I'm a graphic designer turned thumbnail designer. You hit the nail on the head with each of these talking points, and even though the redesigned thumbnails are not aesthetical masterpieces, they are far better RUclips thumbnails than the originals. Well done.
As a graphic designer myself you called me out on so many things, it's very hard resisting the urge to treat thumbnails like they are billboards. Awesome content
One thing that I see that works really well on RUclips is thumbnails being so clear and simple that they're just designed to be ambiguous and even confusing sometimes in order to make you curious
I’m a graphic designer with more than 12 years of experience and I got to admit, even before watching this video, I knew I was terrible at designing thumbnails, I just didn’t know why. Thanks so much for this.
One thing I prefer as a viewer is consistency in some element, to make it easier to see creators I care about at a glance. It could be a face or an emblem, border style or w/e but it's really frustrating to be unable to tell apart videos from a specific creator in a sea of thumbnails.
The realization that graphic design and thumbnail design are different things came to me a while ago, but I could never put my finger on exactly how they are different. You just removed a veil from my eyes with this video.
Damn you literally dissected all the issues I've had in designing thumbnails. I just couldn't put my finger on why since I assume I could just transfer my graphic design skills to thumbnails easily. Thank you for this video.
It would be so great to see how the CTR of these his videos improved after replacing the thumbnail with your design. Thank you very much for the great video!
finally someone addressed the issue, many companies or senior designers make graphic designers treat youtube thumbnails like ads which ends up failing most of the time if not always
fantastic video. i rarely find new channels that I actually wanna sub to like usually I'm like "eh good video but I don't wanna have it in my sub list" but man this was genuinely so insightful
I’ve watched a lot of videos on thumbnail design but this is the first one that has explained it in a way that is not overly complicated and actually practical. Much appreciated. You got a new follower 🤝
good info. I hate this style of thumbnail, I know it works but I am curious if others are getting sick of it too and we'll see a new style take over. I am aware I clicked on this video so I guess it still works but I am curious on the future cause lately I get extremely turned off by this style.
I feel seen - maybe because I'm in one of Mike's thumbnails as I was guest on his podcast 😅 but also that my thumbails are total shit and I'm a graphic designer coming at it with graphic design principles. Thanks for the food for thought
As a thumbnail designer and graphic designer I've always wanted to talk about this. I design for a lot of RUclipsrs, i remember offering to help a graphic design channel with their thumbnails and they felt like they knew it all because they are designers haha, i explained to them why it's more complex than it seems
It’s not even just the algorithm you have to fight. Almost all the videos I watch are through my Subscriptions page, and channels with boring or unclear (or inconsistent) thumbnails get passed over. It’s a *curated* list and I still go past them
If i were to make an attention grabbing thumbnail design, i would definitely use my same graphic design skills it probably wont be as extensive but the same rules apply regarding stuff like space, color, lines typography and image effects etc.
thanks. i have a background in advertising/graphic design and this video changed the way i thought about making my thumbnails. let's see if this makes a difference for my stuff in the future
Good tips. especially the billboard vs thumnails comparasion, although some of them has been overused. "Unlock Bigger Clients", for example, sounds a little like a sales man/marketer making promises, in my work experience I see straight foward utilitary text peform better.
Great video brother! I have a perspective over this though, You mentioned that thumbnails don't need 'eps no.s' or 'logos', I think that it isn't applicable to those big channels.. I mean since they already have a huge audience, if they really want to add logos or eps no.s, they can and they'll still get good amount of clicks. Basically, once you had done the hard work and you are famous, if you want you can or cannot follow the rules you mentioned, but you have made an excellent video 🙌
interesting take, I'd actually say the opposite haha. Why have a logo on a small channel's thumbnail when no one recognises that channel's logo? The only reason to include a logo is familiarity. But if you're a small channel, no one will know the logo :D
@RuleofThumbYT it's true actually, no one really cares that you have a logo being a small channel, but for big ones, it won't affect their audience at all..
