Case Studies
Spotify Singles are unique pieces of content produced with artists coming to the Spotify Studio to record their music. Each artist records one of their top tracks as well as a cover song. These two tracks turn into a Single volume. Album covers have always been a diverse and expressive playground for visual art. From vinyls to CDs to the thumbnails on Spotify, cover art helps influence how we experience music. Singles are unique recordings that deserve a unique visual expression. Beginning in 2017, and through 2019, Sarah teamed up with talented illustrators to design bespoke cover art for each Singles and led creative direction and production and communication between artists, artist management, music labels and representation, illustrators, Marketing and Editorial.
The Illustration
These illustrations are inspired by the creative direction of the artist, or the song recorded. The illustration style is built on 3 basic tenets:
1 — SIMPLE
The simpler the better. Concepts are reduced down to its most reductive elements.
2 — GRAPHIC
This means geometry and swaths of color or gradient.
3 — COLORFUL
Music is colorful. Our brand is colorful.
The Layout
The Singles design lives on a canvas based on the square format of the Spotify playlist covers. The design template is inspired by vinyl covers.
The Elements
An artist moodboard is provided by talent’s management or talent themselves to inform the tone and subject matter of the Singles illustration. These elements come together to create a final piece of unique art.
2016-2017 Illustrations by Alyssa Tobias // 2017 Illustrations by Haelee You
Campaigns and Marketing
1 Billion Streams
In 2018, Spotify Singles hit 1 Billions streams across the platform. To celebrate this milestone, the Singles team commissioned a video featuring the colorful covers and Royal Blood’s Spotify Singles cover of My Sharona.
Video by Pixomondo