Thumbnail design principles: hierarchy, contrast, simplicity, readability
The four principles behind every thumbnail that reads at feed size, the layouts that apply them, and a before-and-after critique you can repeat yourself.
Topic
Thumbnail Design
Faces, text, colour, contrast, composition and mobile readability. The craft of a cover that reads in a glance at feed size.
5 articles
Faceless YouTube thumbnails: what replaces a face and what it costs you
Six things that do a face's job on a faceless channel, what each carries, the honest cost of removing the face, and why contrast and simplicity have to rise.
How big should the face be in a YouTube thumbnail?
A face should fill at least a third of the cover's height, and half is better. Why the floor exists, where the face goes, and when a face is the wrong choice.
How many words should a thumbnail have?
Three big words or fewer, up to five if two are small. Why the limit is about size rather than reading, what the words are for, and when zero words is right.
Thumbnail colours and contrast that survive a phone screen
The best colours for a thumbnail stay apart on a dim phone: one dominant, one accent, far apart in brightness, and different from the feed around them.
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