concept. The text used has inspired me to use a similar font in my designs as it will contrast well with the logo/ brand font of Ellie Tanner.