What GRAPHICS Do You Need for Your Podcast?
We live in a virtual/visual reality. Yet, even if you're focused on creating audio-only content, having a beautiful visual wrapper on your podcast is a must.
Before you choose podcast graphics for your show, think about three important factors:
- The brand and persona that you and your podcast have
- The audience you want to attract
- The dictates of modern, creative design
Before planning the style, colors, and other components of your podcast graphics, it’s essential to understand what visuals you need.
However, although podcast episode thumbnails play a significant role, it’s not the sole design element you should have created.
The graphics outlined below are used in different ways and serve different purposes for your show.
Some will be used to present your show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcasting apps and platforms, while others will be used to promote it on YouTube, social media, your email newsletter, etc.
Here are the 4 main types of graphics you’ll need to create for your show and how to use them with your podcast.
1. Podcast Cover Art
This is the main graphic for your podcast. The purpose of the podcast cover art is to convey what your show is all about visually. So anyone who hasn’t watched your show before should be able to look at your cover and have an idea of what the show is about.
Think of it as the album art of your Album, E.P, or Mixtape.
The podcast cover art is also required to submit your show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. and will be displayed when people search for podcasts on these platforms.
2. Video Thumbnail
A video thumbnail is used to represent your podcast videos on YouTube. It’s the first thing a viewer sees of your podcast episodes on their YouTube home page, or when they search for videos on YouTube.
Your video thumbnails are super important as they can make all the difference when it comes to a viewer clicking through to watch your video or scrolling down to the next one.
In other words, a good thumbnail makes a viewer want to watch your podcast episodes. This is why it’s so important to put a lot of thought into your design. Making sure that the font isn't super tiny. That your image (if you use your headshot) is clear. And, that your colors coordinate with your website.
3. Episode Graphic
You can create a thumbnail for each separate episode or have a general show cover for all of your episodes. You can also have different episode covers for a particular bunch of podcasts. For example, you can have a Christmas episode thumbnail for December’s podcasts, then change the design for other podcast seasons or collections.
Many podcasters do not go into details so much and do not have separate episode covers at all. However, I like this idea as it refreshes your listeners’ impressions of you as long as you keep your look/feel and colors consistent. Also, it looks more dynamic and shows the efforts you continuously put into your channel.
4. Social Media Graphics
The last bit of graphics you’ll need for your show is some social media graphics.
These are used to promote your show on social media and come in all shapes, sizes, and different designs. It all depends on the platform that you choose to promote your podcast on.
However, you’ll need new design graphics for each episode you promote and this can get really time-consuming.
To save you time and headache, you might want to create a template for your social media graphics and just swap out episode numbers and titles whenever you promote your shows.
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