CD cover analysis - 'Talk That Talk' by Rihanna

On the cover of Rihanna’s album, ‘Talk That Talk’, there is a close-up of her face. However, she is pulling quite a seductive expression and pose, with her eyes fiercely and flirtatiously staring at the audience, her tongue suggestively licking her lips, and her hand on her head. This sexualised image of her helps connote that she is a synthetic artist as she is sold on her looks which are an important aspect of her appeal, where the music becomes less important.

Rihanna is wearing lots of jewellery with bright red lipstick and dark, heavy eye makeup. This emphasises her femininity and indicates that she is a glamorous woman with a fashionable and provocative star image. This again demonstrates that she is a synthetic artist and not an organic artist as she has focused on her star image to help sell her music whereas an organic artist would focus solely on the music.

Rihanna’s name isn’t shown on the cover - only an ‘R’ which is the first letter. It is big, bold and formed from newspaper print. It symbolises the strong star image she has created as her name doesn’t even have to be on the cover of the album for it to be recognised as hers. This implies that Rihanna is being used as a brand to sell the album rather than the music itself and further determines her to be a synthetic artist.

The name of the album, ‘Talk That Talk’, is presented as a tattoo on Rihanna’s wrist which is highlighted due to the bright lighting. This matches her star image as it signifies her rebellious and outgoing nature which could also be inferred by the bright lighting itself as it could suggest a party of some sort. In addition to everything else, this forms a perfect synthetic constructed brand that can be easily sold to fans.