Very simple suggestion for 13:46. Add who the message is from to provide quick additional context (Client: "nah") But make sure it doesnt distract the viewer too much.
Well done man. All of the content here make sense...just one proposal from my side...change your presentation style to a more "eye friendly" one...i cant look your video in the bed, cause it is to bright. ;-) Hope your channel will grow...
Thumbnail Design is Graphic Design. A pro graphic designer understands the goal of whatever the design is. Whether that be a billboard, poster, website, flyer, or thumbnail
I think the original text plus your new photo would be the better design. The yellow text against the black backgrtuas a better color rstionvs those talking bubbles on a gradiënt background. The original text explains the message better than those 2 talking bubbles
i'm probably way out of my league in saying this (even though i absolutely agree with everything you're saying), but that first redesign feels a little off. with the text bubbles, my first intuition is that the right (yellow) bubble is me speaking & the left (white) bubble is the client, but in this case it's switched (which i see why you did that because the figure is on the left and not the right, but it could probably be fixed with some easy flipping). i would also add in a question mark after "proposal" so it seems like i'm asking the client to accept my proposal rather than just giving it to them... granted this is probably just nitpicking at this point, but i guess it also tied in with the previous remark about the confusion i had of who's talking to who, so maybe its not that necessary. overall still infintely better than the previous ones i just feel like i had to say somethin about that sorry😭😭
Hey so in the video you said that it would be more difficult to make thumbnails for podcasts (or thats how I understood it). Do you have any tips on how to do them?
you should have used red color for nah. red stands for like danger or rejection which makes it more eye catching and that stands out from getting blended in yellow background light too, same with color of t shirt.. he is designers obviously let his creativity reflect through colors
12:30 I thought he was reeling a fish in, or in this case a client, which would be more in line with his topic. Which proves that it lacks immediate clarity.
Look at Markiplier and his thumbnails, they are great and he edits them himself. Even when he reuses the same screaming face, the thumbnails are still unique from each other and is a piece of art. Unlike the lifeless, almost corporate like thumbnails of Mr. Beast.
I've been following Mike for a few years. I used to watch his content and they were good videos with useful advice. I liked his thumbnails, however they were TOO on brand and not magnetic enough, I would see his videos pop up from time to time but I wouldn't have the need to click on his videos even though I knew they were good. With your thumbnails I can't deny that I felt that magnetic feeling, the need to click on it. It got me curious! I kinda hate it because it plays with your attention, well done! EDIT: I'm just wondering when will these rules change, because they are nothing like a Mr Beast thumbnails, and he's supposedly the king in this stuff. Maybe his way of making thumbnails were the best approach, until everyone started doing it and we got desensitized. Could happen the same with your approach as well. Got me wondering...
13:06 for me personally it is counterintuitive that we see these messages on the thumbnail from the customer's side, it is confusing. The proposal should be sent by us and be yellow, and the customer's response should be white imo nice video though, agree with everything else
Bro, graphic designers are not one dimensional beings, they vast majority of them work with different formats, if you honestly think that a half decent designer can not learn the rule set for creating thumbnails, you are in serious denial. Thumbnails are in fact graphic design, they just don’t function like billboards, and of course they don’t because they are not in fact billboards. You made a 20 min video about stuff that can be explained in 5 .
I get what you're saying, but I think the point he's trying to make is that a graphic designer with no prior experience in thumbnail making can't just do what they usually do and succeed as if they were the same thing.
@@arth00r72 thumbnail design is graphic design, thumbnail design is not the same as billboard design. Format is different, certain set of rules has to cater to the You Tube algorithm, but the fundamentals of good graphic design still apply. Fundamentals will not change, and trends and algorithms will.
