Album Artwork Analysis- CRYSTAL CASTLES

This is the first album that the electronica duo 'Crystal Castles' released. Above is an image of the album artwork itself. The presenting image itself could be described as having a somewhat 'lifeless' nature as a result of the expressionless body language and non existent facial elements. Taking a glance at the image it looks slightly bland but once each segment of the image is taken into more detail we can understand that the photo itself has more of an explanation to it than many would first believe. The main image at a close glance can be recognised as three separate images incorporated into each other which has therefore resulted in the effect we could call 'playing with the eyes', and this is something that links in superbly with their music genre. The bouncy, electronic sound that the band create is also sometimes a question to the ears and this has therefore taken place and been continued into the album artwork. 

The two band members featured in the image have mimicked one another in their expression which shows the similarity between the two and links them both together but this could also be contrasted by the simple fact that they are gender opposites and the male artist is a clearly a fraction larger than Alice Glass. By doing this, the cover has ensured that there isn't too much going on on top of the background image which carries an interesting pattern in itself. The two stood in a mid shot looking fairly lifeless is something that has come together to work well. The reason that I feel this image has work is due to the stereotype of electronica being 'hidden'. As many electronic artist/dj's have been known to hide their identity as a part of their image, the duo have sustained this role, but added their own twist through body language rather than being masked or completely hidden. 

The colours used have been kept fairly monotone and dark. I believe this is once again upholding the image of electronica which is often a use of dark colours. For example in contrast, on the front of a Pop album cover, colours such as pinks and oranges may be expected. The general layout of the art has been kept minimalistic. The typical title of the band/album is central at the top of the piece is very ordinary which is contrasted well by the odd persona of the photo and therefore this is a great mix. The doubling affect that the title itself holds adds a sense of continuity through the cover as we see a mimic taking place from the artists as well as the background being taken and use several times to create the one piece. 

To conclude, I again feel that this cover works well in its own genre. The idea of a effortless and minimal edited image that does in fact speak a lot is something that I am keen on. Something I probably wouldn't follow the convention of is the title. When creating my own album artwork I hope to make the image the main focus of the page whilst the title itself is something that does not feature largely.