YouTube Channel Design: All About Channel and Video Design

How to design a YouTube channel header, video cover, logo, and watermark? Here are the most important design principles for YouTube. In this YouTube channel design guide, we’ll learn all about the channel and video design.

Outline:

1. YouTube channel logo
2. Watermark
3. Channel cap
4. Video cover
5. Frame for video ending

Let’s look at how to design a YouTube channel to get users interested and increase click-through rates.

How to choose a YouTube channel logo

The channel logo is an analog of an avatar on social networks and is displayed on YouTube and Google. The channel logo is quite important because it appears in many places on YouTube than any other design element.

Where the icon is displayed:

• Search results on YouTube;
• channel page;
• comments on behalf of the channel;
• list of user subscriptions;
• recommended channels;
• list of linked channels;
• community tab.

The logo will be the first contact with your channel for many users, so you need to pay much attention to it. What to choose for a YouTube channel avatar:

• Faces or characters

If this is the author’s channel of one person, you can use a personal photo. In this way, you can earn trust and good feelings from your audiences.

• Company logo

The logo as a YouTube channel design icon is used by many companies to develop their brand. It is easier for the user to go to your company’s channel if he is looking for it. He tends to remember the logo if he often watches the video. The channel icon below the video and comments is pretty small, so if the entire logo doesn’t fit into the avatar circle, select a recognizable part of it.

• Related picture

Some channels do not have a logo, so they use a third-party image around the theme. In this case, the picture should reflect the videos’ theme, attract people’s attention, and differ from competitors. For example, DIY blog authors often use bright colors and a light bulb as a logo.

• Channel avatar size

The channel icon should be 800 x 800 pixels with the edges cropped in a circle, so choose an image that looks fine in a circle and a 98 x 98 pixel miniature like a comment icon.

How to add a watermark

The brand logo is often used as the channel icon, so if you choose the same for the watermark, the user will remember it better. On the other hand, many users will not understand that it is possible to click on this icon to bring up the “Subscribe” button. Brian Dean shared his experience: at first, he used the channel avatar as a watermark, but when he changed it to the “Subscribe” button, the conversion to subscribers increased by 70%.

• Use YouTube

1. Login to your YouTube
2. From the left menu, select Settings.
3. Select Channel and then Branding
4. Choose image
5. Select the display time of the branding watermark:
6. Save changes.

• Add a watermark with an online tool.

A free and easy-to-use online tool is the best to customize the watermark. No skill and download are required; FlexClip might be a good choice.

1. Go to https://www.flexclip.com/
2. Click “make a video,” then “start from scratch.
3. Add a local video
4. Select a setting to customize a watermark with text or image.
5. Set up color, size, position, and opacity.
6. Expert video.

• Don’t put important things in this corner.

The watermark is placed in the lower right corner throughout the video, ensuring no important text appears in this place.

• Track statistics YouTube channel design

You can track how well a watermark is converting users who watch videos to channel subscribers. Usually, a tiny percentage of viewers subscribe to this; for example, 5% is not considered a bad result.

How to style a YouTube channel header

A channel cover is a large banner at the top of the screen on a channel page, the first thing that users see when they go to a channel. Usually, it is used to visually convey the theme, the nature of the brand, and notifications about new products.

What to put on your YouTube cover

• Author YouTube channel design

Photo of the author of the videos, usually with a signed name. This option is suitable for channels that stick to a person or a team that appears in videos and are memorable to viewers.

• Thematic image

If there is no recognizable character, use a thematic image that conveys the channel’s mood and the videos’ theme.

• Company’s logo

Sometimes companies include a large logo on the cover. Then how to design and make an awesome YouTube logo to boost your channel might be a question.

• Event announcements

The cover can become a poster for concerts and other events. It is unclickable and too small for details, but there is enough room for the date and city, and this will already allow fans to be happy.

• Slogan or explanations

There may not be text on the cover, but if you decide to add it, it is better to use the company’s slogan or explain the focus of the channel.

• Video publishing schedule

If you have a regular schedule for the release of new videos, you can indicate it on the cover so that users know when to expect new videos. But if you wrote a schedule, you need to adhere to it; otherwise, subscribers will fell to your channel.

• Subscribe buttons

You can place subscribe buttons to the site, email, and social networks. We recommend adding such buttons because the user will somehow notice the cover. Here is the reference for How to Add a Subscribe Button to Your Videos.

How to design a YouTube channel video cover

A video cover or thumbnail is a thumbnail image of a YouTube video and is considered one of the main factors determining click-through rates and views. According to YouTube, 90% of popular videos use their uploaded thumbnails rather than a random freeze-frame. Video previews are important because the image is larger than the text and immediately catches the eye of users who choose which video to play. From the preview, they can understand what it will be. Your video competes with thousands of others, so choosing an attractive cover matters a lot.

• General layout style YouTube channel design

The channel looks beautiful when video previews are in the same style. It is unnecessary to cover one single layout, but it is better if the videos have a general idea. Videos in the same type appear in the playlist as a collection, rather than a list of random videos.

• Graphic arts

You can use eye-catching graphic effects as long as they don’t violate YouTube’s policies. For example, many people use the Before / After technique, enlarge part of an image, highlight something with strokes, or put emotional characters on the cover.

• Text

The accompanying text will add context to the cover to clear what the video is about without reading the title. So, use large text with clear font, a video in thumbnails on desktop, and phone. Formulate the text shorter to catch it with your eyes.

• Logo YouTube channel design

If the company has a recognizable logo, it can be on the video to draw attention. But the logo shouldn’t take up much space for the user to see the rest of the image.

How to finish a video – YouTube channel and video design

YouTube allows you to add four elements to your ending video. It is better to use two or three elements so as click-through the screen completely. If you offer too many options, people probably won’t choose any.

• Subscribe to channel button

The button is not editable and looks standard: a logo that transforms into a button on hover. But you can add “Subscribe” to the background to remind users of this.

• Another video or playlist on your YouTube channel design

Please find the most converting videos as they are worth promoting wherever possible. From them, select the ones relevant to the topic because the user is more likely to watch something else on the issue that he was initially in.

• Link to another YouTube channel

You can attach a link to another channel, for example, an affiliate or your other project.

• Link to an external site

If you post a link to the site, it is better to send users not to the main page but on a specific offer related to the video’s subject. YouTube Analytics has statistics to track how the final video screen is performing. This information will help you edit and improve it to achieve high conversions.

YouTube channel and video design bottom line

These tips should help you style your channel so that your audience understands what it is about, clicks on the video, and lingers on the channel. If you are interested in anything else on YouTube promotion, let me know in the comments!