Thumbnail Breakdown📙

Thumbnail Breakdown📙

Hi everyone, and welcome to our first Thumbnail Breakdown! This will be a series where I dissect my top-performing thumbnails or delve into MrBeast’s special thumbnails. We'll break them down into a step-by-step guide, highlighting what makes each one particularly special.

This week’s Thumbnail:

Although this thumbnail didn't win in our A/B testing, let's explore a detailed guide on creating it. For those interested, I'll provide a link to a similar headshot image below to help you get started. Let's begin!

1. Image Base

The client provided me with an AI-generated image to represent the idea they want for the thumbnail. Here's a step-by-step guide to create it:

1. Composition and Touch Shadows: Remember, the thumbnail's goal is to visually convey the video's theme. It should be both appealing and effective. For this thumbnail, the focus is on Preston, the content creator. Zoom in on the subject and add touch shadows where it contacts the floor using a soft black brush. Reduce opacity slightly where there's a small gap between the object and the floor, as demonstrated in the example.

2. Overall Shadows: Enhance the lower part of the object with additional shadows to create a more pronounced 3D effect.

3. Color Matching: To integrate the object seamlessly into the scene, alter the yellow tones in the object to blue using a color filter layer. Adjust the settings as shown in Figure 1 to achieve the right blend.

4. Highlights: Finish by adding highlights where the sunlight hits the object from behind. This relies on your understanding of 3D objects and how light interacts with them.

2. Headshot/ main focus

Now that the object is well blended with the background, let's add a setup image, also AI-generated and provided by the client, behind all layers. Then, we'll import a headshot image of Preston.

1. Pen Tool: After setting up the background, cut out your subject and place it using either the Pen Tool or the Select Subject Tool.

2. Dodge and Burn: Use a soft black brush at about 10% opacity to paint shadow areas on the face and clothing. Switch the blending mode to Color Burn and reduce the layer's opacity to around 60% (note: settings may vary per case). Then use a white brush with the same settings to highlight areas, changing the blending mode to Linear Dodge and reducing the layer's opacity to around 60%.

3. Highlights: Add some white highlights that mimic sunlight casting on his hair and clothes.

4. Shirt Color: We chose green for the shirt because it complements the red bus, which we will add behind the subject in the next step. According to simple color theory, green is the complementary color of red. To achieve this in Photoshop, select the shirt, add a solid green color layer, and set the blending mode to Multiply.

3. Red Bus

2. To create a sense of fear and danger, we'll incorporate an image of a red bus speeding towards the subject in the thumbnail. This will arouse curiosity and encourage viewers to click.

3. Bus Cutout: Carefully cut out the image of the red bus.

4. Shadows: Add realistic shadows on the ground and around the bus's two front wheels to enhance the 3D effect.

5. Driver Inclusion: Since a bus doesn't drive itself, insert a driver image. These driver images can be sourced from Google.

6. Lighting Effects: To make the scene more dynamic, look up 'car lights overlay' on Google, choose an appropriate image, and change its blending mode to 'Screen' in Photoshop to integrate it into the scene.

4. Camera raw

To conclude, apply a Camera Raw filter for the final touch.

P.S. As a bonus, I'm offering the PSD file of this thumbnail for FREE! All you need to do is share something positive about the newsletter on your Twitter profile and tag me. Don't forget to include this link: hamzateaches.beehiiv.com/subscribe. Once you've done that, I'll DM you the PSD file.

See you next week, keep creating amazing thumbnails that really stand out. You're more than just an artist – you're an inspiration to others.