Fatigued Podcast

Connecting through shared experiences during a pandemic

Project Type: Brand Identity

Designer: Neil Shastri

Tools: Adobe Illustrator

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, people from all over the world experienced a unique variety of challenges. During a time when people were forced to isolate themselves from one another, actors Raymond McAnally and Caroline Amos introduced a podcast series that through humor and empathy engaged with guests to humanize pandemic issues surrounding Covid-19. Caroline came to me with the goal to create a brand that could be used for the series cover along with materials to promote the show. This was a fun task that provided me with some extra creative freedom while contributing to a project that helped people learn more about the pandemic and connect through shared experiences.

Listen to the podcast.

During the Discovery Phase, Caroline, Raymond, and I discussed what kind of visual elements we could feature for the show artwork. We realized that much of what the media showed about the pandemic was rooted in fear, hopelessness, and general disarray. While these were definitely valid angles, we decided that the show's artwork should be inviting and reflective of the comedic personalities of its co-hosts.

We took a step back to analyze how the world had changed so rapidly during the pandemic - and the concept that we've all heard frequently: "The New Normal," stuck out to us. We all had to embrace a world filled with masks and 6-feet distance markers. Hospitals were at maximum occupancy, vaccines were in development, and in general, we were all running low on energy. We were "Fatigued."

With these unique factors in mind, we embraced the "New Normal" and feature it in a clever way on the album art as a display of what the world had become. The next step was to hit the sketchbook and explore incorporating fun ways to display this new world. Through this exploration process, I fell in love with the idea of creating a world overrun with jumbo, building-sized pandemic items. The final step was to jump into Adobe Illustrator and bring these elements to life with vibrant artwork that was both light-hearted and inviting.

We created individual square posts with the cover's featured pandemic-related visual icons. These graphics were posted on social media sequentially for every day of the week, prior to the announcement of the podcast on the seventh day. This was an effort to generate curiosity and interest in anticipation for the show.

At the time of the podcast announcement, our world had spent so much time getting used to "The New Normal," and these six icons were easily associated with that concept. Even just shown individually, especially at that time, these icons bear so much significance that they were able to connect emotionally with their viewers. Pieced together, on the podcast cover, these illustrations make a strong impact that is sure to capture the curiosity of a future listener.

Contact

Atlanta | St. Louis | Minneapolis
neil@neilshastri.design

"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today."

-Robert McKee