'MENOMENA' :FRIEND AND FOE

This is the cover art for Friend and foe, by American Indie rock band 'Menomena'. It was designed and created by graphic novel artist Craig Thompson, who is well known for his 'Blankets' graphic novels, and was even invited to draw a piece during the band's performances in parts of Europe ( which he would tear up and give to the audience). 

The cover has four sides, and has been dry cut to reveal the red and yellow parts behind. When the consumer rotates the disc, it creates variations of the artwork, making it interactive and fun for the consumer (it's almost similar to the sticker concept for the Beck album cover). The images seem to have a stylised appearance, which emphasises the artist's career as a graphic novelist, and the rather aggressive nature of the band's songs. It also emphasises the possible young male target audience, as males are more likely to be drawn in to this type of art.

As mentioned before, the target audience for this type of music may be young people, from their late teens into their early twenties, most likely males, and the images show little to no relevance to the song, a feature seen on most Indie album covers. In addition, the colour scheme is very limited, only narrowed down to grey,light blue, and the yellow and red from the inside covers, but having this draws the viewer's eye directly to those parts, and will most likely stand out from other covers from this feature. This would also be effective for conveying an important message too. There is very little text involved, only showing some dialogue of the characters, including the band's name, but not the title of the album. This can be rather misleading, as the consumer may not know what album they're buying, but simultaneously, it's what makes it unique.

I was sort of taken aback when I first saw the cover, but the more I looked at it, the more I started to like it and appreciate it. Usually, it takes bright colours and great drawings to attract attention, but covers like this defy that rule. Also, it gives me a faint idea of what the music in this album will sound like- aggressive, and, in a way, all over the place,but in a good way, like the art. In general, I think a lot of work and creativity went into this cover, which I admire.