Digipak Research Findings: Lostprophets & Good Charlotte

For my research on these two bands, I have decided to analyse the style of two of their album covers (front and back) and to then draw conclusions as to the general conventions for the rock genre. The two Good Charlotte albums I will be analysing are "The Young And The Hopeless" (2002) and "Good Morning Revival" (2007). The two Lostprophets albums I will be analysing are "Start Something" (2004) and "Liberation Transmission" (2006).

Similarities and certainly conventions are clearly shown on the album covers I have chosen. All album covers except "Good Morning Revival" have the name of the band in that band's particular font, making it instantly recognisable and iconic. Another similarity is the title of the album, as for three of the four album covers (all except "Good Morning Revival"), are all in the same script-like font, differing from the way in which the band name is portrayed. "Good Morning Revival" however is in the same font as Good Charlotte, and evidently goes against the conventions that are beginning to show. Being a later album for the band, perhaps this has been stylistically done to show a different side to them, in order to appeal to other audiences. For the album cover I will create for my music video, I believe I will follow the conventions shown in the majority of these album covers.

The Young And The Hopeless & Good Morning Revival

"The Young And The Hopeless" album cover generally has a dark colour scheme, with the band title and album name in a dark shade of green. In-keeping with conventions of album covers for the rock genre, this album has artwork on the front cover, relating to the theme of the songs on the CD. The font in which "Good Charlotte" is written has connotations of rebellion and conveys the band's image and attitude that is often shown in their songs and music videos. This is also shown on the back of the album, through the clothes the band are wearing, which are dark and conventional of the rock genre, along with a couple of band members' hairstyles (iconography). The song listed are at the bottom of the cover, as more attention is drawn to the band instead.

Conversely, the "Good Morning Revival" album cover completely contrasts to the other album cover by this band. The colour scheme is a simplistic and bright white and orange. The front is of minimalistic styling, and shows a long shot of the band with all their music equipment. A basic font and plain background ensures the main focus of attention is drawn to the band, but the orange makes the album eye-catching. The band's iconic "GC" logo is still present on the cover, in the form of a shadow. The back of the cover takes a more artistic approach, with an assortment of polaroid pictures of the band and a reverse in the colour scheme; from white to black. Similar to the other album cover, the songs are listed at the bottom.

Start Something & Liberation Transmission

The "Start Something" album has the image of an empty motorway (or highway), and the same image is maintained onto the back. The album uses artwork, typical of this rock genre, and makes use of the colour red throughout. The image of one person on the motorway with the city behind him could symbolise his significance compared to his surroundings, and the pose which he is in suggests emotion. Again, dark colours are used overall, but the red draws attention to the band name. One the back, the red artwork dominates the cover and similar to the Good Charlotte albums, the songs are listed in a small print at the bottom so the layout is not cluttered and there is a clear focus.

Similarly, the "Liberation Transmission" album also has a dark colour scheme; although it is a more minimalistic, and is once again accompanied by the presence of red. The amount of red is once again then increased on the back of the cover. This album differs from "Start Something" as there is a picture of the band on the back cover. Also, the band name is in two different fonts on both albums.

A dark colour scheme accompanied by one other colour seems to be conventional of the rock genre, along with a band photo displaying their image and style. When creating my own album cover, I will adhere to these conventions to ensure that I convey the correct message.