Elements Required for Meme-Ready Christian Album Cover Design

Published: Feb 25, 2024

ABSTRACT. The combination of textual and visual elements in Christian music album cover design creates a fertile ground for memes — a uniquely post-ironic, post-Boomer internet product. These elements are: 1) an album title with double entendre possibility; 2) an artist’s name with double entendre possibility; and/or 3) an artist photo embodying a quality of strangeness that is comic in the contemporary context. Additionally, there is added value if the strangeness is intended to be comic, but not in the way that a reader experiences it. At least two of these features must be present. Each is necessary, but insufficient on its own.

One Required Element Present: Artist photo

Christian album covers_journal of wild culture

One Required Element Present: Album title

Two Required Elements Present: Album title, artist photo

Jesus Use Me_journal of wild culture

Christian Album Covers_journal of wild culture

Let Me Touch Him_The MInisters Quartet_journal of wild culture

Hybrid: Album title and artist photo are unremarkable on their own but comic together

If I were a Woman_Christian Album Covers_journal of wild culture

Three required elements present (rare): Album title, artist name, artist photo

[Dick Handler Quartet reputed to only perform on Palm Sunday. Ed.]

Honourable Mentions: Strong album title with other feature (artist name or photo) that is unremarkable on its own, but acquires a comic element when juxtaposed with album title

TOM O'BEDLAM is the pen name of a writer for TV who is currently working on the life story of Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish biologist who created the modern system of naming organisms. His career has spanned work in the fields of law, medicine, philosophy, and noise reduction. He lives in Toronto.