August 3, 2026 • 9 mins
In this episode, we discuss what makes good podcast artwork and why your artwork is the first impression that matters most. We share the key specs, design rules, and easy tools that help your show look clear, professional, and recognizable everywhere people find podcasts.
Resources Mentioned:
If you have questions about your podcast artwork, or you're just looking for a second opinion, reach out to us on the Podcaster Success team by emailing support@buzzsprout.com.
Have a topic or question we should address on a future episode? Text us or email the Buzzsprout Podcaster Success Team at support@buzzsprout.com.
Keep podcasting!
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cara Pacetti (00:00):
Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, brought to you
by the people at Buzzsprout.
I'm your host, Cara Pacetti,and I'm bringing you the best
tips and strategies to keep youpodcasting with confidence.
Whether you're just curiousabout something related to
podcasting or you want to showus some love here at the
(00:22):
Podcasting Q&A podcast, we'dlove to hear from you.
You can click the Send Us FanMail link in the show notes and
send in your message as a textor a voicemail.
Today we're answering alistener question about podcast
artwork.
It says, I'm getting ready tolaunch my podcast and I know I
need artwork, but I have no ideawhere to start.
(00:45):
What makes good podcastartwork?
I'm excited to cover thisquestion because your podcast
artwork is often the firstimpression of your show.
Before someone ever listens toan episode or reads your podcast
description, they see a littlesquare image inside of their
podcast app that is your podcastartwork.
(01:06):
This is actually a requirement.
Before you can even submit tothe listening directories, you
have to have podcast artwork asa part of your show.
So today I want to talk abouthow to create artwork that
catches your listeners'attention and represents your
podcast well.
First, I want to start withsome of the technical
requirements.
Before you start picking outcolors, fonts, and images, the
(01:30):
first thing you'll want to do ismake sure your artwork meets
the technical requirements forthe podcast directories.
So Apple Podcast has actuallyput out some specifications for
the artwork that you need foryour show.
Your artwork will need to be3,000 by 3,000 pixels in size.
It needs to be a JPEG or a PNGfile, and it needs to be high
(01:52):
resolution.
And while some of this maysound really technical,
depending on the design toolthat you're using, you can
easily set these parametersbefore you start designing your
image.
In fact, some of these designtools will actually set these
parameters automatically.
So now that we know what thosespecs are, why did Apple put
these out?
So a 3,000 by 3,000 pixel imageactually sounds like a huge
(02:16):
image, but don't let thatintimidate you.
Podcast directories willautomatically resize your
artwork depending on where it'sbeing displayed.
Keep in mind, your cover art isgoing to be displayed
everywhere where your listenersare tuning in from.
This means it might appear as atiny thumbnail on somebody's
phone, inside a podcastdirectory like Apple Podcasts or
(02:38):
Spotify on a desktop computer,or even as an icon in Apple
CarPlay.
That's why it's important todesign artwork that looks good
at every size.
So before you worry aboutmaking your artwork look
creative, make sure it's builtto work everywhere your
listeners are going to find yourshow.
One of the biggest jobs yourcover art has is helping
(02:58):
potential listeners quicklyunderstand what your podcast is
about.
Your artwork doesn't need toexplain your entire podcast, but
it should give listeners someclues.
So some examples of this mightbe if you are producing a hobby
podcast, your artwork shouldconnect with that community
you're speaking to, maybe like apickleball podcast.
(03:20):
If your podcast is on a popularmovie, like, say, Star Wars, go
ahead and incorporate some StarWars-inspired design elements.
This immediately tells fansthis show is for me.
If your podcast represents aknown business or an
organization or a church, thisis where your existing branding
becomes really important.
(03:40):
Make sure you're using the samecolors, fonts, and visual style
people already associate withyour brand.
This consistency helps yourcurrent audience recognize your
podcast.
And if your podcast is apersonality-driven podcast,
consider featuring the host inthe artwork.
A lot of successful shows arebuilt around a person's voice,
(04:01):
experience, or perspective.
So including a photo of thehost can say a lot about your
podcast visually.
Another benefit of includingthe image of a person is that
this does a really great job ofconnecting your listeners to the
host in a really personal way.
The biggest thing to rememberwhen you're thinking about what
to include in your artwork isthat it doesn't need to appeal
(04:22):
to everyone.
It just needs to attract theright listeners.
So once you have a clearmessage, the next step is to
make sure your design choicessupport that message instead of
distracting from it.
One of the most common mistakespodcasters make with their
artwork is trying to include toomuch information.
A good rule of thumb is tolimit your words to seven words
(04:42):
or less.
Less is more in this case.
You want to focus on the mostimportant information somebody
needs to know to recognize yourshow.
So a common theme that we seeis that podcasters will include
(05:11):
podcast gear like a microphoneor headphones in their podcast
artwork.
Our recommendation here is toactually avoid adding those
elements to your podcast artworkunless your podcast is actually
about podcasting, likepodcasting QA.
If it's not, those images don'treally tell your listeners
anything about your show.
(05:31):
If you think about it this way,podcasting is the format that
you're using.
