THUMBNAILS!
Added 2024-04-03 01:25:55 +0000 UTCI've never asked and I'm curious what people think. I'll put a poll but comments welcome also.
It's been a long standing thing in my head that perhaps I do too much with mine. I notice other reaction channels putting in 'less' effort in their design a lot of the time - for example, the same background for an entire series of a show with the only thing that really changes being their facial expression and the episode number. For me obvs I make them different every time just depending on how I wanna go with it, but I think there're certain elements of mine that are 'too much' sometimes.
quick aside I'm not saying other people's are worse than mine or anything - no shade intended - this actually stemmed from seeing people that get higher views than me with seemingly less effort from their thumbnails, and I wonder whether mine are working against me somehow, hence this post.
Anyway, what does everyone think? Are mine good, bad, haven't really thought about it? When you're looking for reaction content is there anything you look for in thumbnails that makes you click?
Comments
I wouldn't have accidentally found you as a "reactor" if it hadn't been for your first Buffy thumbnail that made its way into my clickbait section. With that said, it's not you... it's algorithms and the system is sadly broken. Content creators are noticing a decline in some areas. (I've seen it more on the music side of the reaction community.) You should have more followers and traffic. Nothing wrong with how you do any of it. It's the algorithm.
Tanya TMS
2024-04-04 09:16:13 +0000 UTCAbsolutely, absolutely. Thanks again for the time, effort, and feedback! Yeaaaah, it was all I could afford when I started out and now I'm just so used to PowerPoint and I've refined my process so much I've just stuck with it 🤣
Tyler Alexander
2024-04-03 20:06:59 +0000 UTCOkay that was indeed pretty fun to read haha, and glad I could be of help:D As I said at the end, none of these are hard rules, and I honestly think it's more important to be aware of them than to follow them - and so IMO it's completely valid to decide to go with a more cluttered version because it better reflects the contents of the video, or it's more recognizable, it's more so just important to be aware of the tradeoff. As for the graininess, it actually doesn't bother me too much, and it is recognizable, so deciding to stick with it probably is the right call. Either way, thanks for the fun reply:D PS powerpoint for the thumbnail editing software was NOT on my bingo list LMAO
lindelofstan
2024-04-03 19:47:59 +0000 UTCFirst off, thank you for the time and the effort you put into this post. I would have just read it, taken it in, liked it and moved on with the feedback but I genuinely think you'll get a kick out of a more detailed response because some of the notes are so interesting considering the different iterations and decision making that went into the thumbnails you highlighted. To start I will say that I do think we think very similarly on this stuff. I tailor every thumbnail with the following in mind: - colour and contrast - contrast of brightness - text/clutter/'business' - composition and focus I also want to just fully transparently say none of this is meant with salt 😂 more enthusiasm, because I don't usually come across someone who thinks about this stuff (why would they? Kinda niche after all). SO. The 'Doomed to fail' Saul thumb - I'm aware this one is suuuuper cluttered. I very much had a 'fuck it' attitude when I finished it because it told the story I wanted/correlated to what I focused on in the video. I actually tried out FAIL in white and red (with different shades and brightness of red) to compare and decided on red after deciding it caught the eye more if you were flitting through thumbnails on a sidebar (may have been the wrong call tbf), and at the end I hadn't added the Saul logo and was like '...aaaah I SHOULDN'T add it because this is very noisy but I add it every time so I WANT to'. The 'fuck it' attitude made a return 😂 I didn't mess as much with differentiating the contrast and brightness of Jimmy me and Kim because I kinda wanted to draw attention to those things. You're right in that I think that perhaps wasn't the *best* choice. I usually fiddle with the background colour and brightness at the end to compare and I think, looking at it again, that green can certainly do with some adjusting. I'll add here that the font you see in this that you see in a lot of my thumbnails I often thicken to avoid the 'grainy' effect you see. I don't do it sometimes as a few comments I got previous (when I experimented with thumbs last year) were that people liked seeing 'recognisable' elements so they knew it was my video, and I consider that 'graininess' more 'my style'. But it's helpful to know that's not universally the opinion. OKAY so the Saul one below that with 'it's over' actually had an alternate version and I went with this final one because it was less cluttered. The deliberation between the two was so intense 😂 There's a shot in the ep where it shows Kim's nameplate on her door and I upped contrast/colour warmth so it was this contrast of brown with KIM next to his head. It was a whole 'telling a story' thing I kinda wanted to go for but realised it was the worse thumbnail in the end 😅 Aw dammit the white speckles in the Buffy thumbnail of the eye monster 🤣 I read that and laughed (in a good way), because there were two versions of that too. I agree maybe that was too much flair in the design because the speckles come from having increased the sharpness of the image. I had it normal and then increased sharpness (I was experimenting at the time with the pink of the creature to contrast with the thumbnail as a whole) and ended up liking the speckles. But this was entirely my opinion at the time and I agree that it probably wasn't the best choice. Again, just want to stress I'm writing a big reply because I sensed from your post you'd get a kick out of me peeling the layers back a bit considering some of the alternatives I had for the thumbnails you picked. Okay the Janet one was pure experimentation and I take that fully on the nose, all fair comments, I wasn't sure how people would