The front cover of Lana Del Rey's album Born To Die shows a low angle shot of the artist in fairly plain, yet quite formal, clothing looking directly at the camera. The white shirt and blue sky with white clouds and green trees make the album cover aesthetically pleasing and makes the artist look quite innocent and untouched. The pale make up with auburn hair and coral lipstick also adds to this effect as she seems young and fresh faced, on closer inspection we can see a red bra under the shirt of the artist which usually connotes danger, this would link to the album title which contrasts with such an innocent representation. The bold font is all in capitals and is contrasted in blue against the white shirt and in white against the blue sky, the text doesn't domminate the cover but is a prominent feature and it is easily recognisable whose album it is. The artists eyes exude various emotions, her dark eyes against the light picture suggest she may be troubled and makes her seem mysterious, there is an eery edge to the picture as it seems to be marking the stark contrast between what the album is about regarding its name, Born To Die and the songs and lyrics included.
The back of the album continues the bold font in capitals and again contrasts in colours. The usually innocent and angellic white colour text contrasts with the red background usually linked to danger. This contrasts against the innocent looking front cover and probably links better to the songs and lyrics on this album. This could mean the technique and convention this artist is using is to imply that all is not as it seems, someone who may pick up this album expecting a young girl singing about everyday issues may be surprised by the deep and dark content of Lana Del Rey's songs. The artwork after inspection seems to be giving off the message that there is more to Lana Del Rey than meets the eye and they are mocking what is expected of her as the back cover and insert express more what her music is about - real deep issues.
This is another picture from her album artwork, here we see Lana again in a white shirt with coral lipstick but posing more. Her hand gesture makes her look more confident than in the album cover where she looks quite uncomfortable in her stance, her face looks quite inquisitive as she pouts with her famous plumped lips. The squint she is pulling towards the camera makes her look like she is looking directly at the audience and engages with them. The image at face value is still aesthetically pleasing.
The album insert has lyrics on in a dark, bold and black font which looks almost like it has been written on a type writer possibly linking to the independent artist side who would write their own music. The page is of a white/cream colour and is dominated by bright red blood splattered all over, this links to the name of the album Born To Die but has a stark contrast with the albums angellic front cover. The lyrics seem in place with the blood splatters as some talk about violence whereas others do not fit as they, on the surface, discuss another person but when analysing the lyrics there is a lot more meaning and message behind them which brings relevance to the blood stains.
The Lana Del Rey logo looks a lot like something that would be found in the 50's or 60's as a shop logo or a bar, this links to Lana Del Rey's videos and clothes which have a lot of influence from this era. The text is fancy compared to her usual bold and plain text that is used on albums. The logo all fits together well and again uses capitals showing consistency between her artwork. This logo makes her seem very indepent and a single artist.
This picture is for the Paradise Edition of Lana Del Rey's album, this particular picture has inspired me for my own work as it has the contrasting red against black and white and her lipstick contrasts too. I like how the picture looks aged but still innocent where the red text and lips add an edge and sense of danger as things aren't as they seem.
As Lana Del Rey progressed quite quickly from an independent artist to a mainstream artist I decided to also look at examples of a more independent artist to judge more clearly the conventions. I chose Nina Nesbitt who has come to fame after being spotted on YouTube and touring with Ed Sheeran, she remains close to her roots although visiting fashion shows with celebrities and her music videos often include her friends.
Although probably really made up, Nina Nesbitt's album cover doesn't look overly professional as her hair is still messy and the colours are a bit mismatched. Her lipstick stands out a bit similair to Lana Del Rey's artwork and this is probably because bold lipstick is quite a trend at the moment. It is obvious that Nina is more of an independent artist as the picture looks like it could have been taken randomly and it doesn't look staged, the more natural picture represents her as a song writer as she sings with her guitar and writes her own songs. Like Lana Del Rey, Nina Nesbitt is the focal point of the album cover and so is the name of the album both artists are in a reasonably close up shot just giving different messages.
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