Your podcast thumbnail is your first impression — and in a crowded feed, it can be the difference between a new listener clicking play or scrolling straight past you. In this episode, Anthony Perl shares everything you need to know about podcast graphics, from why professional photography matters to how to manage your brand across multiple platforms.

In this episode you'll learn:

1. Why you should never underestimate the value of a professional graphic designer — especially when setting up your initial templates
2. The three brands every podcaster needs to think about: your personal brand, your business brand, and your podcast brand
3. How to approach photography for your podcast graphics, including tips on outfit variations and capturing dynamic hand gestures
4. Whether you actually need photographs in your graphics at all — and what to do if you'd rather go a different route
5. How to handle guest photography so your brand stays front and centre even when featuring others
6. The key differences between designing for YouTube versus Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music
7. Why episode numbers on graphics are a waste of valuable real estate
8. How much text to put on a graphic — and why less is almost always more
9. When and why to refresh your existing episode graphics to attract new attention on YouTube
10. The role of AI tools and platforms like Canva in your design workflow — and their limitations

🎁 Free Download: Grab the Podcast Thumbnail & Cover Art Guide in the show notes — packed with sizing specs, platform requirements, and real-world examples from top podcasts.

👉 Download here: podcastsdoneforyou.com.au

Ready to hand over the whole thing? At Podcasts Done For You, Anthony co-hosts and produces podcasts for business owners and experts — from strategy and recording right through to publishing, graphics, and social media. Book a strategy session at podcastsdoneforyou.com.au/booking

Listen and subscribe to the channel for more game-changing tips!

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adperl/

https://www.commtogether.com.au/

Learn more about Podcasts Done for You - The Show: https://www.commtogether.com.au/podcasts-done-for-you/

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#PodcastGraphics #PodcastTips #PodcastCoverArt #PodcastMarketing #PersonalBranding #BusinessPodcast #PodcastsForBusiness

Welcome to Podcast Done for You,

the show where we make it as easy

as possible for you to make the

right choices to advance your

podcasting career.

So let's get started on the show

Podcast Graphics, why they are so

important, and why am I doing this?

I'll tell you why, because that is what

you need a little bit of when it

comes to your photos and your graphics.

We're gonna get into that as we

talk about this very important topic.

That impacts all podcasts now.

It's something that's often

overlooked in my experience.

When people are thinking about their

podcast and planning it, they often

just think straight towards all of

the logical things about who they're

gonna have on the show, if they're

having anyone at all, what they're

going to talk about, how are they going

to edit it, all of those wonderful

kinds of things.

And then it gets to the point where

they're ready to hit the button to

go and publish it.

What about the graphics?

And quite frankly, a few times that

I see people just jump onto Canva,

nothing wrong with Canva, but you're

playing amateur hour when you're just

doing it yourself.

So my first tip for the graphics is do

not underestimate the value of getting

a professional to do it if you

can afford it.

Get someone to do the graphics, at

least initially, and set up some

templates, and then you've got

a starting point.

So that's a little tip from

me to you to get things started.

But why was I doing a bit of

all of this?

No, I'm not one of members of the

Wiggles, but I want to point out to you

that if you have a look at some of the

great, uh, graphics that exist for

various podcasts, particularly from

the moment we're gonna divert

and talk about YouTube, then

there's a lot of.

Pointing.

There's a lot of different side on

views where people are talking and

this way and that way, and we go

back to over here.

There's a lot of different angles

and things where people are making a

point where they're doing different

things with their hands to try and

get your attention.

Into the graphics, and it is important

when you look at YouTube in

particular, and we are talking about

this separately, but we are gonna

go into the podcast platforms for

everything else in just a moment.

When you look at YouTube, the

differentiator is you often see all

of the graphics for a whole bunch

of different things all at once

on your channel.

So you want one thing to stand out

from the next, if you've gone down

the path of every episode, graphic

looking the same.

Then YouTube, you have to think about

it differently if you want to attract

some attention.

So let's take a step back and let's,

'cause we want to go into all of these

other platforms, but I wanna take a step

back and say to you, the first thing that

you need to do, and we kind of alluded

to it a little bit, is professional

photography.

Nothing beats a professional,

taking some great photographs of you.

If you're going to do it, make sure

you get them in.

Doing all of those different hand

movements and lots of things.

Change your, your shirt or your top,

whatever you're wearing a few times.

Get a few different variations so you

can have a podcast ready to go.