feel about that one 😅 also kinda lazy design, much less effort than usual. The one thing I DON'T really think about when I'm creating a thumbnail is the path of the eye so thanks for pointing that out. I think typically if I've done well with that it has been kinda by accident 😂 in the sense at least of different brightness. So for example, the one you draw attention to where my face is brighter? Yeah, my lighting was just super high when I took that video 🤦♂️ and there was only so much I could do. Happy result though 🙌😂 Small note, but I'm so embarrassed you drew on the Riverdale thumb 🤦♂️🤣 I want it on record I put 5 mins into it, moved on, and hate it every time I've looked back at it. Really happy that you liked the thumbnail with Gus. I remember that thumb feeling like a risk because I played around a lot with the colour and contrast. I don't think that video performed that well which sucked, but I think it's more because my Saul videos dropped a bit in views after I took a break, so thanks for the nice words for that one. I really appreciate that you made this post and went into so much detail and spent so much time on this. As you can probably tell, a lot of what you talk about are what I'm playing around with a lot of the time and going back and forth, back and forth on, and I've never done a thumbnail post/feedback loop, so having some confirmations on what someone else appreciates and likes is super helpful. For example, the text BEHIND the image I've done every so often but I actually felt like that felt less professional when I did it. The times I have done it it's because I 'persuaded' myself. I think some of the overlap you drew attention to was in an effort to avoid that sometimes. I think it's so difficult in a way because every thumbnail is kinda individually tailored, so I can end up with very different ones just depending how I feel, the decisions I end up going with etc. It's gratifying to know that I'm at least on the right track in the WAY I'm thinking if not always the choices I stick with. OO, one final thing because I also think you might get a kick outta this, but since the inception of my channel and every thumbnail I have ever done, I've used PowerPoint 😂 make of that what you will. Sorry for the long reply. I really do appreciate all of the work you put in, and it will genuinely help me make decisions as to where I go with thumbnails in future 😊
Tyler Alexander
2024-04-03 19:33:06 +0000 UTCSooo this turned out longer than I anticipated, but oh well:D Also ended up making it an unlisted Medium article cause it was gonna be a mess if I tried to make it just a comment https://medium.com/@dzsaffar/quick-thumbnail-study-da54eabd3a2d
lindelofstan
2024-04-03 17:33:00 +0000 UTCI was happy about how the Bad Eggs face turned out 😂
Tyler Alexander
2024-04-03 15:07:00 +0000 UTCSure! Always happy for more info 👌
Tyler Alexander
2024-04-03 15:06:18 +0000 UTCI like yours conceptually (aka having some episode specific thought / reference in the thumbnail, etc) but from a design principles aspect I think they could be better Contrast and fonts, and the colors from a color theory standpoint are a bit meh IMO. Now I'm not saying to switch to a soulless minimalist thumbnail design, but I do think there is room for improvement I can elaborate further with examples if that is something you'd wanna hear:D
lindelofstan
2024-04-03 12:10:07 +0000 UTCI always look forward to yours! Not just which screenshot you’ll choose, but also which face you’ll be pulling in reaction to the episode’s vibe 😂 Bad Eggs was a personal favourite
Kimplausible
2024-04-03 02:44:04 +0000 UTCYeaaaah honestly the repeatable template thumbnails make me *slightly* salty 😂 not in any great way obvs, but there's a certain part of me like 'damn this thumbnail I worked really hard on got me 3k views' and theirs is on like 11k or something higher. It's not something I let myself obsess over or anything but it's nice to know I'm not alone 😅
Tyler Alexander
2024-04-03 02:24:24 +0000 UTCThank you! Also it's so nice to see that got noticed 😅 I genuinely hate when creators put spoilers in thumbnails. I feel like it's really bad etiquette and I purposely do my best to avoid it. I haven't been spoiled by that fortunately, but I remember when Ahsoka was coming out that creators would instantly have a video up next or same day with a spoiler in the thumb. I watched most eps in time but as a 'colleague' of theirs I was super disapproving 😂 ❤️
Tyler Alexander
2024-04-03 02:19:30 +0000 UTCPersonally I notice reactors who put the effort into their thumb nails. I like when there’s a short phrase on their thumb nail to give me a hint as to what they’ve experienced. My sentiments reflect the commenter above, YouTube’s should do what they want. What feels right to them.
Magda - RedundantHuman
2024-04-03 01:58:22 +0000 UTCI have actually thought about this way too much. I genuinely don’t like when reactors don’t give me some kind of tease or hint of what they thought about the episode. I want the episode title somewhere, and I want at least a going-in position of what to expect. The same-background people legit annoy me 😂 (usual caveats about this is just my personal preference, YouTubers should do what they want and don’t owe me anything, etc.) But as far as I can tell, the algorithm says Big Dumb Face = Clicks, and all hail the almighty algorithm, right?
FandomReferenceHere
2024-04-03 01:45:59 +0000 UTCHere's the thing. Your thumbnails are AMAZING, and awesome, and they do their job of drawing the eye to your video when scrolling through YouTube's rabbit holes. I'll tell you what I love most about them: some people make thumbnails that, when seen by newer reactors who aren't as far along in the show as you are, give away the game a bit too much (something I've actually worried about in other reactors who are farther ahead than you). Imagine if your thumbnail to Innocence had Angel in Vamp face, for example - a spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen 1x7 yet. I do think some effort is required to make them in a way that gives a nod to experienced veterans of the show while simultaneously being spoiler free to the initiates, and you are VERY good at that. Artistry.
Dipper
2024-04-03 01:43:16 +0000 UTC
