THUMBNAILS
YouTube Thumbnail Design & Compositing
Project Overview
The goal of this project was to produce high-impact, high-click-through YouTube thumbnails designed to maximize viewer engagement across digital channels for internal shows. The core workflow involved taking existing photography or stills pulled from 4K video footage and building entirely virtual environments in Adobe Photoshop. Utilizing advanced photo retouching, image extension, background compositing, and generative tools like Adobe Firefly, raw studio stills were transformed into dynamic, atmospheric scenes. Every element was carefully sourced, edited, and verified for copyright clearance, ensuring that every final asset was commercially safe, licensable, and optimized for digital performance.
My Role
When I designed these thumbnails during my time at the production agency, I served as the graphic designer handling photo manipulation and thumbnail composition. Working directly with producers, hosts, photographers, and marketing teams on in-house shows, my responsibilities included subject isolation, background synthesis, color grading, visual retouching, typography integration, and delivering optimized graphic files for immediate channel publishing.
Software Used
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Firefly, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premier, Basecamp, and Slack.
Project Contributors
This was an in-house production studio project created in collaboration with producers, hosts, photographers, content strategists, and marketing teams.