Of course, unless your brand is

such that you wear the same

thing every single time and kudos to

someone like, uh.

Steve Butler from Diary of a

CEO, that's what he's fallen upon.

He's known for wearing the same

sort of outfit all the time, and

plenty of people do that and it works

really nicely.

But if you don't have that and

you don't want to do that.

Then make sure you account for it

when you're taking your professional

photographs, because you want to make

sure that you look different in

different episodes as needed, and

to reflect who you are and what

you're about.

So there's another little

tip coming your way is make sure

that the podcast.

Graphics fit your brand.

Make sure they are relevant to your

audience, and set the kind of style

and agenda that you want for your brand.

Is it moody?

Is it vibrant?

Are there particular colors that

work better with your audience?

Is there a particular style

that works better with your audience?

Make sure that it matches who

you are as well.

Don't put yourself out of where you

are comfortable.

Make sure that it's reflective.

Of you and your values, but at the

same time helps you stand out

and be a little bit different.

So it is an important thing

for you to consider as you're going

down the path of graphics.

Just make sure that it is on brand Now,

on brand is two different things.

I'd like to say here, maybe

actually three.

There's the brand that is your

personal brand.

That's one thing, and the way you

present yourself.

The second brand is your business

brand and the third brand is

your podcast brand.

Now, they may not all be the

same thing.

Now you definitely have to make your

personal brand fit in with your podcast

if you are gonna be part of it, because

you're gonna be front and center or.

You can take a different approach

and not have photographs in your

podcast, and we'll come to that option

in just a moment.

But if you are going down that path of

photographs, then you must make sure

that at least your personal brand and

the brand of your podcast match.

Now sometimes, and actually more

often than not.

The podcast brand is separate to your

business brand.

They don't have to be the same.

They can work hand in hand, and that

is a great thing when that happens.

But sometimes you've created a brand that

will sit alongside and compliment

your business brand, but it might

have a little bit more flexibility

than the brand that you have for

your business for different reasons.

It can sit differently on a

different website altogether.

And so one can reference the other,

but there is a difference between

the two brands.

So have a think about what direction

you want to go as far as your brand

is concerned.

Now I'm gonna come to that option I

just spoke about in a minute.

Do you need photographs in

your, uh, graphics for your podcast?

And remember, we are thinking here

about three kinds of graphics, right?

You are thinking about the epi,

the graphics for the show overall.

You're thinking about the episode

based graphics and you're thinking

about the YouTube variations.

Now, we are going to have a download

off of back in the show notes

in this program, of this program

that will give you information about

the different sizes and requirements

that you might have, uh, for, uh,

different podcast for your different,

um, platforms.

And we'll try and include all of

that information as well as lots of

examples of what different people do,

particularly some of the well-known ones.

What we think is good and, uh, what

you might learn from all of those.

So we're gonna put that into

a download.

So pay it, pay attention to

the show notes.

You'll be able to get, uh, a copy

of that, uh, guide in the download.

Meanwhile, coming back to it, I

think that whether you have graphic,

whether you just wanna go down

the graphics path and not include

yourself in the pod, in the, in

the, uh, graphics, I should say.

You just wanna have generic kind

of shapes, sizes, images, other

things that you want to use, that

is definitely a path that many podcasters

have gone down.

So if you really are adverse to

the photos and you really want to have

a different focus, you can do that Now.

Make sure again, that you get some

variations so that they do stand out

and look different.

Now, what I would say to all of that

is that if you are going to have guests

on your program.

Why not get some decent photos of

your guests as well.

Now, either they have some

professional photographs that

are available that you can use.

They might have some online that

you can just choose from or make sure

that you're taking some stills from

the podcast itself.

Even pause to do that properly at

the end of the recording and get

a few variations in there that you

can use of them.

You can of course take it from some of

the videos as well and utilize that.

Now, what I would say to you about

the graphics.

When you use a person, someone

else, find a, uh, I should say a guest

on there, find a style that is

going to work for you consistently

so people know that it's still

your podcast, and that it's not just

about that person.

Because remember, you are still the

expert on your show.

You must be the expert.

And it's something I've talked about

often and it's why I believe you

need a cohost, but we're not gonna go

into more of that.

Just now, except to say that don't

underestimate the value of making

sure that your brand is still

front and center.

That's why I do like you to have

your own photographs and to be part of

it as much as you possibly can, but I

do understand where that doesn't always

work for everyone.

