Thursday 23rd September- CD Cover Analysis

CD Cover Analysis - Ellie Goulding (Indie Pop)

1) Above is the EP cover for Ellie Goulding's "Run In To The Light" remix album. The album consists of a mid shot of Goulding, with her hair blowing behind her and suggest that she is "running". This is a potential link to the title of the album "Run into the light". She is wearing a dark coloured top with a wide neck. This fairly loose, free clothing was probably chosen so that it would also slightly blow in the breeze. This image is in black and white, which portrays her skin colour to be very pure and it is not obvious that there could be some foundation or other forms of make up on her face. Goulding is almost shutting her eyes in this shot, therefore suggesting she could be entering a dream like state, or the "light" could represent either death/heaven or peace. The text is almost "shinning" and compliments the black and white image perfectly. The size and font, as you can see in the other three albums, is the same, this recurring graphological motif obviously informs fans that this is the same artist and to expect the same genre and theme in her songs.

2) Above is the EP cover for Ellie Goulding's "Guns and Horses" single EP/Album. This image consists of a long shot of Goulding, who is wearing black leggings, a black top and black cardigan with silver dots on. She seems to be rising from the background of the image, with the "sparkles" and "stars" which enhance her outline. Her head is aimed towards the right side of the image, with one side of her blonde hair shown through the hood of Goulding's cardigan. The background colour is a dark brown, this makes the "yellow/orange" sparks stand out and enhances their importance on the cover. The text "Ellie Goulding" and "Guns and Horses" is located just below centre of the image, and again using the same font and size to enhance the artist motif.

3) Above is the EP/Album cover for Ellie Goulding's "The Writer" single track. The colour scheme on this album is slightly different to the other two, but the music video for this song isn't Goulding's usual theme as well, however as shown above the same text and size has been kept, therefore again increasing Goulding's motif. On this album, a long shot has been taken of Goulding, kneeling on the light coloured grass, with a white dress on. The blonde hair compliments the dress perfectly and suits the slow, powerful song. The sparks and stars around the text and the edges of the album, again are evident like in (1) and (2), this is also a recurring motif, making sure audience members know who the artist is.

These three albums above, all by the same artist, show individuality, and instantly portray Goulding's indie pop, unique image. This proves that Goulding has a set theme that is carried through all mediums e.g CD, sound, website etc.

I think these examples are fairly easily done, because they don't involve heavy editing, so if we were going to do something similar I think we could achieve this. In these examples, Goulding is situated as the main object, therefore, due to her being the "star", grabs the audience's attention. Especially in "The Writer" EP, where she looks quite vulnerable and naive, which could portray certain sexual connotations, and with the low cut dress and skin exposure, could create a sense of deliberate voyeurism. Having the artist as the main object in the picture is a good marketing strategy (which we plan to use in our CD cover), and the recurring motif definitely attracts fans who become familiar with the aesthetics of Goulding's merchandise.