Designing 1st draft album artwork

A music campaign forms around the artist as a unique selling point. Both at the front and the back of my album cover he is situated in the centre, all attention is focused on him. The name of the artist, of the album and of the songs are written in large type and are highlighted by the white rectangles which they were put in. They are elements of the essential information that promotes the album.

I arranged a photoshoot to get the cover images look like photographs from a live performance, which raises demand for the tickets to the artist's concerts. This style of the cover design has greater contribution to construction of the star image described by Richard Dyer, as the performer is located in the centre of attention and his face is visible, making him more recognisable and increasing awareness for him.

The dominant colour is blue, referring to the name of the album Blueshift. Blue light also associates with electronic music as it is often used for special effects at the concerts of the world's iconic DJs, such as  Daft Punk, Dead Mouse and Gesaffelstein.

I used Helvetica font as it is the most neutral typeface. Electronic music is open for interpretation as it excited the audience's imagination and builds different images in the minds of each individual. The font continues the attitude of independence and free interpretation as Helvetica is the most used typeface and can be seen everywhere,  thus having no associations with it.

The genre is shown through technical and symbolic conventions. The artist wears headphones and operates a mixer, both are props associated with electronic genre. He wears a white t-shirt, a casual costume item connoting a party atmosphere and reinforcing the point on purity of the electronic music which leaves the audience a chance for its interpretation. Technical conventions include gloomy, blue and white coloured lighting which looks like the one used at a party, and a tilted camera shooting at a low shutter speed that created an impression of movement provoked by the music,

Target audience of the electronic music is 14 to 25 years old individuals. People in this age like to party and the images of a setting similar to a nightclub will attract their attention. The fact that the person on the cover is also young and is dressed in the same clothes that they would wear identifies them with the artist, raising their interest and demand for him.