So what else do you need to know

about the graphics for your podcast?

Well.

There are some variations that

are happening more and more with some

of the different platforms, and you

can pay attention to that, and a lot

of the publishing platforms give you

an opportunity to put some different

graphics in place depending on where

they're coming from.

Remember as well when you're looking

at graphics to think of, again, going

back to YouTube.

But not just YouTube.

When you're publishing on

social media and you're publishing

short reels from it, there's another

kind of graphic that you might want

to use from that.

It's going to be a different size and

format, depending on whether it's

a landscape or portrait style need.

So again, the graphics play a

really important role in all of that.

You want to make sure that you get

some basics so that people know

who you are, what it's about, and

uh, can recognize that this is coming

from your podcast.

So that people pay attention to it.

The one thing you would say about

many of the great, uh, top podcasts

that we have going around, and I'm

gonna keep using Diary of a CEO as

an example, because it is the easy one

that many people know, and there is a

certain mood, there is a certain style.

And the minute you see that, you know

what you're going to get, you know where

it's coming from.

So it is an important thing to

think about getting it all right.

As far as your podcast

is concerned.

So we've talked about.

The need for professional

photographs.

We touched on it the beginning, a little

bit about the need for professional

designer to come up with something.

I really think that that is a

key thing to do.

Now you can, of course, use a lot

of AI tools to try and come up with

some variations.

People have asked me as well, can

you use caricatures of yourself?

Look, I suppose it really depends

on your market.

There are a lot of people that

will take a step back from the ai.

Uh.

Producing stuff because often there

is a giveaway that it is AI and people

have different reactions to that.

It so much depends on your audience

and what your brand is about and what

you're trying to say as to whether

that's the path.

I would say to you that if you're using

it because you are hiding from getting

actual photographs taken, then that's

not the right reason to use it.

But again.

These tools that there are, that

exist out there, and whether it's

ai, whether it's a Canva, or whether

it's one of the many other platforms,

Adobe and and various others

that exist out there where you can

do the graphics.

There's one thing to have the tools

in front of you.

It is a whole nother thing to actually

have the ability to use them properly.

And then there's a whole nother

thing to actually have a sense of

design itself.

It's easy to follow templates, but

are the templates the best ones to

suit your brand?

It is worthwhile going down the path

of getting someone, as I said at the

beginning, to at least put some of

your own templates together so that

you can follow them into the future.

Something definitely, I'd say

worth investing in.

So there's a lot of points to

think about when it comes to the,

uh, the graphics for your podcast.

And there's a lot of things to think

about in terms of.

Sizing.

And again, one of the things that I

want you to consider is how much text

you put onto the actual, uh, onto

the actual graphic.

There is a tendency to overdo them.

Now, what I would say to you is

that there are two different titles

that you might want to have for

a podcast episode.

Title number one is the one that will

really get people to jump when they

search for you.

You want that to be the title that

that brings them in.

Now, that often can be something,

is a how to kind of format or why

sort of format and they can be longer

and to the, you know, to what you

can, uh, have in terms of characters

for YouTube, for Spotify,

apple, et cetera.

But then there's the.

The wording in the text, the

characters, the amount that

puts onto your actual graphic.

Remember, the majority of the time

people are looking at these graphics

on their phone.

There is not a lot of real estate, so

if you have a long name, you're gonna

have a smaller font and it's gonna be a

lot harder to read.

Remember the name of the podcast,

the details of it will also come up.

A title below the actual graphic.

So you don't need the full title

to be in there.

You need the main points.

Now, often that's easier.

If it is about a guest and that

guest is well known, then you

can most certainly just feature that,

uh, as being a primary part.

And that might be all that appears

in the graphic of the title.

Sometimes it's not about the guest, or

the guest may not be that well known,

so it's a major point that you want

to have in there.

So choose those words carefully.

As fuel words as possible.

What I would say to you is ditch

words like podcast.

It's not necessary for you to use

the word podcast in a graphic

from the show.

They already know it's a podcast.

You're there on that episode.

Numbers is another really

interesting one.

I've noted that there are some

people that love to have every

episode numbered and they love to

tell you how many episodes they're

up to as well as part of the show.

To my way of thinking,

that doesn't really matter

all that much.

The listener doesn't really care.

They're coming in and listening to

that particular episode, and in

fact, you can actually make the

listeners feel quite bad if they

come in at episode number 126 and they

think, oh geez, I've got 126 episodes

to catch up on.

