Twenty One Pilots’ self-titled album cover released in 2009 displays the inner and the outer conflicts between the mind and the real world. In the image, a man is portrayed laying in a bed with his head half sliced open. Inside, a brain is visible with a colorful substance dripping out of it. The items floating in the “ooze” give it meaning, making it seem as if the substance represents the man’s thoughts. The album cover contrasts reality and a man’s mind to show the difference between the regular, dull actuality and the exciting person’s ambitions and dreams with the use of colors, symbols and lines.

In the image, colors help establish the difference between the real world and a person’s mind. The focal point of the picture is a thick, colorful substance flowing from the person’s brain, which could be identified as the man’s thoughts. Its bright colors, which include shades of red, yellow, green and blue, draw attention, contrasting from the neutral, black and white background. The colorless background implies that perhaps the reality in which the man lives is dull and gloomy, since the only objects that have color are the ooze flowing out of his brain and the “thought” bulb above the sleeping man. The “thought bulb” located between a ceiling fan and the person’s head radiates purple light, and since the color purple is generally associated with luxury and power this may suggest that just like most people, the man has an ambition, or a dream to reach wealth and success. However, the opposite of the thought bulb, the ceiling fan light bulb, placed in the top center of the image, is black and white and broken. This could indicate that the reality in which a man lives is the opposite of his dreams: unfortunate and full of failure. The use of bright colors in the thought substance creates distinction between the hopeful mind and the colorless reality.

The multiple items in the ooze symbolize the man’s thoughts, and dreams, which differ from the empty background of the image. Within the colorful thought substance there are many random objects, which could all represent the different aspects of the man’s thoughts. For example, the tree and treehouse may symbolize the man’s memories, childhood, and the happiness he might have had when he was young and carefree. The tall buildings might represent the dreams and ambitions he has for his life. The heart with the bandage located below the skyscrapers could portray a relationship he once had, which may have ended with a heartbreak, therefore a bandage is placed on the heart. Perhaps the heartbreak led him to insecurities, which takes form in a symbol of a bloody lock with a chain, located to the left of the heart. The worn out gear placed above the lock could symbolize the man’s failed plans to reach success, once bright and working, and currently fallen apart in the ooze. Compared to the thought substance, the background of the image is white and empty, symbolizing the man’s isolation from the real world and thus creating a contrast between the man’s lively mind and the listless reality. 

In the album cover, the use of lines draws attention to the thoughts making them the focal point and the man’s main importance in life. The most prominent line in the image is a vertical line in the center starting at the ceiling fan and ending with the thought ooze. It connects the most vital elements in the image, which are the ceiling fan, thought bulb, the brain and the thoughts. The line creates a movement of these objects for the viewer’s eyes adding a subtle transition from reality to the colorful mind. A line starting with the top of the left bed leg connecting to the right pipe below the flooring and another line starting with the top of the right bed leg connecting to the left pipe create an “X”; the center of it highlights the focal point of the image, the thought ooze. Another “X” is formed by one line starting at the right side headboard going to the left bed leg and the other line starting from the left side of the headboard going to the right bed leg; the center of this “X” draws attention to the man’s brain, in which all the thoughts are born. The lines in the image are used to emphasize the thoughts and dreams, and to show its value to the man in his harsh reality. 

Twenty One Pilots’ self-titled album cover portrays the difference between reality and a person’s thoughts through colors, symbols and lines. The image revolves around the colorful thoughts and dreams, making the reality look dull and uninteresting. When at night, the man crawls into bed after a long day in his unfavorable reality, he surrounds himself with his thoughts and dreams to escape the real world, to give himself comfort and hope. 
