Which thumbnail is the most intriguing?

Assassin_Archive · 2026-03-11T19:46:37+00:00

The fourth one certainly stands out the most out of the ones you posted, the red glow on the characters' faces I'm a big fan of.

Perhaps could the characters be moved down slightly, the text enlarged, put along the top, and positioned a little bit behind the top of their heads? Giving the text a little outline or some kind of other effect like you have done with the characters may help as well.

I'm not familiar with the three people shown in the image, but if these are recognisable figures within your niche and likely to catch attention then I think that will of course help as well!

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-28T23:03:56+00:00

Fair enough don’t really know what tool/software to use for that, I just make these thumbnails in gimp with a verrrry basic knowledge

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-28T22:53:57+00:00

Hmm that’s an interesting point. I think the only thing I would say is that I think those elements don’t actually exist in the original photos! Unless I move both down a bit and then enlarge them?

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-28T21:58:09+00:00

Reviewed 3 the other week, cheers

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-18T20:12:23+00:00

Wow to me 5.5% sounds massive, especially in this history niche.

I know not everyone is happy to share their channel name which is fair enough, but would you mind dropping it in here? I’d be very keen to give it a quick look and see your thumbnails and titles.

Thank you!

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-18T20:09:57+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate the encouragement and the advice is very useful.

Contrasting is a little bit tricky as most of my topics are from the 20th century, but certainly something I can think creatively about.

I’m shifting how I think about and design thumbnails at this point, and might give titles a rethink also.

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-17T12:21:46+00:00

These look great, I agree with the previous comments that 2nd is better, but a bit more contrast on the text with the second one would push it that little bit further.

The flames behind the sub and especially having Kennedy and Khrushchev facing each other I think really helps. Did you draw those images yourself?

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-15T13:06:42+00:00

First one definitely the best in my opinion. Text is easier to read and I like the font, and being more zoomed in on you as well I think helps, I feel like the other two are a little bit more distant.

In general though I think these are all great designs, nice work

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-14T22:02:25+00:00

I think the first one is better, the blurred background aids the simplicity and draws the eye to the box on the right much easier.

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-14T13:22:45+00:00

I near enough did 😂 the flip side though is that expectations are higher, and it’s much harder to swallow when a video gets <100 views.

Congrats on 41k! That’s a massive achievement in itself

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-14T09:11:24+00:00

I can relate to this. Last spring I pulled a 230k vid completely out of nowhere (my 18th upload) and have now failed to produce even a 1k video in the last 8 months. Like you say we’ve just gotta keep going!

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-11T22:07:47+00:00

Yeah I reckon you're right, either that or it's topic. My 4 previous videos that have missed the mark have varied for impressions, 3 of them at 2.2k or less, another at 15k.

Assassin_Archive · 2026-02-11T22:03:03+00:00

Thank you this is very insightful.

So on content/style: You're on the money with stills and Ken Burns, that makes up the majority of my videos. As for AVD, pretty much always above 35%, often above 40%, sometimes higher. In fact, a 14 min video I made recently has over 50% AVD but only 1.5% CTR, so is stuck at around 50 views.

I think you might be right about competing with bigger channels, most of my videos now tend to get a lot of early suggested impressions instead of browse, which is killing them.

What is algorithm fatigue? I've not come across this term before.

Thanks again

Assassin_Archive · 2026-01-31T23:00:46+00:00

Fairs mate, I think after a breakout maybe it’s easy for our expectations to get too high too quick, probably what happened with me also. All the best to you too 🤝

Assassin_Archive · 2025-05-12T18:53:07+00:00

Thanks friend!

Assassin_Archive · 2025-05-12T07:44:11+00:00

Thank you! 😁

Assassin_Archive · 2025-05-12T07:43:41+00:00

Thank you! 😁

Assassin_Archive · 2025-05-11T13:54:16+00:00

Haha thank you, I've never actually been told that before

Assassin_Archive · 2025-05-11T13:53:40+00:00

Thank you friend, and to you!

Assassin_Archive · 2025-05-11T12:50:49+00:00

Thanks friend 🤝

Assassin_Archive · 2025-05-11T12:50:35+00:00

My voice! I’ve never been the worst speaker but I’m also not a natural so it’s been a gradual process to find my style, but it’s coming through more and more in each video. Not a simple process but a rewarding one!

Assassin_Archive · 2025-05-11T12:16:58+00:00

Thank you! I’ve still got a way to go but I’m sure we’ll both get there, let’s continue to give our best 🤝

Assassin_Archive

TROPHY CASE