15 Best Youtube Thumbnail Ideas You Should Steal

No matter how cool and compelling your videos are, if the YouTube thumbnail design is eye-catching, nobody’s gonna give a click about what you have to say. 

Let’s start with the obvious: the perfect youtube thumbnail needs to be custom rather than automatically generated through Youtube studio. It needs to be in high definition and use the best size for YouTube thumbnails (1280 x 720 pixels).

Of course, it also needs to relate directly to the purpose of your video content and the style of your channel. 

With these key principles in mind, let’s explore some of the best YouTube thumbnails and see what they can teach us.

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The YouTuber thumbnail: utilize the power of human expression

This type of YoutTube thumbnail design is especially popular with YouTubers whose channel is focused on their experiences (whether it’s lifestyle, gaming, fashion, etc.). It helps potential viewers immediately recognize people whose content they're interested in and can help bump up those click-through rates!

1. PewDiePie

Although this YouTube legend has a very diverse thumbnail design, one consistency is definitely him appearing in them. 

Whether he’s making a silly face, looking into the camera, or (presumably) at the screen, he’s now definitely reached the point where it’s enough for his target audience to just catch a glimpse of his face and click on the video immediately. He often uses bold YouTube fonts which helps further prompt emotional curiosity. 

2. Neil Patel

If you head over to this digital marketing expert’s channel you’ll notice all of his thumbnails include Neil's own photo (often even the same one). 

The rest of the thumbnail design is pretty minimal - basic backgrounds, little text, professional sans serif fonts.This helps to create a powerful sense of personal branding and builds trust with his target audience.

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3. James Charles

Thumbnails showing their faces are a logical choice for makeup and beauty YouTubers. However, a little bit of design know-how goes a long way.

Just take a look at some YouTube superstar James Charles’ thumbnails! By adding emojis and simple design elements, he is able to make thumbnails much more dynamic and unique.

Questions, how-tos and first-hand experiences 

Long gone are the days where YouTube was for fun only. Nowadays, YouTube is one of the biggest search engines in the world, and people turn to it when they want to learn something. So, this is a great YouTube thumbnail idea if your channel is focused on sharing knowledge

4. Katie Steckly

This content creator opts for relatively simple thumbnails with a focus on value proposition. The rest of the thumbnail is just her, usually photographed in the same space where the video is filmed.

But whether it’s something like a common search query, such as iPhone settings for filming or a personal experience (how much she’s made as a content creator), Katie knows how to get viewer’s attention. 

5. School of Life

Experiences and how-tos don’t all have to be about digital marketing and content creation. One of my all-time favorite YouTube channels, School of Life, tackles all sorts of important topics, from psychology, to literature, love, philosophy, and much more. 

The videos themselves are beautifully animated and a delight to watch. But what usually keeps me clicking one video after the other are these highly engaging thumbnails with an intriguing question or the promise of a valuable life skill. 

Quotes 

If you have a podcast, there’s no better way to rack up your click-through rates than a powerful quote. You can use quotes that best summarize your video, or motivational quotes that inspire thought and action. Here are some of the best YouTube thumbnail examples to learn from.

6. Alpha Leaders

This media company and channel feature talks from various motivational speakers. So, it’s only logical that a poignant quote would make it to their thumbnail. 

7. Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins’ channel is another great source of inspiration for YouTube thumbnail ideas. The thumbnails on his channel are quite simple (usually just a purple background and his face). This kind consistent style helps to make a memorable brand image, and create a sense of professionalism. 

Before/after or then/now shots

Home renovation, weight loss, life-changing stories - this can be a great YouTube thumbnail idea for a number of different videos. Of course, it’s vital to create an eye-catching layout that will do your before-after pictures justice. 

8. Full Time Filmmaker

This video-making program has some great YouTube thumbnail examples to learn from. There are DIY projects, but also comparison of different video making products. As you can see, each thumbnail is high-quality and hits the nail right on the head.

9. DIY Wife

Although they can be highly effective before/after thumbnails can often look cluttered. Of course, the point is to show how the aftermath is better or more aesthetically pleasing than the initial stage. Still, a good YouTube thumbnail of this kind means choosing your images carefully to create a visually coherent and easy-to-digest thumbnail.

