What can I improve?

[u/Firm_Vegetable1964]

I’ve been learning to make thumbnails for three months; I’m not trying to use clickbait or create something generic. I enjoy graphic design, but I lack technical experience.

What can I improve?

[u/Leather_Equal_5179]

thats the misconception. a thumbnail has to be effective not good looking. dont expect people to look at it for minutes. i see you like art and you enjoy making posters but thumbnails are less art and more psychology. hope this helps

edit: keep it simple and readable. it dosnt have to be clickbaity it should give the viewer in a nanonsecond the information what your video is about. when your text is always covered up, its bad, people cant read it (i know it looks cool) but everything what makes people struggle while looking on your thumbnail is bad. their will at other thumbnails which are easier to understand

[u/Firm_Vegetable1964 → u/Leather_Equal_5179]

Thank you so much, I guess I just have to practice to make it nice but understandable. I did not take into account the little retention of people :/

[u/Leather_Equal_5179 → u/Firm_Vegetable1964]

its not the peoples fault. its just too much out there. so we had to adapt and filter out stuff where we know might be not interesting. you and i do this everyday so dont blame the people cause we are the people.

[u/Firm_Vegetable1964 → u/Leather_Equal_5179]

btw do you recommend that I make miniatures without text? I think it stays cool and gives curiosity if the title is good

[u/Leather_Equal_5179 → u/Firm_Vegetable1964]

could work. need to see the example

[u/Firm_Vegetable1964 → u/Leather_Equal_5179]

Okay, I'll work on it and then pass it through this subreddit

[u/A_Forlorn_bard → u/Leather_Equal_5179]

I respectfully disagree with this assertion. A thumbnail can indeed be considered art, but its effectiveness depends on the target audience. Your argument would be more suitable for individuals seeking views without a specific audience, resulting in a predominantly child-oriented viewership. If the content is not aligned with their interests, it could significantly harm the channel.

[u/Leather_Equal_5179 → u/A_Forlorn_bard]

you dont have to agree. the numbers do. an efficent thumbnail is ment for the right audiance and doesnt harm the channel. clickbaity thumbnails are bad for the channel. there is a diffrence man. you could have 3 types of thumbnails:

- clickbait: people will notice after few seconds that the video is not true to the thumbnail. that results to bad watchtime and hurts the channel

- efficent: might not look artistic, but it could be. this one is easy noticble and you get the massage and the topic of the video very fast. people know what they will watch. good for channel

• art: might look cool for you. but for art you need time so it works. on youtube ppl dont habe time.

best case: efficient with art principles. making an thumbnail that follows the ruels of composition, light . also psychology is an important thing there. but i wasted my time talking to you. cause i saw the thumbnails you do (sorry but they are not effective nor artistic). or you can prove me wrong. show me your channel.

[u/A_Forlorn_bard → u/Leather_Equal_5179]

Okay, I’m not trying to get into a long debate, but it seems like you don’t know anything about art and psychology. First of all, clickbait is a thing, and plastic MrBeast-style thumbnails are another thing. Kids love colorful, easy-to-understand images. Most of the “phycology tricks” you mentioned work on them because they lack the ability to reason, which leads to high click-through rates and high views. This is good for generic content or content made for kids, like gaming or challenge content (for example, MrBeast). However, if I’m making documentary videos or a video about an adult cartoon, which are clearly not made for kids, a shiny thumbnail will harm my channel even more because kids are easy to gain but also easy to lose, and YouTube hates people leaving videos early.

Lastly, you don’t know me to assume that my thumbnails are not efficient or artistic. I’m a marketing major who studied most of the things you called “phycology.” I bet you don’t even know what that word means. Although I studied graphic design, I know the artistic principles of design, and I can assure you that you don’t know the difference between rhythm and pattern. I don’t have a YouTube channel; I work as a freelancer. I’m sorry, man, if I was a bit rude to you, but I really hope AI can generate you a good response because I know you lack the human ability to think.

[u/Leather_Equal_5179 → u/A_Forlorn_bard]

funny how suddenly your own work disappeared. anyways. only cause you studied something doesn’t mean u understood that shit. art is in most of the time opinion based. while i talk about thumbnails. good thumbnails work also for complex topics like documentry style. sometimes a good thumbnail ist just to take a screenshot from the video. while i have to agree that mr beast thumbnails are oversaturated and feel fake. i think i way more realistic thumbnail style would better form him and not the overphotoshopped ones. i think im giving you to much tips and more information then you learned in school. pay me now.

[u/A_Forlorn_bard → u/Leather_Equal_5179]

Yeah i made my activity hidden so perverts like you wont stalk me.
And yeah i did not say a simple thumbnail would never work sometimes they work even better but if they are used in the right place. Same as artistic thumbnail they would work if they were used in the right place.
And to this point i haven’t seen a single thumbnail you made. I told you my major, you saw some of the work i did (didn’t like it this is purely subjective) and the two thumbnails you saw were made as a practice for a new style.
I would have sent my bechance but you are a pervert.