Development Research Blog

Colour

October 6, 2022

The use of colour in album cover art

The way colour is used in music artists branding can have a massive impact on how they’re perceived to an audience. For example, lighter and softer colours such as pinks and light blues could be more likely to be associated with pop music and feminine concepts. On the other hand dark/moody colours look more aggressive and intense, signifying harsher sounds which could, for example, be heard in rock or metal


Good use of Colour

Tame Impala “Currents” album – good use of colours to vislaise themes used within album

“Currents” is an album by Tame impala with a psychedelic pop genre and hypnotic themes throughout. I believe the colours used for this poster are appropriate and represent the mood of the album well with the slightly purple and black swirls being closely packed together with darker purple shading to give it a metallic look. According to the artist Robert Beatty (2015) the hallucinatory image was intended to depict the shedding of the vortex and confusing the viewers eye which the artists had done successfully through the use of colours.

My Bloody Valentine “Loveless” album cover – Contrast between neon pink and texturized/rustic colours represent sounds on opposite ends of the spectrum within the songs















This album cover features very bright, over exposed, neon pinks as well as darker, rustic colours which very vaguely make out the shape of a guitar. The disparity between what the colours represent accurately reflects the screaming guitars in comparison to the melodic trance-like sounds that can be heard in different songs. The colours used in the album art also reference the band name and album title with the pink that can be associated with love and the dark reds with blood.


Bad use of Colour

I dislike the colouring of this album by Two Door Cinema Club as although the colours don’t clash, I believe it doesn’t accurately reflect the mood of the songs within the album or the bands sound at all. The blue and purple on the album give off an electronic/disco pop vibe whereas the actual songs on the album are much more leaning towards indie rock with calmer melodies which I think doesn’t fit the bright, neon colours well. The metallic look to the colours could also be interpreted as ones on a rock/metal album cover as well as making the bands music seem more moody and dark, which it is very far from. This cover also differs greatly from others in the bands discography which feature a lot of primary and solid colours connoting harmony and playfulness between the band which more accurately reflects their music.

Here I re-designed the colours of the main imagery on the cover by inverting them and changing the hues slightly to attain a more cheerful appearance with lighter green, blues and yellows as seen more in indie/rock albums. I believe by doing this it fits the colours they have been more commonly using in their past albums, although the design in general is very different from the others. I think these colours connote a sense of humbleness compared to the neon colours which seem appear lot more in pop/mainstream music.

Examples of indie/rock albums which makes use of a blues/yellows and greens
Two Door Cinema Club “False Alarm” album cover – Very different style of cover to the Gameshow one, shows difference in design and how the gameshow one feels more out of place to their discography



Bibliography

Website:

  • McCabe, A.J. (2015) How Robert Beatty’s cover art changes the way we hear Currents. Available online: https://syneonline.com/synaesthetic/currents [Accessed 30/10/22]
  • Willet, S (N.A) The Story of My Bloody Valentine ‘Loveless’ Available online: https://classicalbumsundays.com/album-of-the-month-my-bloody-valentine-loveless-2/ [Accessed 01/11/22]

Images:

  • Beatty, R (2015) Currents [Poster] Kentucky. Available online: https://syneonline.com/synaesthetic/currents [Accessed 30/10/22]
  • Kingo, A (2019) False Alarm [Album Cover] Available online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48132451 [Accessed 04/11/22]
  • Lythgoe, M (2016) Gameshow ‎(2xLP, Album) [Album Cover]. Available online: https://www.discogs.com/release/9260262-Two-Door-Cinema-Club-Gameshow [Accessed 03/11/22]
  • Martin, G (2020) The 20 Best Indie Rock Albums of 1995 [Poster] Available online: https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/indie-rock/best-indie-rock-albums-of-1995/ [Accessed 04/11/22]
  • Woodhouse, A (2012) My Bloody Valentine, Loveless [Album Cover]. Available online: https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/most-important-albums-of-nmes-lifetime-my-bloody-valentine-loveless-764245 [Accessed 30/10/22]