What’s in a Thumbnail?
Guest Post by Artist Keith Hopkin
Before the YouTube phenomenon, I loved sharing videos with my friends. Even before it was possible to easily upload and share these videos we would have screenings during parties — nothing beats live feedback!
Once I was able to share these videos digitally, I would upload a file to my server and send an email to my friends telling them to check out my video. It was quite new then so I was fairly certain they would click it, download the video and watch it on Windows Media Player. At that time, we weren’t flooded with content so watching a video that your friend had made was very much a novelty.
Now fast forward ten years and every connected person on the planet is a filmmaker or content creator. On top of that, there are endless ways to publish and share content; and on top of that, algorithms are constantly evolving to suggest what you want to watch.
I know from my own experience that I will click on an engaging thumbnail even if I don’t know what it’s for. This may lead to me watching a video about snowboarding, followed by a video about GoPro cameras and finally a video about the science behind rechargeable batteries.
The thumbnail is the one image that must capture the entire video — this is quite a task! Depending on where the video is hosted this image may end up being quite small. There is only so much information you can fit into a thumbnail. Fortunately, as screen resolutions increase, as do these image sizes.
When I upload one of my videos, I like to see what different frames might look like at different sizes. I put these to one side and ask myself the following questions:
- Do I recognize what this is before thinking about it?
- Does the quality of this one image represent the quality of this video?
- Is this something I would click on?
- Does this image convey a story or describe a place?
As you scale down these images you might even find that the image becomes less clear. I will sometimes boost the contrast or sharpen the image so that certain things will still pop at this size.
Here is a sample series of thumbnails from my video Dogs in Cars:
After looking at these, plus many more, it became clear to me that the most brilliant image is the last in the set.
In my follow up video Dogs in Cars: California I went through a similar process. This time I spent more time on the title screen and considered using it as the thumbnail. As you can see from the following, the title screen becomes much more difficult to read at this size.
But, do these both spark your interest in the same way?
Eventually I chose to use an image without the title as the thumbnail, mainly because the dog’s expression is much more engaging in the second image.
Finally, here is an example of a thumbnail I decided to create specifically for an audience of GoPro camera users. The video is a fast paced series of clips of a “Meetup” group I run called GroPro NY. It was a collaborative effort and I wanted a thumbnail that would catch the attention of anyone interested in GoPro cameras and New York City.
What thumbnail would YOU click?
Choosing a thumbnail is vital to whether people click, but at the end of the day, that’s got to be backed up by the best content.
Follow Keith on Twitter or check out Keith’s Facebook page for more examples of great thumbnails.
