As a group we began to look into other artists album covers in the hope of attaining some inspiration for ours. As our artist is in indie/alternative artist we looked at covers that came under the same genre. Obviously we spent a while assessing covers from Lana Del Rey as she is our overall inspiration however we also looked at artists such as Kate Nash and Eliza Doolittle as they were both contenders for our chosen artist therefore are still very applicable to us.
Lana Del Rey : Born to die
This is the album cover to Lana Del Reys 'Born to die' album. Initially on the eye I thought this cover was quite simple. The text is very plain and despite the bold text, the colour choices for the text do not allow for it to stand out. Similarly,there is not much going on visually - just a low angle shot of Lana and a minimalistic background. Although the album cover is fairly plain I felt that Lana made it this way as a way of showing how serious she is about her music and that she is professional - she doesn't need an over the top cover in order to gain attention, her fans are drawn in by her voice and so in this sense, the album cover is very successful.
The cover appears to have a colour scheme of red, white and blue which tie in well with the idea of Lana staying close to her roots. The theme is highlighted further by song titles such as 'National Anthem' and 'American'.
The positioning of the photo of Lana is effective in the fact that it immediately draws our attention to her emphasising her importance, this is her self created album and she worked extremely hard on it. Her outfit choice appears at first very smart and innocent but the fact that the shirt is sheer, revealing her red bra suggests she has a more devious side that she wants to share with her fans. Similarly, she is wearing red lipstick. The colour red holds connotations of love and danger therefore the use of the colour on the album cover may be a hint towards the overall theme of the album and the songs on it.
Personally, I really like this album cover. Although it may be slightly plain, I feel it works for Lana and the type of music she produces. As we are taking inspiration from Lana I feel this sort of design is something that would work for us too. If I were to change anything it would be the background as I do not feel it adds anything too it, instead I would maybe have a pattered background in order to make the cover stand out that little bit more.
This is the back of the Born To Die album. As you can see the colour scheme apparent on the front has run through to the back, I think this is very successful as it shows continuity and this is something that fans will find very pleasing. The font has also stayed the same, again I feel this is effective as a change in text may have been a little off putting and would have looked strange. The track names are the main focus of the back with the legal information at the very bottom in small font - this is effective as it ensures that all of the viewers attention is focused on the most important part of the album. The only thing I feel lets this cover down is the fact that there is no particular structure to the tracks and so this is something I feel we would avoid from happening on our own album cover. 
The colour scheme of blue and white is successful due to the fact that the two colours contrast against each other well, making the text very easy to read. The font itself links in with the theme of the album and this idea of it looking 'childish' as the font looks similar to that of a child's handwriting.
The image itself overall is nice as it sets the scene of a happy, family home, this could be a hint towards the theme of the album and that maybe it focuses on aspects of everyday life or families, as both of these things are something you may assosiate a home with.
Although I like this album cover and feel it works well for Kate herself, I personally would not feature toys on our album cover as it wouldnt link to our theme at all.
Eliza: In your hands
Lastly, this is the album cover to Eliza Doolittle's 'In your hands'. Again, similarly to Lana Del Reys album cover, this one is also quite simple. There is only one main image on it and only one very basic font. From analysing these existing covers I have noticed that a simple cover seems to be what artists tend to go for therefore myself and my group need to decide wether this is something we want for our album cover or if we want to break out of the mould and do something slightly more in depth.
The image of Eliza is in classic black and white, possibly in order to allow the bright pink font to stand out. I like the use of pink for the text as it is quite a bold move, it runs the risk of looking unprofessional however I feel Eliza has made it look very tasteful and the colour represents her femininity. Eliza has selected two different fonts to feature on her album cover, one being her logo and the other being a handwriting font. The use of the handwriting font makes the album appear more personal - this is effective as it creates a connection between her and her fans.
The thing I found most effective on this cover is the fact that the image of her overlaps the text. This makes the album name stand out as well as the artists face; it draws attention to both elements at once. Eliza is featured wearing a low cut dress whilst posing in a provocative manner, creating a sense of sex appeal, suggestibly to draw in male buyers. I really like this album cover as it looks very mature and professional, I definitely feel this is a cover we will take inspiration from. The only thing I would change is the album name font as it is a little bit tricky to read.
The back cover is just as successful as the front. The colour scheme is carried through to the back, with the text switching to white but the pink still being involved on the side panes - making for a nice change but still matching. Eliza has chosen to have the track names to the left hand side, allowing for them to be easily read as well as leaving a sufficient amount of room for a second image of her to be placed in the same frame. All legal information is below the track names, meaning it is still visible, just not a main feature of the back cover. Similarly to the front cover, sex appeal is evident in the image of Eliza. Still wearing the same low cut dress but this time the strap on her top is down and the outline of her knickers are evident - suggestive of the idea that the album is more grown up than her previous albums where she is known as 'Eliza Doolittle.'
I feel that this is a very effective back cover as the colours link to the front and it is clear to see that she is more mature than she used to be - I would like to consider having an image of our chosen artist on the back as it isn't something regularly done but I feel that it really works and allows for a more personal feel towards the album.
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