> The psychology behind enticing the click in the thumbnail > the colours, design or beauty[^1] - Paddy Galloway The entire idea of a thumbnail is to compliment your [[title]] and earn the click. > The title is your **_what_**, the thumbnail is your **_how_**, and the first minute is your **_why_**[^5] It should be simple, and people should instantly be able to understand what you're conveying, and you want them to feel some type of emotion.[^6] > The way I like to phrase it is, you wanna make it so interesting or spike their curiosity or whatever emotion so much that like if they don't click it, they'll wonder, you know, when they're, before they go to bed, like what happened? You know what I mean? Like, an example would be like if you uploaded a video, I rode a skateboard with 1000 other people on it and like people are falling off the side or whatever and I'm envisioning like a giant skateboard and people are like hanging on the side of it. Maybe it's like about to go off a big ramp. If you don't click that, you're gonna like be so curious, it's gonna be on your mind, you know? Later in the day when you're daydreaming, you're gonna think like, huh, what happened? What happened to those thousand people on that skateboard? That's kind of a mindset I think you should have when making thumbnails.[^6] ## Thumbnail Checklist - [ ] Is it simple and clean - [ ] Does it convey what the video is about clearly - [ ] Does it spark curiosity - [ ] If there's text, is it easy to read - [ ] Does it have 3 or less main elements? - [ ] Is it so interesting that if someone doesn't click, they'll wonder what the video was about for the rest of the day? ## Examples [Paddy's Twitter thread](https://x.com/PaddyG96/status/1450463450438713352) about turning a video with 100k on the first day into a 3M+ banger just by changing the thumbnail is an interesting one. A summary of his notes from that thread - Bright colors do well, especially since most mobile users use dark theme - this helps you stand out against the background - [[Thumbnail#The 3 element rule]] - Crowding = bad, minimal = good - Thumbnail should compliment the title, and tease the story. Bonus points for an image captured right before the action unfolds. - Clean backgrounds only - nothing too busy that you can't read the text behind it - Text is okay if 1-4 words. Has to be readable in a split second - Being good at graphic design / photoshop = BAD at thumbnails. The more intricate and complex you make it, the worse it is > I make 30+ versions of each of my thumbnails.[^4] ## General rules & principles #### The 3 element rule A great thumbnail has 3 or less major elements (not including the background) inside of it.[^2] Major elements include faces, text, objects, etc. *"Minimal thumbnails that are easy to see in a glance are always preferable"* #### Rule of odds If you have to include a number of objects or things, an odd number is always more visually interesting.[^3] #### Curiosity It should be so enticing, so interesting, that if someone sees it and chooses not to click on it, they go through the rest of their day wondering what that was about.[^6] [^1]: https://x.com/PaddyG96/status/1564326373170319360 [^2]: https://twitter.com/PaddyG96/status/1450463472907657220 [^3]: https://twitter.com/PaddyG96/status/1450463483036901398 [^4]: https://twitter.com/PaddyG96/status/1564326377695895552 [^5]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHzXv6b6m20&t=1301s [^6]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DBJXRy5dvk&t=917s