YouTube Question How does your channel name+thumbnail effectively capture the spirit of what you create?

[Rusty Smith]

How did you come up with your channel name? Were there names that didn't make the cut? did you re-brand your channel after starting?

And what about your channel thumbnail/profile picture, can viewers decipher what your channel is about just by looking at it, or do you rely more heavily on the channel name and use the thumbnail as an accent? Did you test other thumbnails? What does your thumbnail, on its own, say about your channel?


I will go first:
My channel name is basically a nick name(Rusty) that I have "earned"(ha ha) over time through buying/selling/fixing old rusty junk(mostly cars).

As far as my thumbnail, I don't really think viewers will "get" my channel just by looking at it, however I am having trouble to envision exactly what changes I need to make, and so for that reason I am looking to hear how YOU created yours, and if you are happy with it.

Hit reply and lets talk!!

 

[TubeBuddy]

How did you come up with your channel name? Were there names that didn't make the cut? did you re-brand your channel after starting?

And what about your thumbnail, can viewers decipher what your channel is about just by looking at it, or do you rely more heavily on the channel name and use the thumbnail as an accent? Did you test other thumbnails? What does your thumbnail, on its own, say about your channel?


I will go first:
My channel name is basically a nick name(Rusty) that I have "earned"(ha ha) over time through buying/selling/fixing old rusty junk(mostly cars).

As far as my thumbnail, I don't really think viewers will "get" my channel just by looking at it, however I am having trouble to envision exactly what changes I need to make, and so for that reason I am looking to hear how YOU created yours, and if you are happy with it.

Hit reply and lets talk!!

Well I just went with my Name, Seemed easy enough and don't have to think so hard. The creative part came from my last name Kan, which is said like (Can). I always heard growing up, if a man made it, a man can fix it. I wanted my saying to be more inclusive, so I changed it to "If I Kan, you kan too!" I take that mindset, and apply it to film-making. A lot of people think doing video is impossible, and it really isn't. (On a technical side, talent is another story haha)

My thumbnails focus on delivering the value promised, be it entertainment, tutorial, etc.

Here is one of my best performing Thumbnails for How to install acoustic foam:



It's short, sweet and to the point!

 

[Rusty Smith]

Hey Andrew, thanks for taking the time to write a detailed reply, your name is certainly a great play on words which describes your channel. Nice.

As far as the thumbnail, I was actually talking about the channel thumbnail/profile picture image(sorry for the confusion). I have edited my original post to make it a bit more clear. Either way that is a great vid thumbnail, congrats on the success!

 

[kalaspuffar]

Hi @Rusty Smith

Well, my channel started as Mind Explorer, which was an awful name because it did not say anything about my channel. I thought that all the things I create are created in my brain, so let's explore that. Used it for a year or perhaps one and a half.

Now I go with my name fair and square. Using my initials as a channel icon/thumbnail, and I got an artist to do my profile banner that speaks well to how I see my channel. I use my picture as a profile picture, and I hope that people come to my channel to see me understand a subject or fail to try to create something.

So come for an exciting subject and stay if you like me

Great questions, and I had to think about it for a while and might change some things up..

Best regards
Daniel

 

[Goode Life Outdoors]

Like Andrew, I have a unique last name that I've always wanted to use in a creative way. Since my channel encompasses a variety of topics, I chose to design a logo, rather than try to make my avatar representative of my content. I'll probably make tweaks as I grow, but I'm happy with this for the time being. Best of luck!

 

[BraveStar]

I have 2 channels. My second one is a spin-off of the original so the name is basically related. My main channel's name is based on my passion for the 80's, especially cartoons from the 80's. It's a name I picked when I first started playing Call Of Duty online and kinda stuck with it most of the way. I did change it a bit for fear of copyright but I figured I could stick with it since I don't directly relate the name to the cartoon. Although my logo kinda resembles the cartoon logo but not entirely so hopefully, I should be ok. My second channel name was designed to take advantage of the main channel name in order to promote myself more while aiming for a completely different type of video still related to the main channel.

My thumbnails are designed to create a consistency that can make my videos stand out and be recognized if I ever became popular enough to be recognized. I have done some testing of different thumbnails and channel banners but not enough to see if some made the cut and some didn't. My channels have been hibernating for nearly a year now but I'm in the process of trying to wake them up and get them going again soon. I'm dying to implement and try out a lot of new stuff I've learned and a lot of ideas I have.

 

[vdubtravels]

Went through a lot of iterations when thinking of a name, however i do a lot of travel in my VW, but VW travels didn't have the same ring to it, whereas i thought VDUB had more of a "old style" VW (its from 1978), still not 100% convinced that it captures the essence of the channel, but time will tell. In regard to Thumbnails, yeah, still have a hard time coming up with the 'right' thumbnail, but am open to any suggestions

 

[Niki Proshin]

I've been thinking how to name my channel, and then just used my name. It obviously doesn't capture the spirit of what I create, just a name. Most of my thumbnails look like saying something like "hey, that's a video from [country_name] about [something_interesting]". And my channel banner shouts something like "hey, this guy loves Asia and makes videos from there". Though I don't really think much about connecting it all together "capture the spirit of what I create".

Here's how it looks like now, the banner and two latest thumbnails

 

[IanDominicTV]

My channel name used to be Laudato TV, but due to fears that I might get in trouble by a Polish station of the same name, I used the familiar Ian Dominic TV. And as they say, the rest is history.

 

[Tito Tim]

Originally my channel was just a username, I never planned on posting vids... When I monetized I changed the name to Tito Tim Videos - because people here call me Tito Tim (Uncle Tim), and I make videos. Later I changed it to Tito Tim Travels. I like alliteration, and it is more of a travel channel, than just random vids. I hired someone on another YT forum to draw my pic (my avatar pic here is what I use for my channel). I think the name and ID pic go together pretty well. The other pics on my channel page are from a trip to Boracay beach, here in the Philippines.

 

[Rusty Smith]

Hey everyone, thanks to each of you who took the time to consider my questions and write detailed responses!

I believe I will be making some minor changes to my logo/branding images to try and get across more of what I'm trying to convey before I re-launch.

If anyone else would like to chime in on this subject, feel free.

 

[Steve the Barman]

Channel name is ME!!! I'm a Personal Brand and have been known as StB since about 1999/2000. It's been my Full Time Personal Brand Business since 2012.
My Channel Thumbnail/Logo is pretty self explanatory too...it's by Business Logo since 2016.

I don't think I need to explain too much with my Thumbnails. Yes they have changed somewhat over the last couple of Years. But the Font has remained Constant. That's my Font for my Business.

As for the Thumbnail Design....
1 - It does what it says on the Tin
2 - Colour and Font are Big, Bold and Colourful, just like me in real life!

I don't think anyone would be under any illusions, what they're going to get from me!!