What Can And Can’t Go In Netflix Artwork or Thumbnails

Earlier this year, I stumbled upon some documentation on one of Netflix’s many partner websites, which details best practices for all subjects, whether it’s the type of camera you should use while filming, the dos and don’ts of uploading to Netflix’s backend, and much more.

Artwork is a vital part of the Netflix ecosystem. It often serves as the first introduction to a movie or series and significantly influences engagement with any title. When a title is added to Netflix, dozens of assets in various sizes and formats are created for use across the app and website. These variations are often then used in what’s called “artwork personalization,” a well-discussed feature of Netflix. But what are the rules for what can and can’t appear in Netflix artwork?

The complete documentation for what can and can’t go (they use the word avoid over can’t) in Netflix artwork can be found here, but we’ll summarize it below. They split up potential problems into multiple categories:

• Profanity
• Offensive Gestures/Hate Symbols
• Violence / Gore
• Sex / Nudity
• Substances / Alcohol / Smoking
• Tragic / Current Events
• Other Sensitive Topics
  • Religion
  • Maps, Flags and Iconography
  • Suicide
  • Abortion
  • Photosensitivity
  • Emergency Popular Warnings

For the most part, all these sections fall under common sense. Given that you never know who’s watching Netflix in a family environment, it falls within what Netflix dubs its “Living Room Friendly Principles.” This means that artwork must be non-offensive and appropriate for all ages. 

For profanity, Netflix provides a list of acceptable words (albeit not the entire list) that should be blurred out or censored. While Jackass, Crap, and Butt are allowed, more sensitive words like s***, c***sucker, d***,  and, my favorite, w***er, have to use asterisks or not feature altogether. This extends to preview clips for titles, too, which Netflix suggests avoiding particularly vulgar or derogatory language. 

There are many oblivious ones here for offensive gestures and hate symbols. The Nazi flag is perhaps the most mentioned, but also the confederate flag is ruled out from being featured in artwork. That means any historical documentary has to go out of its way to remove symbols. Interestingly, another title that’s flagged in this section is The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which is a no-go because the book Sabrina holds a satanic symbol.  

Violence and gore are the most significant sections of the entire article, with many examples. While allowed, the streamer emphasizes the words “excessive” and “shocking” when depicting violence or gore. For weapons, they state that assets must use caution with weapon imagery to avoid glamorization or targeting the audience or vulnerable characters.

They lay out the rules:

Avoid: Images of bloody injuries, moments of death, sexual violence, or scenes of violence against children or animals. Psychological fear, intense threats, and overtly gruesome visuals should also be avoided. Weapons pointed at the viewer or directly targeting others, especially children or teens. Excessive depictions of guns, glamorized weapons, and detailed injury from weapon use should also be excluded.
Okay: Stylized action, martial arts, battlefields, or fictionalized harm without explicit impact shots. Mild fear, supernatural elements, and characters reacting to violence are generally acceptable. Stylized or peripheral depictions of weapons and limited gunshot sounds, particularly in fictional or non-realistic contexts.

In the examples, La Revolution is ruled out because the sword is up to the character’s neck, and Inside the Real Narcos features someone pointing a gun at someone else. In the approved examples, guns and weapons are present but not pointed in any direction. 

When it comes to nudity, common sense is a must, with blurred imagery allowed within reason but anything overtly sexual in nature being ruled out. Interestingly, they provide a chart of what’s acceptable vs what’s not. 365 Day, Amar, and Ride or Die are among the examples that seem to be pushing Netflix’s rules to the limit, with their “generally ok” examples being more suggestive and cheeky. 

Sex Education’s example in the lower-right corner below is amusing as the image remains the same, albeit zoomed in to make the act not the main draw of focus.  

For their substance, alcohol, and smoking policy, more logic applies here. While illegal substances are allowed to be displayed (this list naturally changes depending on where in the world you live), they don’t want to encourage actual usage. They state that it should only be used when vital to the story’s plotline. Breaking it down:

Smoking
Netflix assets should limit depictions of tobacco products unless essential to the character or plot. Maniac is used as a bad example with one of the characters holding a cigarette in their hand, actively smoking. 

• Avoid: Showing characters—especially those who appear to be minors—smoking or vaping.
• Okay: Tobacco use only when critical to the character or storyline.

Alcohol
Content involving alcohol should avoid normalizing harmful behaviors or underage drinking. Paradise PD is one of the bad examples with a dog pouring Jack Daniel’s into his cereal, whereas Bad Moms: A Bad Moms Christmas is used as a good example despite there being two characters actively consuming bottles of beer as it’s pivotal to the plot.

• Avoid: Depictions of minors holding or consuming alcohol. Scenes of alcohol abuse or dangerous behavior, like drinking and driving, unless presented negatively.
• Okay: Adults drinking or discussing alcohol and non-problematic depictions of consumption.

Substances
Substance use must not glamorize or encourage drug consumption, particularly among minors. In all the bad examples, including the one of Bojack taking a hit, that’s bad, with the two reasonable exceptions being a picture of a weed symbol on its own and Eye for an Eye. 

• Avoid: Depictions of minors interacting with or consuming drugs, glamorized substance use, or explicit drug consumption (e.g., taking a hit).
• Okay: Ambiguous substance use (e.g., taking a pill), discussions about drugs, and neutral depictions of paraphernalia or before-and-after scenes.

Tragic & Current Events
Assets must avoid appearing exploitative or politically charged.

• Avoid: Capitalizing on current events like COVID-19, police brutality, or natural disasters. Refrain from using victim faces, political endorsements, or what they dub unverified calls-to-action such as calling or visiting a website that’s not within Netflix’s control.
• Okay: Use caution with crime-related content, avoiding victim imagery and sensitive judicial processes.

Religious Content
Depictions of religious symbols, figures, and rituals must be handled with care to avoid offense.

• Avoid: Images likely to offend religious sensibilities, such as depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, misuse of holy texts, or provocative religious iconography.
• Okay: Respectful and necessary use of religious references relevant to the title’s narrative.

Maps, Flags, and Iconography
Maps and national symbols require careful context as not to cause particular offense, given that Netflix serves a global audience. 

• Avoid: Maps with disputed borders or unauthorized flag use. Refrain from disparaging national symbols or patriotic imagery.
• Okay: Neutral use of maps and flags in ways that respect cultural and legal sensitivities.

Sensitive Topics

• Suicide/Self-Harm: Avoid visuals or dialogue depicting suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, or detailed methods.
• Abortion: Refrain from imagery or references unless critical to the story.
• Photosensitivity: Avoid flashing patterns or elements that could trigger photosensitive viewers.
• Emergency Alerts: Do not mimic emergency tones or effects to prevent misinterpretation.

Many of these rules also apply to Netflix’s video guidelines for clips and other promotional material. Of course, the age rating of any given title ultimately governs much of this. 

For budding enthusiasts or those wanting to try creating your artwork, Netflix offers a bunch of different templates and a testing tool for you to upload your artwork to see what it looks like within their user interface.