Filtr Rebrand
Filter is a music curation and playlist brand operated by Sony Music Entertainment. It's known for creating and sharing playlists across various music platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and SoundCloud. Filtr aims to provide music recommendations and inspiration for different moods and occasions, catering to a global audience while promoting Sony’s newest and trending artists.
When I started at Sony, all of Filtr’s playlists used the same tired cover template – which was practical in the sense that Filtr has over 100 unique playlists and it was my responsibility to update the cover art for dozens of Filtr’s playlists each week to feature a new trending artist. But the brand felt stale, monotonous, and clearly corporate.
When I headed the Filtr rebrand our goal was to develop several fresh new “mini brand” templates that could be used for several playlists spanning several genres, were easy to update manually on a recurring basis yet retain unique appeal accommodate a range of artist imagery from solo artists to large group shots.
What I developed is the branding below, featuring three overarching templates for Filtr’s most popular playlists that require the most frequent visual updates as well as a half dozen bespoke covers for seasonal or event-based brands. Additionally, I developed static and video social ads for our most streamed playlists including Viral Hits and Hit Songs – brands that took on a life of their own and served as the blueprint for many of the playlists below.
Above cover features: Hit Songs 2024 – Tate McRae; Chill Songs – Jade LeMac; Late Night Electronic & Dance – Party Favor;
Pop Matters - Dove Cameron; Relax & Discover - Darren Kiley; Up Next – Lia Lia; College 101 – Flo Milli
In 2023 I headed a complete rebrand of Filtr’s playlists and created a system of attention grabbing templates that showcase new artists and reel in new listeners. These templates were intentionally designed for a rotating team of freelancers to be able to easily update as needed while simultaneously capitalizing on small details like colors and textures to set these individual playlists apart from one another.
Above cover features: Dance for Days – Calvin Harris & Eliza Rose; Pulse & Flow – Barbra Doza; New Heat – Melvoni;
Fall Feels – Thomas Day; Metal Overload – Lamb of God; Indie Vibes – Cannons
The old Filtr playlists were all identical and easily got lost among Spotify’s generic playlist covers
Using repetitive techniques like silhouetting and creative framing, each playlist meets Spotify’s strict requirements while standing out from a monotonous search feed. Additionally, the creative type – all designed by me – gives a distint idenity to the playlists most frequently showcased by Filtr in paid ad spots on Spotify.
![BestNew_Blink182_1280_green[2953].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6567572c277931342543bf3e/1713818510549-PM03PSYHNXCICFRREZH8/BestNew_Blink182_1280_green%5B2953%5D.jpg)
Cover features: Radiant - Noah Cyrus; Turnt Mode – DDG; Viral Hits – Paul Russell; Best New – Blink 182; Cyber Pop – Bunt.; RnB Mix – Lucky Daye
My favorite playlists to work on were those designed to promote minority artists. For example, during Black history month in 2024, Filtr launched Afro Music featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Tyla and other trailblazing Black artists at Sony. I also designed the cover art for Beyond Borders: Asian Artists A-Z intended to showcase talent in J-Pop, K-Pop, C-pop, M-pop and all other Asian pop genres. Finallyy, as a queer designer I loved creating Pride Anthems which features Sony LGBTQ+ artists not only during Pride Month, but also year round.
Above covers: Afro Music 2024 – Tyla; Beyond Borders – Akini J, NIKI, and Shubh ; Pride Anthems – King Princess
Video Trailers & Ad Spots
In addtion to static design work, I developed video templates for monthly ad spots shown to users of Spotify’s free subscription plan. All animation was developed by me. Additionally, all audio and video was cut and edited by me.