@@0.1gError Just passionate, not aggressive, also I am a part of a different generation- the one that was not afraid to call bullshit, bullshit and that is not afraid to recive criticism straight to their faces as blunt as it gets. I say it like it is, you may feel it’s blunt, but back in the day we used to call it the truth.
I also consider "never lose sales again" ( in the original thumbnail) more understandable than the "proposal/nah" variant. I don't get that the client refused to work with you after this proposal from that exchange . Could be a non english native kinda problem though.
Great video I think it’s well written but I also think it suffers from bloat and unnecessary repetition. I think it would benefit from an attempt at shrinking it down to its most core concepts. Why say something in 3 sentences when you can say it in just 1?
Fine lesson but the way you went abt it was awful, it was like watching someone doing physics without counting on gravity or any external force at that, without even acknowledging it. "This video did poorly compared to their best performing videos because of the thumbnail" Are you trying to sell me a course on design or something? A vid can do poorly for litreally anything DDDDDDX Just say it could've done better. Its the same as thumbnails, you have to make your words to be as clear as possible, you can add as many gimmicks with your personality instead of a font or color for to target an specific audience, but the message has to be as right as it can be.
I hope it's not sounding rude, but i looked at your channel and I think the thumbnails on your channel are not that great either. Still there is some solid advice in this video though! So thank you for sharing that
Answer my 20 Second Survey 👉👈 forms.gle/yyoCGcCMkKCRbTCu7
I'm a graphic designer turned thumbnail designer. You hit the nail on the head with each of these talking points, and even though the redesigned thumbnails are not aesthetical masterpieces, they are far better RUclips thumbnails than the originals. Well done.
thank you :)
As a graphic designer myself you called me out on so many things, it's very hard resisting the urge to treat thumbnails like they are billboards. Awesome content
thank you! glad I could help :D
One thing that I see that works really well on RUclips is thumbnails being so clear and simple that they're just designed to be ambiguous and even confusing sometimes in order to make you curious
I’m a graphic designer with more than 12 years of experience and I got to admit, even before watching this video, I knew I was terrible at designing thumbnails, I just didn’t know why. Thanks so much for this.
One thing I prefer as a viewer is consistency in some element, to make it easier to see creators I care about at a glance. It could be a face or an emblem, border style or w/e but it's really frustrating to be unable to tell apart videos from a specific creator in a sea of thumbnails.
Yes. Pattern recognition 👍
The realization that graphic design and thumbnail design are different things came to me a while ago, but I could never put my finger on exactly how they are different. You just removed a veil from my eyes with this video.
Maybe a good traditional media analogy for thumbnails is a book cover
Damn you literally dissected all the issues I've had in designing thumbnails. I just couldn't put my finger on why since I assume I could just transfer my graphic design skills to thumbnails easily. Thank you for this video.
appreciate it! :D
It would be so great to see how the CTR of these his videos improved after replacing the thumbnail with your design.
Thank you very much for the great video!
Your message was totally on point but the first half of this video felt really looong, I just couldn’t wait to see the redesigns. Which were great!
fair enough :) appreciate the feedback
finally someone addressed the issue, many companies or senior designers make graphic designers treat youtube thumbnails like ads which ends up failing most of the time if not always
100%
fantastic video. i rarely find new channels that I actually wanna sub to like usually I'm like "eh good video but I don't wanna have it in my sub list" but man this was genuinely so insightful
thanks so much! :D
are you me?
I’ve watched a lot of videos on thumbnail design but this is the first one that has explained it in a way that is not overly complicated and actually practical. Much appreciated. You got a new follower 🤝
thanks!
good info. I hate this style of thumbnail, I know it works but I am curious if others are getting sick of it too and we'll see a new style take over. I am aware I clicked on this video so I guess it still works but I am curious on the future cause lately I get extremely turned off by this style.
Same I really can't stand this modern type of thumbnail design. It's awful. That's why I try to at least stylistically change things up.
Great video! I’m really happy to see people who love to create tutorials who care about what they’re talking about, keep it up!
thank you!