DIY Wife is a channel with lots of great YouTube thumbnail examples to learn from! Remember that a simple left-right layout is not your only option. Adding a smaller picture of the “after” is a great way to intrigue viewers and boost those click rates. 

Illustrated thumbnails that set you apart 

Anyone can slap a big bold title on their video thumbnail. But, creating something unique and custom is usually not something you can do with a simple YouTube thumbnail maker. 

These kinds of thumbnails are displays of sound graphic design, in the sense that they are not too busy, use colors effectively (whether it’s bright colors or a mellow color scheme to match the brand), and the text to best match the video’s content and intention. 

10. Canva

You’ve probably considered using Canva’s YouTube thumbnail maker to create your own graphics. However, you can also learn a lot about custom thumbnails from their own channel.

As you might expect, you’ll find quite a range here: from minimalist and professional thumbnails, to colorful video thumbnails that appeal to non-designers using the DIY software, and its awesome features. 

There’s more than one way to use illustrations in your YouTube thumbnails. Canva’s channel offers plenty of inspiring YouTube thumbnail examples that use simple illustrated elements to elevate the design. 

11. TED-Ed

Perhaps it’s the kid in me, but if I’m looking to brush up on history via YouTube, I’ll almost always choose a video with an illustration in its thumbnail. Listening to a piece of educational material while simultaneously seeing it visually represented through beautiful animation is in my book one of the best and most fun ways to learn something. 

I really recommend checking out the TED-Ed channel—they feature a variety of illustration styles and can give you a great idea of just how versatile this type of design is. 

Eye-catching photos

We’ve talked a lot about stunning YouTube thumbnail examples created by clever graphic design. However, as a video medium, real-life photos still hold and important place in YouTube thumbnail design.

The catch about photos is making sure you still maintain consistent branding, by using photos that fit your visual style. Here are a some examples to inspire you. 

12. The Bucket List Family

The Bucket List Family channel is dedicated to one family’s adventures around the world, while working and travelling. As soon as you land on their channel page, you’ll quickly realize no boring YouTube thumbnail template could make up for these exciting real-life photos.

From anxiety-inducing photos to somewhat gross closeups of injuries, this family keeps it real. Thanks to interesting angles, all the photos look really interesting and unique.

13. XO, MaCenna

It’s amazing what a good quality camera and proper lighting can do with DIY projects. This YouTube channel is certainly a testament to that. The thumbnails loo practically like a fancy catalog, with a beautiful and consistent color scheme and typography.

If you want to mimic the style of this DIY vlogger make sure that you’re using high resolution photos (png is the preferable format). Since the photos are usually quite busy, it’s best to place any text against a shape or single-color background to make it easy to read.

Featuring a product

If you’re using YouTube videos to promote a product, it makes a lot of sense to put it front on centre. With this type of thumbnail, you should be very careful about using text overlays and busy, colored backgrounds, as they can draw attention away from the product.

Here are some successful YouTube thumbnail examples to inspire you!

14. Apple

Who better to teach you how to present your products than Apple? These gorgeous thumbnails are perfectly on brand. The minimal use of color (usually just one accent) fits with Apple’s minimalist branding. And the high-quality product

15. Webflow

Showcasing physical products is easy enough - all you need is a great product shot, and a bold colored background to make it stand out. But what about digital products?

Well a channel that makes this work really well is the leader in Website builders - Webflow. Not only is their content extremely relevant and useful to their users, it also comes with an eye-catching thumbnail.

They maintain a strict visual consistency, opting for a dark blue color palette. Visual interest is added with the use of gradients, contrasting colors and other simple details. Although visuals perfectly complement it, the focus is still on the text that explains the subject of these bitesized tutorials. 

Need YouTube thumbnails?

We hope this list of the best YouTube thumbnail examples has given you some food for thought. If you produce video content regularly, creating cool thumbnails can be time-consuming. Using the best size for YouTube thumbnails might not be the easiest thing if you’re looking to create a very complex design with lots of elements.

With an unlimited design service like ManyPixels, you can get all the graphics you need to make your channel a success. Whether you want professional banners or Canva templates you can use time and again, or a custom thumbnail every time - we’ve got you.

Get started today - flat monthly rates start at just $549 and cover everything from YouTube thumbnails to websites, illustrations, and much more!