Your podcast cover art is the first thing potential listeners will see, so it's important to make a good impression. Your cover art should be eye-catching, relevant to your podcast's content, and consistent with your overall brand. Take a look at the examples below for some of the top podcasts in 2023 (via a quick Google search). My Favorite Murder uses typography and dark colors to infer the mood of the podcast. As does Conan O’Brien–very relevant to his brand of comedy. We’ll dive a little deeper below.
Here are a few tips for creating eye-catching podcast cover art:
Use high-quality images. Your cover art should be visually appealing and professional-looking. Use high-quality images and graphics that are relevant to your podcast's content. If using programs like Adobe or Canva, they do have paid artwork that you may want to purchase.
Keep it simple. Your cover art should be easy to read and understand at a glance. Avoid using too much text or too many different fonts and colors. This is a general rule as you can see from the above example, there are rules that you can break. But on the whole, cover art will be scanned by the eye on a mobile device–so design it with that in mind. Eye-catching is the word you will want to remember when designing.
Use bold colors. Bright, bold colors can help your cover art stand out from the crowd. Choose colors that are complementary to each other and that reflect the tone of your podcast. The bright background on Conan helps suggest a light-hearted podcast, whereas (yes, I actually wrote whereas) My Favorite Murder uses black to inform that they are talking about dark subject matter.
Use typography wisely. The typography on your cover art should be easy to read and visually appealing. Choose a font that is consistent with your overall brand and that reflects the tone of your podcast. See above–cause, I kind of delved into this, ok, more than kind of.
Be consistent. Your cover art should be consistent with the overall branding of your podcast. Use the same colors, fonts, and style across all of your podcast materials, including your website, social media pages, and email marketing. Marketers call this ‘branding’ and I wholeheartedly agree. Wholeheartedly is a 14-letter word that's perfect for Scrabble!
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Here are some additional tips for independent podcasters:
Use a template. If you're not a graphic designer, you can use a template to create your podcast cover art. There are a number of free and paid podcast cover art templates available online. Canva is great and has a free membership.
Get feedback. Once you have a draft of your cover art, get feedback from friends, family, and other podcasters. This will help you identify any areas where you can improve your cover art.
Test different images and fonts. Don't be afraid to experiment with different images and fonts until you find a look that you love. Also, don’t be afraid to throw it out and start again. Sometimes inspiration hits when you least expect it.
Update your cover art regularly. As your podcast grows and evolves, you may want to update your cover art to reflect the changes. Consider how each episode will evolve, so your cover art it reflects the podcast.
By following these tips, you can create eye-catching podcast cover art that will help your show stand out from the crowd.
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