The same goes for music albums.

We all judge a book by its cover.

A brief introduction

Music’s visual forms have changed drastically over time, from live performances to digital streaming. With the rise of more physical forms of music, album cover art became crucial in attracting public interest and effective marketing. Despite the shift from records to digitalized albums reducing the overall impact of this cover art, it remains important, as these music covers often serve as the only initial indicators of what the music will be like.

The impact of different elements on our perception of music

There are a few key elements that make an album cover both stand out and be more indicative of certain styles of music. Certain colors are more associated with certain moods, the font chosen can help one discern the genre of music, etc.

Continue reading to learn about how color, mediums, and typography affect the way we view music before listening.

Color

Track 1:

Color is one of the most influential elements when it comes to album cover design. Because many people associate colors with certain emotions, the effective use of color is a great way to be able to relay the mood of the music and how the artist wants listeners to feel. Happier songs will have more yellows and oranges, while less upbeat albums will feature darker colors like navy or gray. Warmer colors could be a signal for more playful or energetic beats as well.

There is also a link between color and genre, meaning that depending on the cover, you may be able to tell if it is your preferred style of music right away. Brown tones are associated with country music, red is associated with rock, purples and oranges with pop, and yellow with EDM.

To the right are the covers of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine (1966) and Metallica’s Master of Puppets (1986). Notice how the color scheme alone affects the mood of the piece, with bright, animated colors versus darker tones.

Metallica, Master of Puppets. Elektra Records, 1986.

The Beatles. Yellow Submarine. Apple, 1966. 

Track 2:

Medium/Content

The type of artwork is perhaps the most telling element in an album. The medium of the art used can change a lot about how we perceive the music of the album. Many albums feature portrait photography, which are bold and are able to directly show emotion. Abstract styles of art can help convey more complexity or chaos in the music, while subjects such as nature are usually more indicative of calmer beats.

[Think about a landscape on the cover of a classical album as opposed to one for rock.]

The fonts used can also tell a lot about an album. The classic serif fonts are often featured on opera, classical, and acoustic albums, while their close cousins, the Sans serif fonts, are used in more modern music for their clean and simple look, ranging from pop to indie rock; this simple look fits right into the more trending minimalist styles of albums today. Messier script fonts can be more telling of cotemporary styles, and finally, decorated, bolder fonts can be used for anything ranging from kids’ music to heavy metal.

Notice the different typography in the album covers to the right. One uses a large cartoon-like font, while the other is almost the complete opposite, with a serif font that looks nothing like the first. The result of these choices are albums that convey very different moods, with one album clearly encapsulating a more youthful and energetic look (suited for children), while the other gives the album a more professional and mature look that matches its opera genre.

Typography

Track 3:

Andrea Bocelli. Aria: The Opera House. Philips, Sugar, 1998.

KIDZ BOP. KIDZ BOP 32. Razor & Tie, 2016.

Show, don’t tell.

Simply writing all of this out might not be the most helpful on its own. In order to clearly see the impacts of these elements, I have redesigned The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover to be reflective of different genres and moods.

See if you can guess the right answers!

  • This album was should have reminded you of music within the rock/metal genre. It uses bright red accents with a grungy look created by a grainy black and white filter and skull imagery.

  • Rather than being representative of a specific genre, this version was supposed to represent the minimalistic art style of album covers popular in modern music.

  • The final image is supposed to be a take on an EDM album, characterized by lots of bright colors and bold, digital graphics/effects, as seen through the use of the glitch effect and neon shapes.

ANSWERS:

+A QUICK CONCLUSION:

Music album covers remain essential today, as the connotations and messages delivered through an album’s artwork is a great way to be able to predict the kind of music that will be included, as well as help relay the artist’s message. The next time you are looking for new music, try to notice different elements within the art to have a better grasp of the album before listening!

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