The boring road gets me every time I just cant focus on billboards.
I feel seen - maybe because I'm in one of Mike's thumbnails as I was guest on his podcast 😅 but also that my thumbails are total shit and I'm a graphic designer coming at it with graphic design principles. Thanks for the food for thought
As a thumbnail designer and graphic designer I've always wanted to talk about this. I design for a lot of RUclipsrs, i remember offering to help a graphic design channel with their thumbnails and they felt like they knew it all because they are designers haha, i explained to them why it's more complex than it seems
Wow. thank you. This is genuinely so helpful
Excellent video!! Thank you so much for sharing this 🙌🙌🙌
It’s not even just the algorithm you have to fight. Almost all the videos I watch are through my Subscriptions page, and channels with boring or unclear (or inconsistent) thumbnails get passed over. It’s a *curated* list and I still go past them
Very valuable information. Thanks a lot for sharing! You deserve a lot more subs
Thanks man im learning graphic design too, I needed this
You look like if Mr. Beast and Schlatt did the fusion dance
XD why is this kinda truee lol
oh god 😭
It's like... their offspring...
XD?
He about to defuse after the video
Dude, This is a master class.
Amazing video man. Keep it up!
thanks!
This was a eye opening.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us 🙏.
Basically, the age old wisdom of Keep It Simple Stupid. Great video!
Your content is always valuable! Love it!
I have a degree in graphic design. This was really helpful. Great points.
ay! thank you :D appreciate that
If i were to make an attention grabbing thumbnail design, i would definitely use my same graphic design skills it probably wont be as extensive but the same rules apply regarding stuff like space, color, lines typography and image effects etc.
A good graphic designer embraces the brief, does research and designs a good thumbnail
thanks. i have a background in advertising/graphic design and this video changed the way i thought about making my thumbnails. let's see if this makes a difference for my stuff in the future
This is some fantastic design tips! Appreciate the lessons, and keep it up. Subbed. :D
Please we want that video on how to click good photos for thumbnails. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.
I'd say you must be right, because i did click on your video... So the Thumbnail was spot on
Gold right here, thank you for sharing mate
Great video! Thank you man/
Good tips. especially the billboard vs thumnails comparasion, although some of them has been overused. "Unlock Bigger Clients", for example, sounds a little like a sales man/marketer making promises, in my work experience I see straight foward utilitary text peform better.
I agree, something like "Get Bigger Clients" would work better
Great video brother!
I have a perspective over this though,
You mentioned that thumbnails don't need 'eps no.s' or 'logos', I think that it isn't applicable to those big channels..
I mean since they already have a huge audience, if they really want to add logos or eps no.s, they can and they'll still get good amount of clicks.
Basically, once you had done the hard work and you are famous, if you want you can or cannot follow the rules you mentioned, but you have made an excellent video 🙌
interesting take, I'd actually say the opposite haha. Why have a logo on a small channel's thumbnail when no one recognises that channel's logo? The only reason to include a logo is familiarity. But if you're a small channel, no one will know the logo :D
@RuleofThumbYT it's true actually, no one really cares that you have a logo being a small channel, but for big ones, it won't affect their audience at all..
Oooh. I liked this. You're great!!!
This felt like a lecture. I like it.
This was very informational thank you fr
Solid video! Thanks
Very simple suggestion for 13:46. Add who the message is from to provide quick additional context (Client: "nah")
But make sure it doesnt distract the viewer too much.
Amazing breakdown. This video will definitely do numbers :)
appreciate it! :D
CTR
Brand Awareness VS Conversion
Great video, thanks
You will make it big😁 continue with your work.
thanks so much!
Well done man. All of the content here make sense...just one proposal from my side...change your presentation style to a more "eye friendly" one...i cant look your video in the bed, cause it is to bright. ;-)
Hope your channel will grow...
