I finally got around to designing my own YouTube channel artwork. Similar to a Facebook cover photo, YouTube’s channel artwork is the second most important image to your YouTube brand. I had just released my first “high quality” video and I wanted to improve the rest of my YouTube channel as well. Click here to visit my YouTube channel.

Design Process

I found a template online that detailed the dimensions for each YouTube platform. For every YouTube client (ie. mobile, TV, computer, etc.), there is a specific cropping method. I used the dimensions to create a design that would look good on all possible devices.
I wanted to go for a minimalistic look — flat and simple seems to be the trend these days among digital design. At first, I wanted to incorporate some aspect of woodshop in my channel artwork. I tried many different methods, both subtle and blaring, to weave in my passion for woodshop. After trying and failing to add things like a wood background to my design, I decided to leave it out entirely. It would be evident for anyone looking at my channel to know that I loved woodshop. I didn’t feel like I could produce a design that I was proud of if I tried to incorporate woodworking — it would be clear I was forcing it.
I looked at the channel artworks of some of my favorite tech and wood YouTubers. I found that YouTubers that loved wood used more image based, “stack”-style cover photos; however, my tech YouTubers favored the a cleaner look. Being a web developer and digital designer, I was in favor of the latter.

Finished Product

Desktop Browser

This is typically what a YouTuber user would see. This is the crop size for a desktop browser. A mobile device would be the same height as this, but the side edges would be trimmed inward a tiny bit.

Full Size (For TV Clients)

This is the full resolution image. The only time a user would see this entire image would be on the TV.

Posted in Design with Graphic Design