Analysis of the Principles of Design within Album Covers

Elizabeth Turnage
May 14, 2021
8 min read

Date: April 6, 2021

To: ENGL 569

From: Elizabeth Turnage

Subject: Analysis 1

Overview:

I am writing this memo in order to analyze three album covers that interest me through the lens of the five principles of design. I will also be analyzing an album cover that I created myself that represents the stage of life that I have found myself in following my undergraduate studies.

Taylor Swift’s Folklore Album:

Introduction:

Taylor Swift’s Grammy award winning album, Folklore, was born out of quarantine in July of 2020. Taylor Swift is “the biggest-selling artists of the past few years” (Miller, McIntyre, Mantrala, 2003) Since then I have taken a huge interest in it, making it one of my favorite albums of all time. Taylor Swift is not only a Pop legend, but also is known for her iconic crossing of genres from country to pop. She did not stop her transition here and during quarantine she crossed her third genre—alternative music—with some indie-folk inspiration as well. Within the album, Swift created an alternate universe with her own characters and their accompanying stories. Because of this, Swift names the album Folklore to represent the collection of stories she passes down through her music.

Analysis of Cover Art:

Swift has referenced “folklorian woods” in this universe she has created, which a sister album Evermore was also born out of. These folklorian woods are where she derives her album artwork. This cover art is a direct representation of Swift retreating into the woods during quarantine to do what she does best, write songs and create music. In the cover art, she is

emerging from the woods to share what she has written with us, but

she remains in the woods because what she has started is not finished. This continues with her sister studio album that was released only 5 months later.

The Five Principles within the Album Cover:

The focal point of Swift’s artwork is the trees that are towering over her. Immediately, we see that the artwork uses grouping. There are two distinct groups of trees within the artwork, divided on the left and on the right to create an opening for Swift to stand in the middle. As well as grouping the trees together, we notice that all of the objects use the principle of alignment. Both the trees and Swift are standing vertical, which is aligning them on a Y axis. Swift herself is looking up at the trees, which naturally draws the eyes up the trees and to the sky, following the Y axis. I find this element particularly interesting, as it also creates balance among the artwork overall. Finally, the artwork also utilizes the highest level of color contrast by adding a black and white filter over the entire piece. Because this contrast is used over the entire piece, this also adds another level of consistency to the artwork.

Taylor Swift’s Evermore Album:

Introduction:

Evermore is Taylor Swift’s 9th studio album and sister album to Folklore. Since Evermore is sisters with Folklore, it remains within the same universe as its predecessor. Swift has said herself that even the new characters that she introduces in this album are from the same town as those from Folklore and some are even related. Evermore is the final chapter of for this universe and symbolizes growth and emergence from these “folklorian woods.”

Analysis of Cover Art:

Since Evermore is the final chapter of the Folklore era, this symbolizes Swift exiting the “folklorian woods” and the universe that she has created within this chapter of her music. Evermore’s cover art is representative of this by showing her fully emerged from the woods and looking back at what she has created. This album cover appeals to me especially because it is the first album cover of Swift’s where we do not see her face. On the Folklore album cover it is small, but still visible, but here she is completely turned away.

The Five Principles within the Album Cover:

On this album cover, Swift herself is the focal point of the cover art, or more so, the back of her. The album cover utilizes her standing vertically on a Y axis, which is emphasized by her long braid down her back. The trees in the background stand vertically, but are aligned across a horizontal axis, which creates a direct contrast between swift herself. Along with Swift being the center of the cover and her braid being centered down her back, this cross amongst the woods creates a balance that draws the eyes furthermore to the center of the album cover and to Swift herself. The plaid pattern on her coat even creates quadrants on her back that align her braid in the center of her back. The album cover also uses contrast by blurring the woods behind Swift. Compared to the Folklore album cover, this creates a deep contrast between Swift and the woods, which brings the focus to her instead of on the woods like on the Folklore art.

Harry Styles’ Fine Line Album:

Introduction:

Fine Line is Harry Styles’ second studio album and there has been a lot of speculation as to why aspects of this cover art were chosen. A lot of these questions remain unanswered, but this album art appeals to me mostly for how it uses the fish eye lens and its color scheme.

Analysis of Cover Art:

A person’s “clothing is evidence for an individual's personal and social identity” and this idea “dates back in Europe to at least Homer’s Odyssy” (Micklewright). Harry Styles is known for his iconic, feminine fashion sense and was even the first man on the cover of Vogue in December making his debut in a dress. “The mass media” like Vogue Magazine “allow[s] certain individuals to exert an extremely broad influence within a society” (Waldfogel, 2017). Because of this, controversy sparked around the world about how a man wearing a dress on the cover of a widely acclaimed fashion magazine would influence men and women around the world. He represents this through his color scheme on the album cover. The cover art utilizes a baby pink and baby blue color scheme, which paired with the album title, represents a fine line between feminine and masculine.