Ads inside youtube videos should be like the road ads billboards
maan this is a masterclass , you really understand what you are talking about
thank you so much! :D
Great video! Creates an urge to redesign (again) all clients' thumbnails😅
hahah thanks
Where did the 5,000 ads per day figure come from?
Nah i am leaving scnd comment for engagement, really killer and simple to understand video
hahaha thanks!
I absolutely love this video.
Thanks!
Thumbnail Design is Graphic Design.
A pro graphic designer understands the goal of whatever the design is.
Whether that be a billboard, poster, website, flyer, or thumbnail
"Bravo! I've learned something new. You've gained a subscriber."
thanks! :D
18:30 "I'm the product." - Joe MacMillan, Halt and Catch Fire
Great video brother! Very helpful, you've got a subscriber ‼️
So much value in a free video. You earned yourself a sub. Thanks a lot!
thanks!
good video
appreciate it :)
I think the original text plus your new photo would be the better design. The yellow text against the black backgrtuas a better color rstionvs those talking bubbles on a gradiënt background. The original text explains the message better than those 2 talking bubbles
This man knows what he’s talking about because i clicked his thumbnail 🥸💯 subbed
Thought it's a huge channel till i finished watching the video
Sorry but "Proposal, Nah" is not getting me to click a video. However, I agreed with everything else you said.
i'm probably way out of my league in saying this (even though i absolutely agree with everything you're saying), but that first redesign feels a little off.
with the text bubbles, my first intuition is that the right (yellow) bubble is me speaking & the left (white) bubble is the client, but in this case it's switched (which i see why you did that because the figure is on the left and not the right, but it could probably be fixed with some easy flipping).
i would also add in a question mark after "proposal" so it seems like i'm asking the client to accept my proposal rather than just giving it to them... granted this is probably just nitpicking at this point, but i guess it also tied in with the previous remark about the confusion i had of who's talking to who, so maybe its not that necessary.
overall still infintely better than the previous ones i just feel like i had to say somethin about that sorry😭😭
also just noticed i wasnt the first one to call out this design choice, my bad on fanning the flame lmao
Awesome video! Very informative 🙂
appreciate it :)
Hey so in the video you said that it would be more difficult to make thumbnails for podcasts (or thats how I understood it). Do you have any tips on how to do them?
I'll make a video on Podcast Thumbnail Design
And your thumbnail could be more effective, it's already on the right path
Great video
it will go viral I am sure
the second i saw ur thumbnail u looked like if cdawg and jschltt had a kid
you should have used red color for nah. red stands for like danger or rejection which makes it more eye catching and that stands out from getting blended in yellow background light too, same with color of t shirt.. he is designers obviously let his creativity reflect through colors
I think I have landed on wrong Mr.Beast channel 😂😂❤
BTW,jokes apart ,your contents are amazing 👏
Love You From The Great India🇮🇳❤
very useful, thank you
12:30 I thought he was reeling a fish in, or in this case a client, which would be more in line with his topic.
Which proves that it lacks immediate clarity.
Look at Markiplier and his thumbnails, they are great and he edits them himself. Even when he reuses the same screaming face, the thumbnails are still unique from each other and is a piece of art. Unlike the lifeless, almost corporate like thumbnails of Mr. Beast.
I've been following Mike for a few years. I used to watch his content and they were good videos with useful advice. I liked his thumbnails, however they were TOO on brand and not magnetic enough, I would see his videos pop up from time to time but I wouldn't have the need to click on his videos even though I knew they were good. With your thumbnails I can't deny that I felt that magnetic feeling, the need to click on it. It got me curious! I kinda hate it because it plays with your attention, well done!
EDIT: I'm just wondering when will these rules change, because they are nothing like a Mr Beast thumbnails, and he's supposedly the king in this stuff. Maybe his way of making thumbnails were the best approach, until everyone started doing it and we got desensitized. Could happen the same with your approach as well. Got me wondering...
