The goal of podcast art is to convince someone to press “play”.
Podcast artwork, also known as cover art or thumbnail art, is a vital part of establishing the brand and identity of your podcast.
The artwork appears on your podcast cover, in podcast directories, and on platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. While often overlooked, compelling and professional podcast cover art can help attract new listeners and give your show a polished, cohesive look.
What is Podcast Artwork?
Podcast artwork consists of the images representing your show. This includes:
- Show Art: The main image for your podcast cover. This is the largest image and the one most prominently displayed.
- Episode Art: Unique images for each episode. While optional, having different art for every episode helps them stand out.
- Social Media Images: Artwork tailored for platforms like Instagram and Facebook used to promote your episodes.
The Key Purpose of Podcast Artwork
Great podcast artwork should immediately convey what your show is about and capture the overall vibe and tone. It serves several key purposes:
- Helps Listeners Identify Your Show: With hundreds of thousands of podcasts, cover art allows you to stand out and give your podcast an identifiable brand.
- Sets Expectations About Content: Your imagery should reflect the podcast genre and topic so listeners know what to expect when hitting play.
- Adds Visual Interest: Humans are visual creatures. Eye-catching artwork makes your show more likely to get clicked on and heard.
- Aids Discovery: Artwork plays a big role in whether new listeners start listening from podcast apps, directories, and social platforms.
- Reinforces Branding: Consistent podcast cover art that aligns with your brand helps establish your show’s identity and makes you memorable.
Show Art vs. Episode Art
Show art is the main image representing your podcast as a whole. It remains fixed as your podcast’s “logo”. Episode art changes with each episode. While show art is mandatory, episode art is optional but recommended.
Show art is more prominent—displayed at the top of your podcast page. Episode art accompanies each episode. Changing it up gives fans a visual cue signalling new episodes and keeps things dynamic. Episode titles or numbers can overlay the episode art.
Remember that show art is mandatory but episode art is not. Plus not all podcast directories and players display episode art. This means you can save yourself work by only creating show art when you begin your podcast. Then start creating episode art later on.
Best Practices for Great Podcast Artwork
Follow these best practices when designing your podcast cover art (the rules are the same for show and episode art):
- Reflect Your Brand: Use colors, fonts, and styles that align with your brand for consistency.
- Be Legible at Small Sizes: Design artwork to be recognizable and text readable at thumbnail size since that’s how most will first see it.
- Evoke Emotion: Choose imagery that elicits the desired emotional response from your target audience.
- Use Relevant Images: Select images related to your content that tell listeners what it’s about.
- Feature Hosts (For Host-Centric Shows): “Star power” helps attract listeners.
- Keep Text Simple: Avoid complex backgrounds. Use clean, easy to read fonts and limit text.
- Consider Visually Impaired Users: Add your podcast name in your artwork metadata.
- Avoid explicit content: The artwork should not contain any explicit content such as nudity, violence, or profanity.
- Avoid copyrighted content: The artwork should not contain any copyrighted content such as logos, images, or fonts.
- Test the artwork: Before finalizing the artwork, test it on various platforms and devices to ensure that it is clear and readable.
Apple Podcast’s Rules for Podcast Art
Following Apple Podcast guidelines for podcast artwork is crucial because Apple is the Biggest Distributer of Podcasts. If you don’t follow their guidelines then they will refuse to distribute your show. That means you will lose access to at least 50% of all English speaking podcast listeners.
Specific Apple Podcast guidelines for podcast artwork include:
- Size and Format: The preferred artwork size is 3000 x 3000 pixels, with a minimum of 1400 x 1400 pixels. Acceptable file formats are JPEG or PNG.
- Content Restrictions: Artwork must not contain blurry, misaligned, mismatched, or pixelated images. Explicit language, placeholder images, and Apple logos or terms are also prohibited.
- Visual Safe Area: Key elements such as faces and logos should be within the Art Safe Area to ensure they are not obscured by UI elements.
- Legibility and Simplicity: Avoid overloading the artwork with too many elements. Keep it simple and easy to read, even when displayed at smaller sizes.
- Relevance and Consistency: The artwork should accurately represent the content and tone of your podcast. Maintain consistency across all promotional materials to reinforce your brand identity.
For the full list of rules, and templates, check out their Artworks Requirements page.
Free Resources
Templates and Art Apps
Adobe Express: Lots of free templates and a Logo Maker app
Canva: More free templates and an Logo Maker app.
Preview Podcast Cover Art Size
Onlypod: Generates mock-ups of your podcast art in the places it’s likely to be published.
Final Thoughts
Creating compelling, professional podcast artwork is an essential piece of establishing your show’s brand identity. Put thought into what you want to convey visually and choose artwork tailored to your specific podcast. Please take care to get the specs right. Great cover art can take your show to the next level.
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