My Design Workflow for Creating a 7.5M View YouTube Thumbnail

My Design Workflow for Creating YouTube Thumbnails

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Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of creating thumbnails for some pretty big YouTubers, and I’ve racked up millions of views on videos across a variety of channels.

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But this journey didn’t start with high-profile clients—it began in my teenage years, on my own gaming YouTube channel!

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Back then, I was just figuring things out, but even then, I managed to create videos that hit millions of views.

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Through trial and error, countless hours of practice, and a passion for both education and entertainment content, I’ve made good progress in the world of designing thumbnails that not only look good but also drive clicks.

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One of the best examples of this is the thumbnail I created for Ali Abdaal’s video titled “My Evidence-Based Skincare Routine” which now has over 7.5 million views.

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In this newsletter, I’m going to walk you through my entire design workflow, showing you step-by-step how I crafted that particular thumbnail and others like it.

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Remember, creating a YouTube thumbnail that not only looks good but also demands clicks is both an art and a science.

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I never said I was good at drawing….ok?

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Step 1: Pencil Drawing - An Underrated Step

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Before I even touch Photoshop, I start with a pencil and paper. In this case, the very first rough sketch I did was in pen and was pretty average at best. I know it’s terrible but I never said I was an artist! 😂

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There’s something liberating about sketching out ideas without the constraints of software. This is where creativity flows freely.

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When you’re sitting in front of Photoshop, it’s tempting to dive straight into designing the final product. But I’ve found that starting with a rough sketch allows me to explore ideas more openly.

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It’s easier to play with different concepts, layouts, and elements when you’re not worried about pixels and layers. It’s in this stage that the foundation for thumbnails like the one I did for Ali is set.

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If I’m feeling it, I’ll experiment with some rough mockup ideas in Photoshop too, but I don’t do this every time…

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We took hundreds of different photos to get this thumbnail right

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Step 2: Lightroom - Selecting the Perfect Shot

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Once the photos are taken—whether they’re of me, a client, or, in this case, Ali—the next step is sorting through them in Lightroom.

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This part of the process is about refining and narrowing down the options.

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I’ll sift through dozens (sometimes hundreds) of shots, comparing them side by side to see which ones have the right energy and potential. Sometimes, I even merge a couple of photos to get the perfect composition.

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Once I’ve settled on one or two standout images, I dive into color correction and adjustments. Lightroom is where I set the foundation for the final design, making sure the images are polished and ready for the next stage.

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Step 3: Photoshop - Where the Magic Happens

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Now, we’re into the heart of the design process. Photoshop.

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This is where I transform the selected images into a thumbnail that not only looks great but is also irresistibly clickable.

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Here’s the thing: many designers get caught up in making something that just looks good. But a thumbnail isn’t art for art’s sake; it’s a tool to drive clicks.

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It needs to evoke emotion—whether that’s curiosity, excitement, or fear of missing out. If it doesn’t make someone want to click, it’s not doing its job.

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This was particularly important for Ali’s skincare video, where the goal was to create a visual that not only promised the viewer that we’d be helping them go from an acne, spotty, dirty face to clear and perfect skin, but also eye-catching from a design perspective.

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The focus here is on balancing design with clickability. When you can nail both, as I did with this particular thumbnail, you end up with a real winner—a thumbnail that screams, “Click me!” from the homepage.

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I’ll be making a video sometime soon showing the nitty gritty of the strategy and design process that went into this thumbnail over on my YouTube channel, so make sure you subscribe for that!

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Step 4: Facetune - The Final Touches

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After the heavy lifting in Photoshop, I export the design and run it through FaceTune on my iPhone for some final tweaks.

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This step is often overlooked, but it’s one I’ve come to appreciate. Facetune has some nifty features like auto coloring, easy masking, and subtle facial adjustments that can make a big difference.

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I generally use it to make eyes pop, fine-tune the background and foreground colors, and do any last-minute color adjustments. Sure, I could do all of this in Photoshop, but Facetune allows for quick, precise tweaks that give the thumbnail that extra polish.

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For this particular thumbnail there wasn’t too much of that other than smoothing Ali’s skin out just a bit more in the ‘After’ part of the thumbnail.

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Sometimes the FaceTune step comes earlier in the process.

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In this example, I actually used it before the Photoshop step as it was easier to create a very smooth skinned Ali in FaceTune before then adding masks and spots.

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Tomayto, tomahto. Whatever works. The steps in my workflow are guidelines not rules.

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In the end, creating a thumbnail is about more than just making something that looks good—it’s about creating a visual that drives action.

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By starting with a sketch, refining in Lightroom, crafting in Photoshop, and perfecting in Facetune, I make sure that each thumbnail isn’t just pretty looking—it’s clickable.

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As I mentioned, I’ll be releasing a video soon on the entire process of this thumbnail, both strategy and technical on my YouTube Channel.

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If you want to see more of this kind of stuff, whether in the newsletter or over on YouTube, please reply to this email letting me know!

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Have a great weekend! 👋

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My Favourite Things This Week

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Video I Released…

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We Ranked Every YouTube Job - This week’s Making It episode sees George Blackman, Gwilym Sims-Williams and I rank the list of jobs you can have on YouTube in order of whether we would enjoy them or not.

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If you’re thinking about starting a YouTube channel, becoming a thumbnail designer, video editor or even hiring any of these roles, you’re going to like this episode.

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You can watch on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Video I’m Watching…

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how to speak so that people want to listen - I stumbled across this rapidly growing channel earlier this week and quite liked this video.

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If you wish to commuicate better on YouTube (or in general!) this is a must-watch!

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Website I’m Checking Out…

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ClipDrop.co: Create Stunning Visuals in Seconds - This website I’ve been experimenting with is a handy tool for those of you that make thumbnails. It’s not quite made its way into my design workflow just yet but it’s worth a mention…

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Thanks for reading, if you want to reach out to me, just send a tweet to @WhiffenYT.

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Jamie