YouTube Day 3

This is Ben’s lesson plan

Objectives:

  • Understand the importance of graphics on youtube
  • Know what makes a good thumbnail
  • Navigate Photopea
  • Create a thumbnail image
  • Decide on a channel icon
  • Know the limitations of channel art

Intro (10 min):

Today is all about graphics, which are more important than you might think on YouTube

Question of the day: favorite color (will use during the activity)

We are going to talk about three graphics: Profile image, channel artwork, thumbnails

Very quickly design principles are: proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast. They still matter on YouTube, but not in the same ways that they do elsewhere.

Thumbnails are the most important, you have to do one for every video and they determine whether your video gets watched. We are going to start with them, because if we don’t get to the rest I would rather you have at least learned about thumbnails. Click through rate is the percentage of time your thumbnail is clicked on when it is seen, it is very important to the current algorithm (why do you think YouTube would care more about click through rate than watching time? Answer: they get to sell an ad almost every time someone clicks through).

Activity (3 min): go to your youtube home page now, look at the thumbnails, make a list of what you like and don’t like, what would compel you to click on a video? You have 2 min

Thumbnails (5 min)

Thumbnails are worth taking time on, but often by the time I am done with a video I’m just tired of it and I don’t want to do one.

  • 16×9 aspect ratio, which means 1280×720, or 2560×1440
    • use this size, but remember that it will be displayed much smaller most of the time
  • Brighter thumbnails tend do better
  • Thumbnails with people tend to do better
  • Using a repeatable element or layout helps with branding
  • Less than 2 mb
  • JPG is normally best
  • Many you tubers will just take a screen shot from their video, but we don’t recommend that because of the quality.

Has anyone used Photoshop or another photo editing software before?

Follow Along (15 min):

Photopea.com

  • This is a free resource you can use for thumbnails, there are lots of others but this one is the most like photoshop
  • New project, youtube cover (2560X1440)
  • Fidget toy
    • File > Open and Place >
    • Fidget toy > object select (quick select if needed) > mask
      • Can anyone give me a quick explanation of a mask?
    • Move tool > reposition
  • Excited boy > quick selection > clean up > mask
  • Add text > right click layer to switch the point text, size
  • Rectangle, size of canvas > remove fill > set stroke to magenta > set stroke to the inside > increase stroke

Profile Picture (5 min), or channel icon,  is the 2nd most important, because it serves as a consistent identifier of your brand.

  • What kind of images have you seen for the channel icon?
  • Activity: go to youtube, look at the channel icons in the first 20 suggested videos
    • count how many are logos, how many are head shots, how many are something else
  • Decide if you are going to use a logo or a head shot

Follow Along (5 mim)

  • Make a new document 800×800
  • Ellipse tool from the left, drag from left hand corner, red fill is fine
  • In layers panel: 50% opacity
  • File > Open and Place
  • Layers panel, move below
  • Transform with move tool. Resize to fill circle. Delete circle
  • Export

Channel art (3 min) is the least important, but it is still good to have, it also is the most complicated to make

  • 2560×1440 total size
  • safe area 1546×423
    • for desktop it can extend to the full width, but the height will be the same unless you are on a tv
    • It is best to use a color or a pattern that looks good but is not necessary outside the safe area

Wrap Up (5 min):

  • Graphics on YouTube are important, especially thumbnails
  • Next time we will be going over all the YouTube Studio stuff, things like monetization, analytics, subscribers, and comments
  • Remember we can help you in the lab