For the Hot Docs Podcast Festival – a global gathering of podcasters, storytellers, and listeners – I created a conceptual illustration that captures the connective energy of live audio. The artwork centres on playful, looping headphone wires that weave through a crowd of expressive faces, symbolizing how podcasts link voices, ideas, and communities across distances. One of those looping wires subtly forms the Hot Docs logo, embedding the brand directly into the visual narrative.

Bright, conversational colours and hand-drawn lines give the piece an immediate, human tone, mirroring the intimacy of hearing someone’s voice through headphones. The illustration became a key visual for the festival’s branding, used across promotional materials, digital assets, and event signage to convey the excitement of gathering podcasters from around the world for live shows, workshops, and panel discussions.

The final artwork celebrates what makes podcasts powerful: connection, curiosity, and the joy of listening together.