It's not actually what yourshow is about.
Your podcast artwork reallyshould include images about the
subject of your podcast, not theformat that it's being
presented in.
So once you've decided on theimages or the elements you want
to include in your podcastartwork, I want you to think
(05:52):
about colors.
So colors are the easiest wayto create a recognizable brand.
Choose colors that match thefeeling of your podcast and make
sure there's enough contrast soyour artwork can really stand
out in a podcast app.
And finally, think aboutconsistency.
Your podcast artwork shouldconnect with your website, your
social media channels, and otherplaces people find your
(06:15):
podcast.
You want to treat your podcastartwork as part of your cohesive
branding.
This allows listeners torecognize you and your show
across all platforms.
Now, if you're listening tothis thinking, this all sounds
great, but I'm definitely not agraphic designer and I don't
even know where to start.
Don't worry.
I have more good news for you.
While you don't have to be aprofessional designer, you also
(06:38):
don't need expensive designsoftware in order to create
podcast artwork that will standout above the rest.
You have a lot of options here.
One of our favorite tools forcreating podcast artwork is
Canva.
So Canva is an easy-to-useonline graphic design platform.
You can create a free or apremium account with them and
(06:59):
choose from thousands of podcasttemplates.
And you can even customize thedesign to match your podcast.
It's a simple way to createprofessional-looking artwork
while making sure your imagemeets the podcast directory
requirements.
In addition to Canva, there arefree tools like Adobe Express
or GIMP.
I can link to these resourcesin the show notes if you want to
(07:20):
check them out.
Another great tool for creatingpodcast artwork or maybe just
getting inspiration for yourartwork is AI.
You can use an AI tool likeChatGPT to submit a prompt to
create an image and include theelements you want in your
podcast artwork.
AI does a really great job ofcreating an image super fast,
(07:41):
and it can even help streamlinecreating some of the other
branding material you may beworking on, keeping everything
consistent with your branding.
My final piece of advice hereis to design your podcast
artwork with repurposing inmind.
Your podcast cover art doesn'tonly live inside of your
listening directories.
You can use versions of yourartwork for social media posts,
(08:05):
your website, promotionalgraphics, business cards, and
many other marketing materials.
So creating a consistent visualidentity helps listeners
recognize your podcast whereverthey see it.
Remember that your cover art isoften the first invitation
someone gets to check out yourpodcast.
You don't need expensivesoftware or a professional
(08:26):
design degree to createsomething great.
You just need artwork thatrepresents your show and helps
the right listeners find you.
If you have questions aboutyour podcast artwork, branding,
or anything else podcastingrelated, please reach out to the
podcaster success team byemailing support at
buzzsprout.com.
Be sure to join us every Mondayto kickstart your week.
(08:48):
Thank you so much forlistening.
And as always, keep podcasting.
Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, brought to you
by the people at Buzzsprout.
I'm your host, Cara Pacetti,and I'm bringing you the best
tips and strategies to keep youpodcasting with confidence.
Whether you're just curiousabout something related to
podcasting or you want to showus some love here at the
(00:22):
Podcasting Q&A podcast, we'dlove to hear from you.
You can click the Send Us FanMail link in the show notes and
send in your message as a textor a voicemail.
Today we're answering alistener question about podcast
artwork.
It says, I'm getting ready tolaunch my podcast and I know I
need artwork, but I have no ideawhere to start.
(00:45):
What makes good podcastartwork?
I'm excited to cover thisquestion because your podcast
artwork is often the firstimpression of your show.
Before someone ever listens toan episode or reads your podcast
description, they see a littlesquare image inside of their
podcast app that is your podcastartwork.
(01:06):
This is actually a requirement.
Before you can even submit tothe listening directories, you
have to have podcast artwork asa part of your show.
So today I want to talk abouthow to create artwork that
catches your listeners'attention and represents your
podcast well.
First, I want to start withsome of the technical
requirements.
Before you start picking outcolors, fonts, and images, the
(01:30):
first thing you'll want to do ismake sure your artwork meets
the technical requirements forthe podcast directories.
So Apple Podcast has actuallyput out some specifications for
the artwork that you need foryour show.
Your artwork will need to be3,000 by 3,000 pixels in size.
It needs to be a JPEG or a PNGfile, and it needs to be high
(01:52):
resolution.
And while some of this maysound really technical,
depending on the design toolthat you're using, you can
easily set these parametersbefore you start designing your
image.
In fact, some of these designtools will actually set these
parameters automatically.
So now that we know what thosespecs are, why did Apple put
these out?
So a 3,000 by 3,000 pixel imageactually sounds like a huge
(02:16):
image, but don't let thatintimidate you.
Podcast directories willautomatically resize your
artwork depending on where it'sbeing displayed.
Keep in mind, your cover art isgoing to be displayed
everywhere where your listenersare tuning in from.
This means it might appear as atiny thumbnail on somebody's
phone, inside a podcastdirectory like Apple Podcasts or
(02:38):
Spotify on a desktop computer,or even as an icon in Apple
CarPlay.
