Research - CD Cover (2)

This is the CD cover for DJ Tiesto's album 'Kaleidoscope'.

The main colour used within this CD cover is red (the male's jacket and the font) connoting a powerful, yet positive view within the cover. The red character is full of the spirit of physical life and the will to live, which creates a link between cover and audience, as the target audience for the dance genre are usually seen as the extroverted character. The background colour is white, therefore bringing the red colour of the jacket, and the male's face forward, possibly in an attempt to engage with the audience.

The male's clothing is modern, and of a stylish nature, connoting his intimacy within the dance genre. This costume is also an appeal to popularity, as the costume is ordinary and not to an extreme level, therefore allowing the audience to be able to relate to the CD cover and the male on the cover.

The positioning of the male on the cover is central, suggesting his dominance and therefore reinforcing the typical stereotypical view of gender within society. Also, the male is positioned to look directly at the audience, possibly in an attempt to relate to the audience, creating an enigmatic relationship between audience and cover. The camera shot used to frame the male is a medium-close up shot, so that the link between audience and cover can intensify, as the audience are given a clear shot of the artist on the cover. Also, the font is positioned almost central, under the male's face, so that the audience are engaged upon the male's face and then follow his costume downwards to the striking font.

This album cover does seem to reinforce the dance genre in ways, such as the technological influence involved in the genre (due to the font used.) However, this cover seems to be an appeal to a mixed gender audience, instead of the supposed target audience of which are more female orientated. The white background connotes a calmness about the cover, which does challenge the upbeat dance genre. However, the red is used to reinforce the genre, and create a sense of vitality and power. This cover doesn't necessarily sustain and target the majority of the supposed female audience, due to the male character involved and the simplicity of the cover. However, the cover may be used to attract the male audience who appreciate the dance genre, more so than a female orientated audience.

This album cover does suggest a positive tone towards the audience, due to the colours involved (white and red.) Also, the fact that the male character is positioned to look directly at the audience suggests a welcomeness about the cover; inviting the audience to look at the product. In addition, at the bottom of the cover, a form of editing has been used, where the male's costume is faded out using sharp, diagonal lines. These lines (created using editing) reinforce the dance genre, as they connote a quickness, along with the given sense of a technological influence, which is heavily involved in the dance genre.

The chosen font which has been used for the artist's name is in red (as previously mentioned) connoting a sense of power, and is automatically attention grabbing and dominant. The font is also bold, which makes it eye-catching. However, the font for the artist's name is also curved, and not sharp, giving it a futuristic feeling, which does support the dance genre well, as it is a modern genre which has many developing sub genres. The use of red font creates an ideal ratio between the use of red on the male's jacket and the font. Too much red may have taken over the cover, and destroyed the attraction to the supposed target audience. The album font is the opposite to the artist's name. It is presented in a sharp font, a lot smaller in comparison to the artist's name. The idea that the artist's name is of a larger font than the album name suggests that it is the name of the artist that will attract the correct audience, and not the name of the album. Also the font of the album name is in white, so that it stands out clearly upon its darker backdrop.