A cover art is the visual identity of your podcast. So, to make one you must first know what is your podcast. In other words, you must have a clear idea of your entire podcast project, because the genre, topic (and more specifically the niche you’ve chosen), the character, and tone you’ll adopt while communicating with your audience should be reflected in your cover art. Whether you have a knack for graphic design and want to create it yourself or you intend to hire someone else to do the work, you can’t find good artwork for your podcast if you still don’t have a clear ─ in this case, metaphorical ─ picture in your head. An effective cover art will have to convey all of that at a glance.
Why is a good cover art important for your podcast?
This “conveying at a glance” business is what makes podcast cover art so important. Whether we like it or not, first impressions matter. One decisive moment for your podcast future lies in the hands of your first impression. Unless your listeners already know you from somewhere else, or they’ve been recommended your podcast by someone, most people won’t even have a name to type in the search bar.
In fact, most of the time they might be browsing by genre, or category while looking for a new podcast, and there, the first thing they’ll see will be the images. They catch our attention more quickly and effectively because before we read, we see… Colours and shapes can convey emotions and give an idea of the character of your show, illustrations convey messages just as well as any words, along with photos and a few chosen words they should give a clear idea about the content.
Despite the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”, images have an inevitable impact on us. And sometimes that impression is correct because if a podcaster has taken the time to present a really good cover art, it should mean that s/he’s just as careful and attentive to the quality of the rest of her/his work.
Main types of podcast cover art
Usually, all cover arts have the name of the show incorporated in them. The usual types of cover art are composed of:
- Image (photo or illustration) + name of the podcast
- Image + logo of the brand/podcast (logos aren’t just good for the well-known brands, they’re good for continuity, and help you be recognised in other sectors you might be working in with the same name/brand)
- Logo + simple background
- Photo of the podcaster + name of the podcast (this is usually for the well-known people who decide to start a podcast)
Why a cover art is necessary for your podcast’ success
Now, after going through what you like and are good at, you should also check some statistics concerning what are the topics that are most successful in the world of podcasts. Your niche shouldn’t be something that is such a rare interest that only a handful of people would listen to it! Balance is the key to success! So, go see what people want to know more about and what’s relevant in the world, and then think about what you could add to it! Your podcast niche should find its target audience aka listeners whose topic is exactly what they were looking for!
4. Check the competition
However, there’s another reason that makes it not just important but necessary. Many if not all podcast platforms require you to have a podcast image, so if you don’t have one, you won’t even be able to publish your first episode!
Which is good, since getting started with a blank image accompanying every episode of your podcast would do you more damage than good… It would make the same impression as that random friendship request from an account without a profile picture: suspicious and not very trustworthy-looking, isn’t it?
There are a number of other very “design-pertaining things” and technical issues to face while making a cover art that unless you got them covered with your “knack for graphic art and design” of yours, it would be best to turn to a professional of the field for an optimal result. It’s an investment you won’t regret!
By Malika A.