That's why it's important todesign artwork that looks good
at every size.
So before you worry aboutmaking your artwork look
creative, make sure it's builtto work everywhere your
listeners are going to find yourshow.
One of the biggest jobs yourcover art has is helping
(02:58):
potential listeners quicklyunderstand what your podcast is
about.
Your artwork doesn't need toexplain your entire podcast, but
it should give listeners someclues.
So some examples of this mightbe if you are producing a hobby
podcast, your artwork shouldconnect with that community
you're speaking to, maybe like apickleball podcast.
(03:20):
If your podcast is on a popularmovie, like, say, Star Wars, go
ahead and incorporate some StarWars-inspired design elements.
This immediately tells fansthis show is for me.
If your podcast represents aknown business or an
organization or a church, thisis where your existing branding
becomes really important.
(03:40):
Make sure you're using the samecolors, fonts, and visual style
people already associate withyour brand.
This consistency helps yourcurrent audience recognize your
podcast.
And if your podcast is apersonality-driven podcast,
consider featuring the host inthe artwork.
A lot of successful shows arebuilt around a person's voice,
(04:01):
experience, or perspective.
So including a photo of thehost can say a lot about your
podcast visually.
Another benefit of includingthe image of a person is that
this does a really great job ofconnecting your listeners to the
host in a really personal way.
The biggest thing to rememberwhen you're thinking about what
to include in your artwork isthat it doesn't need to appeal
(04:22):
to everyone.
It just needs to attract theright listeners.
So once you have a clearmessage, the next step is to
make sure your design choicessupport that message instead of
distracting from it.
One of the most common mistakespodcasters make with their
artwork is trying to include toomuch information.
A good rule of thumb is tolimit your words to seven words
(04:42):
or less.
Less is more in this case.
You want to focus on the mostimportant information somebody
needs to know to recognize yourshow.
So a common theme that we seeis that podcasters will include
(05:11):
podcast gear like a microphoneor headphones in their podcast
artwork.
Our recommendation here is toactually avoid adding those
elements to your podcast artworkunless your podcast is actually
about podcasting, likepodcasting QA.
If it's not, those images don'treally tell your listeners
anything about your show.
(05:31):
If you think about it this way,podcasting is the format that
you're using.
It's not actually what yourshow is about.
Your podcast artwork reallyshould include images about the
subject of your podcast, not theformat that it's being
presented in.
So once you've decided on theimages or the elements you want
to include in your podcastartwork, I want you to think
(05:52):
about colors.
So colors are the easiest wayto create a recognizable brand.
Choose colors that match thefeeling of your podcast and make
sure there's enough contrast soyour artwork can really stand
out in a podcast app.
And finally, think aboutconsistency.
Your podcast artwork shouldconnect with your website, your
social media channels, and otherplaces people find your
(06:15):
podcast.
You want to treat your podcastartwork as part of your cohesive
branding.
This allows listeners torecognize you and your show
across all platforms.
Now, if you're listening tothis thinking, this all sounds
great, but I'm definitely not agraphic designer and I don't
even know where to start.
Don't worry.
I have more good news for you.
While you don't have to be aprofessional designer, you also
(06:38):
don't need expensive designsoftware in order to create
podcast artwork that will standout above the rest.
You have a lot of options here.
One of our favorite tools forcreating podcast artwork is
Canva.
So Canva is an easy-to-useonline graphic design platform.
You can create a free or apremium account with them and
(06:59):
choose from thousands of podcasttemplates.
And you can even customize thedesign to match your podcast.
It's a simple way to createprofessional-looking artwork
while making sure your imagemeets the podcast directory
requirements.
In addition to Canva, there arefree tools like Adobe Express
or GIMP.
I can link to these resourcesin the show notes if you want to
(07:20):
check them out.
Another great tool for creatingpodcast artwork or maybe just
getting inspiration for yourartwork is AI.
You can use an AI tool likeChatGPT to submit a prompt to
create an image and include theelements you want in your
podcast artwork.
AI does a really great job ofcreating an image super fast,
(07:41):
and it can even help streamlinecreating some of the other
branding material you may beworking on, keeping everything
consistent with your branding.
My final piece of advice hereis to design your podcast
artwork with repurposing inmind.
Your podcast cover art doesn'tonly live inside of your
listening directories.
You can use versions of yourartwork for social media posts,
(08:05):
your website, promotionalgraphics, business cards, and
many other marketing materials.
So creating a consistent visualidentity helps listeners
recognize your podcast whereverthey see it.
Remember that your cover art isoften the first invitation
someone gets to check out yourpodcast.
You don't need expensivesoftware or a professional
(08:26):
design degree to createsomething great.
You just need artwork thatrepresents your show and helps
the right listeners find you.
If you have questions aboutyour podcast artwork, branding,
or anything else podcastingrelated, please reach out to the
podcaster success team byemailing support at
buzzsprout.com.
Be sure to join us every Mondayto kickstart your week.
(08:48):
Thank you so much forlistening.
And as always, keep podcasting.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.