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Thumbnail Feedback Could you rate my thumbnails (for travel vlog videos)

Niki Proshin

Known Member
118
9
Here are some thumbnails from my videos, from old to new ones. Which thumbnail look better, in your opinion? Which ones would you click?

maxresdefault.jpg
03.jpg

02.jpg
01.jpg
 
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White Bread

Active Member
TubeBuddy Pro
27
6
Hi, Niki!
I think you are on the right track with these!
The one that stood out the most to me, is the one with the green dollar signs (of course, probably of the way the modern human brain is wired, and because the green dollar sign itself is enticing to so many who seek to make money online)..also, the green colour stands out more than the white colour fonts in the other thumbnails.

The composition/positioning and the font itself are good. I would, if I may, make a little suggestion, - contrast the writing against a bright (maybe semi-opaque) background.
I understand, you want to keep a certain feeling to your thumbnails, and they look really good. They just need a little more oomph (a little more exposure and saturation/contrast), just so it could catch the eye, when the thumbnails are small in the feed.. if you know what I mean.

(I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty to play with it a little..but just adding a little colour (your choice, I just slapped something together fast) and a little more saturation to make them pop. otherwise, you are doing great!)

Also, remember that you don't want to put a lot of your text in the upper right corner, because the "Watch Later" and "Add to Queue" tabs pop out.

I hope my little input helps!

NikiThumbn.jpg
 
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Niki Proshin

Niki Proshin

Known Member
118
9
Thank you, your little input (which is not little at all!) is quite helpful for me. Your words make sense. I didn't get one thing though - what do you mean saying "stand out"? Good because it is attractive to click, or not good because it's too different from the rest of my thumbnails? I'd really love to know your opinion!

The one that stood out the most to me, is the one with the green dollar signs (of course, probably of the way the modern human brain is wired, and because the green dollar sign itself is enticing to so many who seek to make money online)..also, the green colour stands out more than the white colour fonts in the other thumbnails.

Edited the latest thumbnail like this after all ;) Though I definitely need to get better at Lightroom, not 100% satisfied yet.

Thumbnail Template 2.png
01.jpg
 

White Bread

Active Member
TubeBuddy Pro
27
6
Sorry, if I weren't clear :blush:
When I said "stand out" I meant that you want your text to stand out on your background. For instance, white text can get a little lost on a pale light background (like white letters in the sky). To make them stand out you could either change the colour of the text to something more saturated (like the dollar sings in one of your thumbnails, - that text stood out), or create an outline/border (like you already have, but just less opaque to make the letters pop out more and be more legible).

The rest is great! The faces on the thumbnails attract attention, and you got better at editing already. You are heading in the right direction! Lightroom can be a lot of fun, just don't be shy to experiment ;) you will get a hand of it real fast, it is all about practice.
 
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Niki Proshin

Niki Proshin

Known Member
118
9
Sorry, if I weren't clear :blush:
When I said "stand out" I meant that you want your text to stand out on your background. For instance, white text can get a little lost on a pale light background (like white letters in the sky). To make them stand out you could either change the colour of the text to something more saturated (like the dollar sings in one of your thumbnails, - that text stood out), or create an outline/border (like you already have, but just less opaque to make the letters pop out more and be more legible).

The rest is great! The faces on the thumbnails attract attention, and you got better at editing already. You are heading in the right direction! Lightroom can be a lot of fun, just don't be shy to experiment ;) you will get a hand of it real fast, it is all about practice.

Gotcha! Thank you for such an informative reply!
 
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Beanie Draws

Mythical Poster
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Here are some thumbnails from my videos, from old to new ones. Which thumbnail look better, in your opinion? Which ones would you click?

View attachment 4650 View attachment 4651
View attachment 4652 View attachment 4653
Definitely the top right for me. The green $ caught my eye, the background looks inviting with the palm trees, the typography is more balances, we can see your face, and the $$$ poses the question to me "how much would it cost to live in thailand for 4 weeks"

Also, it's a great way to... i don't like the term, but "take advantage" of the situation right now. It gives information that relates to quarentine, but it also has evergreen appeal. BUT it does it in a respectful way that DOESN'T take advantage of the situation in an exploitive way.

