STITCHER // In-App Illustrations Style Explorations
Way back in 2020 when Stitcher was still a thing, we were working on an updated version of the app. I was tasked with exploring some illustration styles that would be used on the website and app.
I’m not entirely sure if these ever got used. But this was a creatively satisfying project that let me be as playful or as restrained as I wanted to be.
ALL-AMERICAN: TIGER // Cover Art
Turns out licensing an image of a world-famous golfer is expensive. So you have to problem solve. And what’s more iconic than the red polo shirt?!
VIDEO ARCHIVES
Tarantino and Avary were straightforward from the start in using the old branding from the video store where they worked. They didn’t have any files, just some small photos of various pieces of merch from the past. I busted out one of my oldest skills and started recreating this in Adobe Illustrator. It really was that easy! Now we can scale that sucker up as big as we want and it’ll look crisp as heck.
TOXIC: THE BRITNEY SPEARS STORY
This was such a creatively satisfying project. To really dig down into some conceptual ideas is something I always try to bring to a project. And for the team to be so onboard with these directions was a true delight.
Britney Spears was deep in her conservatorship and actively fighting against it. The hosts, Tess Barker and Babs Gray, were all over the ins and outs of Britney’s situation and had developed a large online following. They developed the podcast and after an initial meeting I was off to solve the visuals of it all.
There were so many things we could reference, but I was immediately drawn to Britney and the snake. There was something really evocative about it all. And I began to think about that relationship of the snake surrounding Britney. Letting the snake represent the conservatorship and the crystal as Britney. Once we hit on that concept, the rest was a wonderfully satisfying illustration exercise on my end.
ATLAS OBSCURA // Cover Art [Unused]
The show wound up going in a different direction, but I couldn’t let these lovely drawings I made sit on the hard drive never to be seen.
WITNESS DOCS // Logo Design
One of the great things about working in the world of podcasting is the variety of work I get to do. One day it’s illustration-heavy vinyl album art, the next, I’m staring at a host’s face and trying to find just the right typeface. And some days, well, I get to scratch the logo design itch!
At Stitcher, we have a few different networks and I’ve had the pleasure of branding a handful of them. Witness Docs was the first of the batch. As the name implies, it’s a documentary podcast network. They cover a variety of heavy topics worthy of a deep dive. From the unsolved murder of Isadore Banks in 1954, to an investigation into Britney Spears and conservatorships, each series digs in and brings these people’s stories to life.
For the network branding, I started where I always start - a kick-off meeting followed up with a bevy of sketches. After presenting these concepts, the team and I narrowed down to a small handful of directions. From there, I started refining the logomark as well as beginning to explore specific typefaces. From there we found our preferred direction and and I tightened up the details. We stuck with a simple black and white color palette, which allows for a clean and unobtrusive application across a variety of visually different podcast show art.
If you’re interested, you can find out more about the network here.
LITERALLY! WITH ROB LOWE // Cover Art
I suppose there are worse ways to spend a work day than making sure one Mr. Rob Lowe looks his best for his new podcast! The team delivered a handful of images for me to play with along with a straightforward direction of bold and crisp colors and typography. Add a little pattern / texture to the background and we have a winner!
LIVE AT UCB // Cover Art
The direction was “The Hollywood Sign”. So, that’s what it is! Remember live comedy?! Anyone?! Hello?!
LOST AT THE SMITHSONIAN // Cover Art
This is artwork for the show LOST AT THE SMITHSONIAN WITH AASIF MANDVI. In the show, Aasif goes to the museum and each episode is a deep dive on the story of one iconic object that has had a significant cultural impact (Fonzi’s Jacket, Muhammad Ali’s Robe, Judy Garland’s Red Slippers, the Original Muppets, etc.)
The team had two directions with varying amounts of complexity. The first version was the idea to include illustrated versions of some of these iconic items. Then mix those with his photo and pair with a typeface. The second version being far more simplified with just the photo of Aasif and the title. On a few of those secondary ideas, I did implement some illustrated textures and patterns where it felt appropriate. The idea there being to bring a bit of life and energy to the overall piece.
We slowly moved towards the idea of Aasif in the archive hall, surrounded by endless drawers that could contain any multitude of things. After a few rounds of revisions, we settled on the image at the top. I still really like some of the versions with the illustrations!
IN VOORHEES WE TRUST // Cover Art
This was such an easy “no-brainer” of a solution for this show. I proposed two sketches to Matt and Paul, and we went with the zoomed in mask. A couple coats of paint later, and we have an awesome piece of art.
OFF BOOK // Cover Art
If you aren’t listening to OFF BOOK, you are doing yourself a true disservice. One of the funniest, smartest, quickest, and musical-est in the podcast world. Jess McKenna and Zach Reino are just absolutely delightful as performers and humans. The brains inside their skulls are very special. And I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to brand their insanely great podcast. I had sort of free reign and tried to bring what I thought resonated with the tone of the show, a fun, improvised musical podcast. After a handful of sketches were presented, we started to narrow the direction. We finally settled on the cute musical notes and a bright color combo.
THE GINO LOMBARDO SHOW // Cover Art
Dammit I love Jon Gabrus. I also love his character Gino Lombardo. Perpetual intern to Comedy Bang! Bang! Forever asking for sound speeds. And perilously thin. The Long Island boy got his own podcast and I was asked to render him in all his stick-thin glory.
This was another straightforward number with only a couple of revisions. Ya gotta love it when things go as smooth as this!
BONANAS FOR BONANZA // Cover Art
Well golly, if this wasn’t just the dang ol’ easiest done piece of cover art to put together. YEEEEEE HAAAAAAAW! It’s a show where the great Andy Daly portrays his beloved character Dalton Wilcox. Alongside one Mr. Matt Gourley as Mutt Taylor and Maria Bamford as Amy Sleeverson, they recap the long and winding road of the western serial BONANZA. It’s a rootin’ tootin’ good time.
OBSCURE // Cover Art
This is from May of 2018! I had completely forgotten that I had made all of these versions before we settled on the first image in the stack.
I had a pretty clear directive to be playful with the composition, especially playing with the scale of Michael in comparison to the book. With that idea locked in place, the rest was purely typography, color, and composition explorations. I really like some of the more high-contrast color combos. Especially that bright bright orange-red on the vibrant blue. It just POPS!
That all said, I’m super happy with the final cover art, and was happy to get to play around.
JOSIE & JONNY // Cover Art
What a delightfully sweet and fun illustration this was to put together!! We barely had any revisions, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how this turned out. They had a straightforward ask of creating a stylized illustration based on a photo of the lovely family on a park bench. My initial sketch focused purely on the family, and was a bit softer than the refined illustration that pulls out and reveals the rest of the scene. We tried a few different color combos, and finally settled on the final art featured up top.