YouTube Thumbnails
Cover design for podcasts and YouTube shows
Designing for YouTube means working within a visual landscape with its own rules. A thumbnail competes with countless other videos in the feed, and the platform has developed its own visual language as a result: saturated colors, high contrast, recognizable faces, and consistent visual identities. Since 2023, I’ve been designing thumbnails for podcasts and YouTube shows, working with different clients through Lumen Podcast (opens in a new tab). This case study brings together three projects, each with a different design challenge.
Maintaining a visual system across 79 episodes
That Amazon Podcast · AdLabs
That Amazon Podcast, by AdLabs, covers Amazon advertising strategy for sellers and PPC specialists. Since 2023, I’ve designed the thumbnails for 79 episodes (47–125), developing visual approaches to present technical topics clearly while maintaining consistency across the series.
Adapting an existing visual identity across four platforms
PPC Den · Ad Badger
The PPC Den Podcast, by Ad Badger, describes itself as the world’s first podcast dedicated to Amazon PPC advertising. Between 2023 and 2024, I designed the thumbnails for a full 23-episode season, adapting each design for YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. The challenge was to work within an established visual identity while maintaining the show’s recognizability and visual consistency across all four platforms.
What does a search for purpose look like?
El Camino Largo · Ernesto Maceiras
El Camino Largo is a podcast by Ernesto Maceiras about personal growth and the search for purpose beyond professional life. I developed its visual identity and designed the episode thumbnails, creating a visual language that connects the brand with its content.
The identity draws on the metaphor of an inner journey, using a nature-inspired color palette and a symbol connected to personal exploration. For the thumbnails, I focused on each episode’s central tension and the host’s presence, creating covers with a cinematic, personal feel that reflects the podcast’s character.
