My Album Cover Design
Paramore, ‘Hard Times’
My Experiments
I knew that I wanted to experiment with different types of paper so I used normal card, sugar paper and newspapers and other things that I could use to make different marks such as charcoal and highlighters. The one that I liked the best was definitely collaging the newspaper clippings and using red and black pens to draw around them. I made the decision to do this for my album cover design.
I created this album cover for the punk bad ‘Paramore’ and the song ‘Hard Times.’ I took lots of old newspapers and cut lots of clippings from articles that talked about the massive devastating impact the Coronavirus pandemic has had on musicians. I wanted the album cover to make a bold statement that the band like many others is suffering within the music industry as they are not able to play at worldwide tours, sell out arenas and their income has been cut short as a result of this. I experimented with collage using different types of paper and i found that making newspaper collages worked best overall. I particularly focused on articles with headlines about the music industry and musicians this year. I was inspired by the burn book within mean girls to cut out letters from headlines in newspapers and create the bands name ‘Paramore’ to give the cover a handmade, bold effect. I then used black and red coloured pens to scribble around the letters which again gives a loose, edgy look. I chose to paint the background of the cover red to symbolise the pain and struggles during this pandemic not only for musicians but for the arts industry as a whole. The red also is bold and strong suggesting that the band is making a bold statement of being exhausted and angry about not being able to make a living performing as they normally would have. I put a slight wash of red paint over each of the clippings of newspaper articles.
For the back of the album cover, i made a collage of newspaper letters for the name of the song ‘Hard Times’ and wrote the best of Paramore in bold, capital letters. I then listed eight other songs which will also feature in the album.
I am happy with the outcome of this task. I really enjoyed having the freedom to choose whatever images or text that I preferred. I am happy with how my album cover design relates to the Punk era of the 1970’s and 1980’s and I am confident that it gives off a punk vibe that breaks the usual rules of a modern album cover.
Contextual Research
I watched the interview by Penguin Books UK with Stanley Donwood who is a graphic designer who is famous for being behind Radiohead’s album cover. It is interesting that he almost has an image in his head before starting an album cover by listening to the music of the band. This then results in many of his album covers being totally different to one another. It is intriguing that he was influenced by certain things for each cover design such as the War in Ukislavia for Kid A’s album cover. What is impressive about Donwood’s work is how he never uses the ‘undo’ tool when creating his designs unlike many of the modern designers today. Instead of undoing his work he simply places another image over the top of it. I like how he uses a basic technique that requires less practicality or effort so that he gets his designs done quickly such as paintballing onto a canvas to create paint splotches. I love how he created a pocket book with images of his lino prints only, instead of the usual books which are perfect for visual learners. He is has a very unique approach overall to being a graphic designer and I admire this.