13:06 for me personally it is counterintuitive that we see these messages on the thumbnail from the customer's side, it is confusing. The proposal should be sent by us and be yellow, and the customer's response should be white imo
nice video though, agree with everything else
I agree with you :) Would be a good design change. Can always AB test that stuff
For me I’m great at both with Is a good skill to have
clicked because you look like mr beast in the thumbnail
Modtricca's thumbnails are good as well as his titles.
As a Graphic Designer who became a Pre Production Strategist I totally agree 👍
Same here
Tbh, thumbnail is so tricky to design 😂
haha yeah it can be very tricky. But once you get a hang of the formula, it's gets easier and less overwhelming
Bro, graphic designers are not one dimensional beings, they vast majority of them work with different formats, if you honestly think that a half decent designer can not learn the rule set for creating thumbnails, you are in serious denial. Thumbnails are in fact graphic design, they just don’t function like billboards, and of course they don’t because they are not in fact billboards. You made a 20 min video about stuff that can be explained in 5 .
Why so mad? You could have said all of this waaay less aggressive, relax dude
I get what you're saying, but I think the point he's trying to make is that a graphic designer with no prior experience in thumbnail making can't just do what they usually do and succeed as if they were the same thing.
@@arth00r72 thumbnail design is graphic design, thumbnail design is not the same as billboard design. Format is different, certain set of rules has to cater to the You Tube algorithm, but the fundamentals of good graphic design still apply. Fundamentals will not change, and trends and algorithms will.
@@0.1gError Just passionate, not aggressive, also I am a part of a different generation- the one that was not afraid to call bullshit, bullshit and that is not afraid to recive criticism straight to their faces as blunt as it gets. I say it like it is, you may feel it’s blunt, but back in the day we used to call it the truth.
nicee one
thanks!
basicly he says do what everybody hates, work with clickbate
Sorry, gotta say, I get your proposal / nah thumbnail even less than the one you replaced.The second thumbnail redesign is better
I don't disagree with you, but what do you base your opinion on for the first redesign? Like what are your arguments, if you don't mind?
I also consider "never lose sales again" ( in the original thumbnail) more understandable than the "proposal/nah" variant. I don't get that the client refused to work with you after this proposal from that exchange . Could be a non english native kinda problem though.
@@ivanaandersson hey :) that's a good point. Maybe having something along the lines of "Proposal" "No Deal" or something would be more clear
Great video I think it’s well written but I also think it suffers from bloat and unnecessary repetition.
I think it would benefit from an attempt at shrinking it down to its most core concepts. Why say something in 3 sentences when you can say it in just 1?
Q: What extension/services are you using to get VPH (8:41) and the best performing value x100 (8:52)
VidIQ
Mate, did you find out what it is?
@andreichecko It's VidIQ idk why my comment got removed
Vid IQ chrome extension :D
@@RuleofThumbYTthanks bro
Fine lesson but the way you went abt it was awful, it was like watching someone doing physics without counting on gravity or any external force at that, without even acknowledging it.
"This video did poorly compared to their best performing videos because of the thumbnail" Are you trying to sell me a course on design or something? A vid can do poorly for litreally anything DDDDDDX Just say it could've done better. Its the same as thumbnails, you have to make your words to be as clear as possible, you can add as many gimmicks with your personality instead of a font or color for to target an specific audience, but the message has to be as right as it can be.
I hope it's not sounding rude, but i looked at your channel and I think the thumbnails on your channel are not that great either. Still there is some solid advice in this video though! So thank you for sharing that
Yet, I find the redesign vague. Since by itself, its not clear enough what the video is about.
you deserve more subs than me
343 subbed
The content should have been more crisp. I am 8 minutes down and see the same thing getting repeated again and again.
Power Point Presentations are Bad RUclips Video Format - Here's Why
😂
smh why is bro as someone in the creative industry using ai art in his work 😔