Podcast Cover Art Is More Important Than You Think
What message is your podcast artwork sending to potential listeners?
When a potential listener is on a podcast discovery path, your cover art might be the first thing they see. That’s before they hear your intro, experience your storytelling, or understand your general vibe. And they’re judging… whether they know it or not.
Podcast Cover Art Critique & Upgrade Session
We do judge podcasts by their cover art. It’s the first thing someone sees when they come across your show, so your cover art has gotta channel the vibe, tone, quality, and genre.
June 25th - 2:00PM ET: In this session, we’re going to study some cover art, critique it, offer suggestions for improvement, and then give you tools and best practices to make changes to your own cover art. Join the session!
They see a tiny square. And in a world where podcast apps display dozens of tiny squares all at the same time, your podcast cover art has one job: to help the listener decide that your show is worth a closer look — and it better accurately reflects what’s inside the show.
Effective cover art is about more than design and aesthetics. It has implications in branding, positioning, and discoverability all at once. And it’s not just the cover art. It’s the entire visual packaging that goes along with your show:
Website
Social channels
YouTube
So much more
I presented at On Air Fest last year on podcast cover art (I’ve been obsessed with it for a while both as a fan and as a creator / strategist) and my main thesis was:
When trying to hook a potential listener, you’re presenting them with a few starter elements — artwork, title, trailer…etc. You’re also presenting them with an promising offer (that’s your show), and at each stage, you need to deliver on that promise.
Does your artwork match the tone and texture of your title? Does that match the tone and texture of your trailer? And does your trailer accurately introduce the show itself? It all starts with the artwork.
And as much as we think we’re immune to this: we do judge podcasts by their cover art. And we should! We have a lot of potential entertainment to wade through in this world, so we need to be discerning. So, ask yourself: does your artwork…work?
The Examples
During my On Air Fest presentation, I shared a bunch of artwork examples.
First, real shows and their art, most of which I love. Then, a few fake shows, for which I designed artwork so I could critique them without hurting real people’s feelings.
Real Shows & Their Artwork
I won’t comment on all of the above here, but here are some notes:
Movement with Meklit Hadero: the word “movement” is moving! Clever!
Arts Educators Save The World: bold, bright, and the character matches the tone / the name of the show… superhero!
Dark Valley: freaky! In a way that sets me up to expect something creepy. I’m prepared.
For all of them, the titles are clear, the colors have high contrast, and they’re bold. Color me intrigued.
Fake Shows & Their Art
I designed these as cautionary tales so I could illustrate what’s not working about them.
Teacher Success Stories
Too much going on
It’s hard to read all of the elements, and we don’t even need all of those elements
Please! We don’t need to see a microphone to prove that this is, in fact, a podcast. We know!
I also don’t really think we need the host on the artwork either, for a few reasons:
Most people stumbling across the show don’t know the host, so the picture won’t do much for them. Even if they do know the host, then they already know her!
The picture isn’t even the host in her teaching element. It’s the host proving that she is, in fact, making a podcast. We know!
We don’t need to know, on the artwork, what day of the week the show drops. We could come across that information in a few other places.
I could do without the “with Samira” badge, too.
Overall, get to the point and cut out unnecessary elements.
Creative Talks
Too much going on. This time, worse.
All of the elements are too dang small
Don’t lock yourself into a year, cut the 2025
I don’t hate having a logo on the artwork, but it’s too small. And maybe consider matching the color of it to the colors of the artwork.
A bunch of my other comments are similar to the ones I made for the above. Can you guess what they are? (Leave a comment!)
Death of a Wandering Soul
The artwork does not match the title of this show
HOWEVER, this is a tricky one, because that could be seen as an artistic choice
There’s an opportunity here to add a second font.
Generally, a logo, cover art, or a branded visual element has a few high contrast colors and two-ish fonts. Usually one of the fonts is serif and the other is sans serif.
The reason I’d add another one here (probably for the subtitle) is so that, when creating social posts and other visual elements, you have the flexibility to use those fonts to create visual diversity.
That said, the subtitle itself, “a podcast series,” might be superfluous. Say it with me now… we know that this is a podcast.
Subtitles are great, but use the real estate wisely.
Ok, now that we critiqued a few fake shows, let’s get to the practical takeaways…
3 Simple Tips for Creating Better Cover Art
The 5-Second Test: can someone understand what your show is about within five seconds of seeing the artwork?
Ask a friend (or a stranger) to take a look at the artwork and tell you what the show is about based on the cover art alone.
The Thumbnail Test: shrink the image so it’s the size of a postage stamp. Can you still read the title?
If not, enlarge!
The Self Test: imagine your podcast sitting next to twenty other podcasts. Would it stand out? For good reasons?
Cover art probably isn’t THE ticket to show growth. Your show still needs to be GREAT. And you still need to be marketing / engaging with your audience. BUT it can absolutely increase the number of people who stop scrolling long enough to learn more.. which is the first step toward hooking a new listener.
Now, You! Is Your Cover Art Working?
I’m hosting an event, Podcast Cover Art Critique & Upgrade Working Session, next week through Well It Depends Labs. We’ll break down what works, what doesn’t, and how to create artwork that attracts the audience you’re actually trying to reach. Join!
If you can’t make it live, we’ll share the replay!
Extras
Is it possible to introduce a “non-podcast listener” to a show they’ll love?
I’m hosting a free, asynchronous 30-day podcast host upgrade challenge starting on July 1! Come hang out!
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Thank you to Beamly for supporting EarBuds Podcast Collective & Podcast Plunge this month. Learn more about building and monetizing your stuff all in one place.
Thanks for reading! Hit me with your cover art so I can critique it… kindly😉
Big cover art people over here
I love it. Great article. My only comment is about the host's photo on the cover artwork. If someone already knows the host, as you pointed out, seeing their photo on the cover may be just the thing to stop them scrolling past this show. What I usually tell my clients is that if you are building a personal brand, include your photo on the cover. If not, there's no reason to have your photo on the artwork.