Apple Music's previous playlist artworks were all unique but were difficult to re-create and recognize as Apple's curated playlists as a whole. These new designs for Apple Music's playlists keep each artwork unique by graphically representing the musical atmosphere of the collection of songs within each curated playlist but now tie the identity together as a whole. The objective was to create a visual system for the curated playlists, while also making systemic rules for all current and future playlists—flexible enough to communicate and express diverse styles of music and playlists without feeling random. Allowing for someone else to use and re-create moving forward. Leaving a guideline explaining the visual system and its rules and restrictions.
The ad campaign reflects the visual system of the playlists but does not simply mirror the curated playlists designs. The campaign uses the symbols and photographic elements in a more dynamic way, keeping the design system consistent yet flexible so it's in the same vein as the playlists artwork. The campaign also required a hashtag to go along with it, so I chose #OnDeck, meaning there's always music on deck at Apple Music—with Apple Music's catalog having more than 70 million songs. An unlimited system for unlimited playlists.
