808's and Heartbreak

808's & Heartbreak is the fourth studio album by Kanye West and in my opinion is one of his best albums to date. Kanye was influenced and inspired by multiple events that had distressed him the previous year, which gave him the chance to show the world he is a diverse recording artist. The album marked a major musical transformation for Kanye as he stepped into the pop genre to focus on lyrics, vocals and production work. Primarily sung rather than rapped, Kanye conveys lyrical themes such as heartbreak, loneliness and love. The album has an electronic sound and tribal drums that are present through most of the tracks. What i love about this album cover is the sharp red heart that stands out among the faded dull background. To audiences this conveys the albums primary theme of love. Analysing further, the heart has been crumpled and battered which represents heartbreak and ache. However, after being damaged and through pain the heart is still bright and in one piece.

For the creative production of the album Kanye teamed up with KAWS(who is a New York based artist and designer of limited edition toys and clothing) KAWS’ involvement in the art  production for Kanye West’s album 808s and Heartbreak, lead to a billboard being put up in New York City which features images of artwork that connects  the poster to the album’s cover. This poster doesn't feature any text but is distinctively recognisable as it marks the release of the album. Audiences will see this and know what it is advertising as you can see Kanye himself and KAWS' artwork. What i love about this poster is that it doesn't need words or text for people to know what its about. The bright picture is more powerful than words. 

In contrast to the poster above, we have a different styled advert. Still promoting the same album this poster is perhaps a pre-release poster stating the date the album hits the shelves. I'd say that this poster contributed to creating hype for the release and gets consumers familiar with the album cover. 'Available Everywhere' in comparison to Maroon 5's posters, Kanye's doesn't list places where the album can be purchased. Not using synergy to promote other things allows all the focus to be just on the album. Kanye is therefore only interested in the success of '808's & Heartbreak'. For me this then implies that Kanye is a determined man and his heart is with the music, not the money alone.

'808's & Heartbreak' has been redesigned and interpreted by graphic designer Fred Hart. Fred has designed a cover for each individual track off the album. Here are a few examples of his work that stand out for me:

Fred has used a continuous image of an actual heart. In comparison to Kanye's cover, the representation of the affects love, heartbreak and loneliness have upon the heart are more detailed visually than it is in Kanye's. Fred has focused on the lyrics of each track and has drawn a representation of what Kanye's heart felt at the time of writing. What i love about Fred's work is that each cover tells a story through imagery and presents a metaphor of the journey that Kanye has travelled on.

This research has given me a better understanding in how products are linked and how many creative aspects are involved in advertising an album or single. I am surprised in how powerful advertising can be with using a distinctive image alone. This has shown me that you don't always need clever words to sell a product, a well designed image/logo can be enough. I will take this into account when designing our cover and poster. I also find the dominating image of the damaged heart powerful because it sums up the whole album using one picture. Before even listening to the album the messages of heartbreak, love and loneliness are already conveyed. When i design a cover for our chosen track "That Girl" i will want to create this same effect of immediate understanding.