Thumbnails, Posters & Social Graphics

Designing for the scroll: attention, legibility and platform specs.

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1. 00:00Thumbnails, Posters & Social Graphics. Designing for the scroll: attention, legibility and platform specs.
2. 00:05Social graphics compete inside a 3-centimetre rectangle against a hundred others.
3. 00:10Everything must read in under one second at thumbnail size.
4. 00:15Three elements maximum: subject, three to five words of text, one accent.
5. 00:20Faces and eyes outperform objects — emotion drives clicks.
6. 00:25Extreme contrast: bright subject on dark background, or the inverse.
7. 00:30Text must be legible at 20% zoom. Test by shrinking it.
8. 00:35Consistent template = channel recognition in the feed.
9. 00:40Reference table: Asset, Size, Notes.
10. 00:45Thumbnail hierarchy test — edit the sample and run it in the browser.
11. 00:50Note: Design thumbnails at full size but review them at 15% zoom. If you can't read it there, viewers can't either.

Social graphics compete inside a 3-centimetre rectangle against a hundred others. Everything must read in under one second at thumbnail size.

• Three elements maximum: subject, three to five words of text, one accent.
• Faces and eyes outperform objects — emotion drives clicks.
• Extreme contrast: bright subject on dark background, or the inverse.
• Text must be legible at 20% zoom. Test by shrinking it.
• Consistent template = channel recognition in the feed.