{"id":2235,"date":"2026-07-16T03:04:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T03:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/international.binus.ac.id\/graphic-design\/?p=2235"},"modified":"2026-07-16T03:04:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T03:04:57","slug":"designing-podcast-cover-art-for-global-brands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/international.binus.ac.id\/graphic-design\/2026\/07\/16\/designing-podcast-cover-art-for-global-brands\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing Podcast Cover Art for Global Brands"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Tim McAuliffe<\/p>\n

Rebranding the Financial Times Podcast Suite to Elevate Their Audio Identity<\/h2>\n

The Financial Times has one of the most recognizable visual identities in media. Salmon paper. Serious type. A century of editorial authority (no pressure!). So when they asked me to redesign their entire podcast suite, ten shows under one cohesive brand, the challenge was holding two things at once: making each show feel distinct, while making all of them feel like they lived under the same brand roof.<\/p>\n

How Good Projects Find You<\/h3>\n

It began with a piece of writing that found the right reader. I published\u00a0this post<\/a>\u00a0about designing podcast cover art in 2023 and it slowly grew into my most read article, by far. By late 2024, as that post had quietly carved out a niche corner of the internet, I got a message from the Financial Times\u2019 audio team. They liked my work and wanted to talk.<\/p>\n

What resonated was a combination of things: my independent studio work (Missing Richard Simmons<\/a>, the \u201cAve Maria Bamford<\/a>\u201d comedy special, etc), but also my time at Spotify, where I worked on podcast visual identity that was designed to operate under a larger brand system. This was exactly the experience this project needed.<\/p>\n

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Collection of podcast cover art design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The brief was substantial: a full redesign of ten FT podcasts, along with platform assets, channel branding, and marketing materials. We needed to think not just about how each show should stand alone, but how the entire slate looked together as a unified group. Here\u2019s what the previous slate looked like, where each show could stand on its own, but together they didn\u2019t sit comfortably.<\/p>\n

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Original slate of Financial Times\u2019 shows<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For a brand of this scale, the disjointed look was doing a disservice to the work they put into their audio product. On Apple Podcasts, your channel page and podcast cover art are your entire visual identity for a massive subset of potential listeners. This is where the caliber of your show gets judged before anyone hits play. A series of ten shows with no cohesive podcast visual identity is a missed opportunity to say,\u00a0we\u2019re the Financial Times and here\u2019s how we show up in the podcast space.<\/em><\/p>\n

Building a Podcast Cover Art System<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The first thing I did before approaching the design of the series was to define the constraints. This is where you figure out things like: Is the brand logo required? Do we lean into the Financial Times signature salmon pink color? How do we handle host-driven shows vs theme-driven shows? Because putting a portrait next to a conceptual illustration next to a graphic icon without visual logic is how you end up back where you started.<\/p>\n

Take Swamp Notes, one of the concept-driven show covers in the suite.<\/p>\n

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Iterations on Swamp Notes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Exploring iconography, different kinds of line work, photography with graphic overlays and use of effects, this is where you discover what starts to work. The line work on the capital building is giving this a human touch, we are starting to like that. The compressed font treatment doesn\u2019t work well at small sizes. A graphic overlay won\u2019t work over a host\u2019s portrait. Every design direction that is killed is helping to stress test the larger system.<\/p>\n

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Get\u00a0Tim McAuliffe\u2019s stories in\u00a0your\u00a0inbox<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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