I think our final album artwork is successful at creating a representation of the music and the image of the band, using conventional iconography such as a derelict pub. The image is also featured in the poster and video, making it an semi-iconic, recognisable location for fans in the context of the band's image. Similarly, we used the familiar logo and reused the font for the album title in order to sustain the sense of continuity across the oeuvre of promotional tools we have created for the band.
We also used ideas of framing (eg the rule of thirds) to create emphasis on certain parts of the picture over others, such as through the use of contrasting shadows on the left and brightness on the star/right hand side.. For instance, Freddy is given pictorial priority over his backing band - much the same as in the logo - by occupying more space in the frame just off center. Similarly, the band name (in the guise of the logo) is nearer the top of the artwork compared to the smaller sized placement of the album title, again giving prevalence to the specifically marketable factors (ie the star).
In terms of genre, our artwork is extremely conventional and easily identifiable by the target audience, through features such as the urban street setting and the costumes of our actors, without becoming cliched through explicit alcohol/sex/drug references. However, it is also fairly unique in terms of the polar left/right divide, which will attract interest when viewed in the context of competing for attention on shop's shelf space.
Therefore, I think that it fulfills all my expectations for successful artwork: conforming to fan's expectations of conventions of the genre allowing the audience to distinguish the band, recognising the importance of exhibiting the star image as a marketing tool, brand image, and finally being simultaneously original and interesting enough to attract attention/curiosity from the target audience.
Reflecting on the process of making the artwork:
Drawing from the knowledge gleamed through research into the purpose and procedure of album artwork in general, as well as conventions of artwork from similar products of our genre, I actually found the process of creating our album cover relatively easy. By combining the user-friendly nature of online service Picnik with the incredible functionality of Photoshop, I was able to choose which was more appropriate for the tweaks that were needed to be made to the image.
