On the cover of Taylor Swift's 1989 album you can see a picture of her. Now, this is an odd picture, as she is wearing unfashionable clothes and the top half of her head is missing from the photo. This makes the picture seem like a silly selfie, taken when she was with friends, making it more personal to her. The picture also has a vintage/worn effect making it seem old. You could say the picture looks like it was taken in 1989. The red lipstick she is wearing is a typical and easily recognisable feature of the artist. Because of her ever increasing popularity most people would be able to gather that the picture is of Taylor Swift. Helping anybody who isn't too sure is her initials written on the white frame around the picture. The frame is present to add to the idea that this picture was taken in 1989, and was from a photo album very close to her. The shot is also a medium shot, implying it the person taking the picture was standing quite close to her, suggesting a possible friendship between the two. The typography is marker pen, and next to it are the letters DLX and above the date 1989, which is the year she was born. It is written in pen because it looks like she has written on it, dating it and signing it. This is the type of thing you'd see in someone's old photo albums from their teenage years. The letters DLX abbreviate the word "delux", letting the customer know that the version they are buying is special, more so than the regular edition.
On the back there is a picture of the artist, the song names and track numbers and copyright details, along with a bar code. Once more, the picture looks vintage, and not really typical of a professional photoshoot, adding to the continuity from the front cover. Stylistically, it is to make the artist look more like a person someone can relate to, opposed to just a celebrity. Additionally, it fits with the conventions of her image and the genre: There are two typical and easily recognisable features of the artist - her blonde hair, and the bright red lipstick. Her reserved and hipster demeanour also add to the conventions of the genre too. Opposed to posing, she is stood there looking at the camera, which represents her simplicity, whereas a more aggressive rapper like 50 Cent can often see posing with a gun, or a metal band like Black Veil Brides would often be seen screaming on their album covers. Comparing her to them once more in terms of attire, people would be seen wearing the clothes she is wearing in the real world, but it is not particularly mainstream. Once more, making her quite relatable to her audience whereas 50 Cent is often seen wearing clothes associated with gang culture, making him seem different to the people who may choose to listen to him.
Once more, certain things are written in a marker, such as the track numbers, and the Big Machine Records logo. The personal vibe they are trying to put across suggests the songs on the album mean a lot to the artist personally, and the music isn't profit driven.
The CD itself shares its image with the shirt Swift is wearing on the front cover. On it is written "1989 T.S. DLX" which is oddly reminiscent of a mixtape. Additionally the typography remains the same, adding to the continuity unlike Jethro Tull's album "Aqualung"
The insert is simply lyrics to the songs. The polaroids are annotated photos of Taylor Swift, the type of thing one would see in a time capsule. This is simply an added feature of the album, making it feel like a deluxe edition.
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