Cozy Critters
- Location
- Online
- Industry
- Podcast
- Year
- 2023 - Present
- Duration
- Ongoing
- Creative Direction
- Illustration
- Packaging
- Product Design
- Brand Management
Overview
How do you take a sleep podcast and turn it into a standout brand kids (and parents) can’t resist? Start with artwork that captures imaginations at first glance. Then bring the magic to life in homes around the globe with a partnership as playful as the show itself. From eye-popping visuals to global expansion through Yoto, here’s how our artwork helped Cozy Critters become a bedtime essential.
The Challenge
Cozy Critters—a sleep podcast for kids, distributed by PRX—needed artwork for their show that would stand out amongst the sea of children’s podcasts, while distinctly capturing the show’s concept: The Magic School Bus meets Blue Planet.
The Strategy
Being a part of the PRX family, Cozy Critters stands among podcasting giants like This American Life, Song Exploder, The Moth, and others, which garner a collective 100 million podcast downloads every month. The bar was high. We couldn’t just hop it—we needed to rocket over it.
So, we grabbed our wrenches and got started on the strategy engine.
The artwork very clearly explains what the show is and encourages listening. For me, it’s a perfect example of delivery for a podcast title—it’s provocative and still clearly explains the experience I will get while listening.
Mike Russo
PRX Director of Podcast Marketing and Audience Growth
First Impression
Podcast artwork is often a listener’s first interaction with a show. And it can make or break whether they choose to press play. For Cozy Critters, we wanted potential listeners to immediately recognize the show’s theme and tone.
Brand Identity
Consistent and compelling artwork helps establish and reinforce the podcast’s brand identity, making the podcast recognizable across different platforms.
Professionalism
High-quality artwork gives the podcast a professional look, making it more appealing to potential listeners. It suggests that the content inside is just as polished.
Emotional Connection
Good artwork can evoke emotions and set expectations about the podcast’s content, whether it’s informative, humorous, serious, or entertaining.
Marketing and Promotion
Eye-catching artwork is more likely to be shared on social media and other promotional channels, helping to attract a wider audience.
Differentiation
With the vast number of podcasts available, unique artwork helps differentiate a podcast from others in the same genre, making it easier for listeners to find and remember it.
Dougie Pickles performs a live cozy critters episode at the virginia aquarium and marine science center.
The best thing about the artwork is it’s just so damn cute!
Mike Russo
PRX Director of Podcast Marketing and Audience Growth
The Result
The PRX marketing team loved it. “The artwork very clearly explains what the show is and encourages listening,” said Mike Russo, Director of Podcast Marketing and Audience Growth at PRX. “For me, it’s a perfect example of delivery for a podcast title—it’s provocative and still clearly explains the experience I will get while listening. The best thing about the artwork is it’s just so damn cute! It stands alone as a sticker or piece of promotion, it’s artwork that doesn’t feel commercial.”
The Next Adventure: Yoto
Building on that momentum, CINQ designed three exclusive Cozy Critters Yoto Cards for Yoto—the award-winning audio platform that’s in over a million homes worldwide.
Yoto puts kids safely in control of their listening, learning, and play—with no microphones, no cameras, and no ads. Yoto Cards let kids explore what inspires them, supporting independent learning and imaginative adventures. It’s a natural fit for Cozy Critters, a show built to spark wonder and tuck in tired minds.
The cards capture the spirit of the show while elevating it for competitive international retail spaces, making Cozy Critters not just a podcast, but a bedtime essential.
Available globally in spring 2026, the Cozy Critters Yoto Cards are designed to meet kids where they are: curious, growing, and ready to dream big.
Dreamy Concept, Dazzling Numbers
Cozy Critters’ artwork has helped propel the show to the spotlight, garnering features on Apple’s New and Noteworthy, Amazon’s best podcasts of the week, NPR’s best shows for kids, and surpassing a million downloads just six months after launch—with zero advertising dollars. The show may be sleepy, but the results jolt you wide awake.