The Five Principles within the Album Cover:

Right off the bat, it is apparent that this cover art uses the principle of grouping. The fish eye that encapsulates the majority of the elements of the artwork can be seen as a group. The artwork is also divided into three main segments. The bottom segment contains an outstretched, gloved hand as well as grounding Harry himself, although he crosses the middle group as well. These groups are also divided by color, creating a contrast amongst them as well. The black outline against the blue and pink makes the colors appear softer against the harsh border. Contrast is also utilized by placing the blue directly between two separate groups of pink. This contrast of Styles’ pink shirt against the blue background even draws the eye to his shirt, making it appear pinker against the baby blue background and in comparison to the other groups of pale pink. We can see that the colors are all aligned across a horizontal axis while Styles stands vertical. This creates another contrast and emphasizing him as the focal point. Styles’ hand and the gloved hand are outstretched in alignment to each other and along a distinct black line that appears on the blue backdrop. This draws a focus between the two, not only creating contrast, but also aligning them as well.

The Space Between Album by Elizabeth Turnage:

Introduction:

The album I created is representative of the in between phase of life that I have found myself in since graduating college. There is a loss of identity that comes with graduating college and moving away from all of your friends that I have recently been struggling with, especially being in a new city.

Five Principles of Design:

Alignment: Right away you will notice that there is a split down the center of the image in a vertical alignment. The trees in the background as well as myself align with this vertical axis. This axis meets distinctly with the horizontal axis, which in turn aligns the double ghost figures standing along this axis. Both of these together create an alignment within the cover art.
Grouping: The cover art is grouped into 3 main quadrants. The horizontal line across the grass creates a separation between the lower quadrant and between the two uppers, which are separated by the vertical axis down the middle. A ghost figure stands in each upper quadrant, creating two distinct groups on the top and a group below that contains the grass and the words. Not only this, but you could divide this into just two groups as well. One containing the trees above with the ghost figures, and one containing just the grass and words on the bottom.
Contrast: There is a color contrast between the grass and the trees, the grass appearing just a lighter green than the trees above. Along with this, the white sheet of the ghost appears much whiter against the dark green background of the trees because of this contrast. The alignment also creates a contrast. The vertical alignment crosses with the horizontal axis, which brings the eyes to the focal point of the artwork, which is the center where the two ghosts separate.
Consistency: Overall, the artwork uses one color across the cover, just in varying shades. This green creates a level of consistency that is pleasing to the eye. Along with this, we see a consistent texture in the upper group that differs with the consistent texture of the lower group. Both textures are consistent within their own group, but differ across their axis. The filter over the entire album cover brings a level of cohesiveness that ties the entire artwork together with an overall consistency. One element that disrupts the consistency the font. Although the filter brings it together with the rest of the artwork, it seems to stand out amongst the rest of the artwork.
Balance: The image on the cover is mirrored, which brings a large level of balance to the image. By splitting it into two, it evens the image completely by having an exact copy on each side.

Track List:

1. Convalescence

2. Background noise

3. Who you say I am

4. Who I am

5. The space between

6. Perception

7. Hemingway

8. Ghosting

9. Regression

10. Out of the Woods

11. Good Friday

12. Rebirth

Album Cover Discussion:

A few months back I visited a friend in Baton Rouge and we did a random photo shoot dressed as ghosts. In the photo on the album cover, you see me wearing a sheet standing at the edge of the woodsy area we were in. The ghost represents the ghost of who I was in my undergraduate studies and seeking who I am in this new phase of life. It is not a complete loss of identity, the ghost of it still remains, but it is no longer whole. We see in stories like Hamlet and Macbeth that “the purpose of such appearances [is] to deceive the individual to whom they appeared” (Rea, 1923). I was previously deceived of who I thought I was, but with the appearance of the ghost, I’ve grown into a new phase of my identity. It is even compared that “Jesus’ death would fit perfectly into a literary ghost story” (Munoz, 2017). Jesus reappears to the disciples as a ghost. He tells them that “the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,” representing a rebirth (ESV Bible). The chasm in the center of the art represents the unfamiliar phase that I have found myself in, and on either side are my conflicting identities. The majority of the cover is green, which is representative of rebirth and growth within myself. I chose a simple font to accompany the cover art. Since the image is complex, this simple font was the best one that complemented it. This album is within the indie/alternative genre.I learn best when I put what I learn to use, which is why I believe we were assigned this project. Analyzing and recognizing the principles of design is imperative for remembering and understanding them, and implementing them in a creative process is a fun way to further this task. During this process, I learned how difficult it is to create an album cover from scratch that perfectly encapsulates one specific idea, and I found using these principles of design to convey my specific message to be very challenging. I also learned how important these elements of design are not only in document design, but in art. The only change I would make to this assignment would be to split it up into two separate assignments.