| name | artifact-youtube-thumbnail |
| description | Use when asked to design YouTube thumbnails. Generates 3 thumbnail concepts with distinct CTR hypotheses and a design-generation prompt, from the visual identity. |
Artifact: YouTube Thumbnail
Generates 3 thumbnail concepts (1280x720), each with a distinct click-through hypothesis, and
a design-generation prompt producing all three. A human picks and tests; never assume one
concept wins.
Reads from context
- The full visual identity. Note the caveat in
thumbnail-patterns.md: thumbnails run bolder and more saturated
than the brand's web palette, so treat the identity as the base to push from, not a cage.
- From brand-writing-identity:
lexicon for any
words on the thumbnail. From the canon: themes/topics
to confirm the video sits in the company's content territory.
Asks the human
One at a time, and only what context cannot hold:
- The video. Title and the one-sentence take it argues.
- Faces. Is there a presenter or guest photo available? (Face-led patterns outperform for creator and interview content, but need a real photo.)
- The feed. What do this channel's existing thumbnails and the competition's look like? Pattern interrupt depends on what surrounds the thumbnail.
Workflow
- Read the visual identity and the canon components above.
- Ask the three questions.
- Pick 3 different patterns from thumbnail-patterns.md, each with a stated hypothesis for why it earns the click (curiosity gap, stat shock, transformation, and so on).
- Write each concept: pattern, composition, color treatment, text (4 words maximum), and the hypothesis.
- Build the design-generation prompt: all 3 variants at 1280x720, visual identity as the base, per-concept specs.
- Run the checklist, including the 300px legibility test on each concept.
Checklist
- Three genuinely different patterns, not one pattern in three colorways
- Each concept states its CTR hypothesis
- Text is 4 words or fewer, bold sans-serif, sized per the reference file
- Every concept passes the 300px test: text reads, focal point clear, stands out on a white feed
- No words that violate
lexicon
- No stock photos, emoji, dominant logos, or gradients