No, they don't.

They can just start at episode

126 because unless you are.

Operating at like a, like a series

where they have to go chronologically

through everything, which most

podcasts don't do, then it doesn't

really matter.

So let them start where they want

to start and focus more on the topic

and use their real estate better rather

than wasting it on episode numbers.

So just another tip for, to make

sure you get those things right.

So there's lots of things to think

about as well.

Make sure that the font is consistent,

that you use.

Try and get a consistent style,

uh, typography, uh, consistent

color batch.

You might have some different color

variations on, on each of them, but

make sure there is a kind of co

consistency in that.

And again, a great graphic designer is

going to help you set that up as well.

So there are lots of things to

think about when it comes to the

graphics for your podcast episodes,

and it's something that you've gotta

consistently tweak what works today.

You may need to change it tomorrow

to see how that variation goes.

So remember, it's about your

audience and building that with

thumb consistency.

So I want to counter a little

bit something that I said earlier on.

In terms of making every episode

different, is that a must?

Well, for YouTube, I believe it is for

when it comes to your, um, when it

comes to the other platforms, I don't

think it matters quite as much again,

because it's the nature of how people

are scrolling.

More often than not, when someone

comes to a, uh, a Spotify or an Apple

or Amazon music for that matter.

You've been told what podcast to

go and listen to.

Someone's referred you to it or you've

heard about it.

You're not generally going there to

search, and you're certainly not

generally going there to look at

what is the most attractive one

You want to find the person or the

particular podcast that you know about.

And then when it comes to the

episode, graphics for that, does

it matter that they're variations?

No, because again, I think people are

scrolling through the titles and

more often than not they're gonna

go to the most recent episode.

So can you get away with consistent

graphics every time?

Look, I think you can when you're

focusing on those primary platforms,

but the minute you start looking at

YouTube and you start counter and

start looking at that space, I think

it's a different story and you have

to start looking at those variations

for there.

So.

Again, you can get away with one

particular style initially, and

then you might graduate and move

to the others.

The other little tip, and I'm gonna

give you this as a last tip as well,

is to sometimes to freshen up your

episodes, go back and simply refresh

the graphics, particularly

for YouTube.

That can be a way of getting people to

draw some attention to something

that you wouldn't see otherwise.

Now, unlike the Spotify, apple and

and Amazon music style platforms.

Where they're not predominantly

used as a search.

YouTube is used as a search.

So if people, people may only discover

your podcast because they've looked at

a particular topic.

So the attractiveness of

what you've got to offer and the

fact that the next videos that come

up in your sequence look different may

well be a thing that attracts them.

So it's always good to test it

and to see what works for you.

The most important point, I think,

is to be on brand, get professional

photographs.

Most definitely use a professional

graphic designer to help get

you started.

It's one of the reasons why when

it comes to working with a lot of

clients as I do, we offer that as a

service to make sure that they do get

some professional graphics done right

from the outset.

Because laying that platform for

something consistent and creating that

brand is such an important thing

for your podcast.

So here's what I want you to do.

Go away.

Think about how, uh, you can improve

your graphics if you haven't got

them there yet.

If you are not yet a podcaster, if

you are planning on doing it, make

sure you include graphics as very

much central to what you think you are

going to do, because it is a really

important part of making sure that

there are eyeballs on your particular

episode all the time and your

particular show.

Make it fresh, make it vibrant, make

it in keeping with your master brand

of your business, but you are allowed

to be a little bit different.

So I hope that's given you a lot of

tips on what to do with your podcast.

Episode graphics.

I hope you've understood some of

those great things.

And reminder as well, check out

the show notes.

We're gonna have a download.

We spent a bit of time working on

that and producing some really

great information about sizing.

Some examples that you've got

to go off from various podcasts.

And some reference points that I think

will be really good examples for

you to follow when you start your

podcast journey.

And remember, if you are interested in

hearing more about how podcasts done

for You can work and take care of

everything from the strategy through

to the recording itself, right?

Co-host shows for people right

through to the end step where

we will publish podcasts for you.

And of course, we'll give you lots of

graphics and things to go with your

social media and everything else.

So that's all from me in this

episode of Podcast Done for You.

Remember, if you have anything you

want me to cover, please let me know.

I always welcome your comments.

Don't forget to like, share and

subscribe so you never miss

an episode of Podcast Done for

You the show.

Until next time, happy podcasting.