Those are my thoughts :)

The top left is fun with it's text, and really, you could also use that as another video, and the bottom left is like the top right but for a single day, which could work well as another video in an evergreen context.

I mean, you could use ALL at some point really. But out of all of them, the top left definitely grabs my eye more :)
 
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Niki Proshin

Niki Proshin

Known Member
118
9
Definitely the top right for me. The green $ caught my eye, the background looks inviting with the palm trees, the typography is more balances, we can see your face, and the $$$ poses the question to me "how much would it cost to live in thailand for 4 weeks"

Also, it's a great way to... i don't like the term, but "take advantage" of the situation right now. It gives information that relates to quarentine, but it also has evergreen appeal. BUT it does it in a respectful way that DOESN'T take advantage of the situation in an exploitive way.

Those are my thoughts :)

The top left is fun with it's text, and really, you could also use that as another video, and the bottom left is like the top right but for a single day, which could work well as another video in an evergreen context.

I mean, you could use ALL at some point really. But out of all of them, the top left definitely grabs my eye more :)

Thank you for your opinion, Beanie! That's very useful for me to have such kind of feedback, as I didn't really think about such details while making the thumbnails. I'll definitely think more about the context behind the thumbnails I use.
Also, thank you for a new concept, I haven't heard about "evergreen" videos before!
 
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BillyBoy

New Member
TubeBuddy Pro
24
7
I had a travel vlog channel before too. What i never understood you need a clickbaity thumbnail. You can have the best travel experience but without any audience (especially in the beginning) you wont have anybody to enjoy it.

By clickbaity i dont mean "Earn 1 Million $ by traveling" and than lie about it. The 7 $ per day in chiang mai is good: because it provides help to other people. The $$$ is a clickbaity in a good way. Its interesting and its more likely ill click on it. The other 2 thumbnails are just normal and uninteresting. I basicly did the same and i cant blame the people not clicking the videos :D

1 Thing i would maybe add is a branding element in your thumbnails. Looking at my thumbnails the art is quite similiar and therefore has this recognition effect. This necessary doesnt help you though. For your type of videos it maybe helps to add your country where you are right now in a specific font/color. I hope you know what i mean.

greetings
 
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Aaron

Reputable Poster
TubeBuddy Legend
739
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Hi, Niki!
I think you are on the right track with these!
The one that stood out the most to me, is the one with the green dollar signs (of course, probably of the way the modern human brain is wired, and because the green dollar sign itself is enticing to so many who seek to make money online)..also, the green colour stands out more than the white colour fonts in the other thumbnails.

The composition/positioning and the font itself are good. I would, if I may, make a little suggestion, - contrast the writing against a bright (maybe semi-opaque) background.
I understand, you want to keep a certain feeling to your thumbnails, and they look really good. They just need a little more oomph (a little more exposure and saturation/contrast), just so it could catch the eye, when the thumbnails are small in the feed.. if you know what I mean.

(I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty to play with it a little..but just adding a little colour (your choice, I just slapped something together fast) and a little more saturation to make them pop. otherwise, you are doing great!)

Also, remember that you don't want to put a lot of your text in the upper right corner, because the "Watch Later" and "Add to Queue" tabs pop out.

I hope my little input helps!

View attachment 4655

This is fantastic advice! I personally found that one (4th of the 4 your showed) to be the most visually appealing... that background is just stunning.
 

Breakingbrowderfarm

New Member
10
3
Subscriber Goal
1000
The ones that stood out to me the most were the ones with the dollar signs. The words were large enough to read but not too distracting. All of them look great but the top right stood out to me more.
 
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W00tkaeppi

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4
Subscriber Goal
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You should have more courage to contrast. If you look at advertising posters you will rarely see weak font colors and if so then mostly with a high-contrast background. You use nice pictures for your thumbnails, for that reason alone you can make the preview pictures even better and bolder.
 
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Niki Proshin

Niki Proshin

Known Member
118
9
You should have more courage to contrast. If you look at advertising posters you will rarely see weak font colors and if so then mostly with a high-contrast background. You use nice pictures for your thumbnails, for that reason alone you can make the preview pictures even better and bolder.

Thank you! I will try playing more with the contrast and colors
 
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