Research ~ Ed Sheeran

The front cover of Ed Sheeran's album titled + has a very simplistic appearance. The simplicity of the cover symbolizes the simplicity of his music. Sheeran being a singer/songwriter accentuates the fact that he isn't making music for fame but to share and express himself through his music; by him making himself the central focus of his album cover in such a simplistic style he is able to emphasize the fact that this is his music and he has created the album with a lot of independence.  In most of Ed Sheeran's music video's he is never seen which is unusual for an artist as music videos are used to promote the artist. By him being the main feature on the cover of the album he is able to highlight the work he has done and what he has produced. It consists of a close up head shot of Ed Sheeran himself with an orange filter. The orange filter represents the fact he is ginger which is part of Sheeran's iconography. The colour scheme of the album cover is quite bold and loud which is a contrast to the type of music Ed Sheeran produces as he is an acoustic artist so most of his music gives off quite a relaxed and calm ambience. Also Sheeran is known for his slow, acoustic live performances so this album cover is a contradiction to what people have already seen. It gives him a bit of an edge and adds to his character. Additionally the album hasn't got a title as such other than the + sign, this creates more of a buzz associated around Ed Sheeran as an artist as when people talk about the album they will not refer to the title as it isn't that significant but they will refer to 'Ed Sheeran's' album which increases recognition of his work.

The back of Ed Sheeran's album cover is coherent to the front; adapting the same theme it remains simplistic. The font of the writing that lists the songs resembles a typewriter style, this font remains the same throughout all of Ed Sheeran's album artwork, website, adverts etc across all of the different media platform he is available on. This is another feature of Sheeran's iconography and enables audiences to associate this writing with Ed Sheeran. This is another unique aspect to the album and keeps with the semantic field that this album cover seems to be following, simplicity. The simple nature of the font shows a clearer association from the cover to the music, whereas the colour scheme doesn't link very well to the type of music Sheeran produces. The list of songs is placed in the centre of the back cover which immediately draws the focus into it. Ed Sheeran's website is printed in the bottom left of the back cover which is a promotional tool and links with the codes and conventions of a digipak. The barcode at the bottom right of the back cover highlights that this is a sellable product. The size of the writing is quite small which ensures that it is not the central point of focus, the colour of the album and the headshot of Ed Sheeran is the main focus of the album cover throughout.