Everything You Need to Know About Ianboggs Action YouTube Thumbnail

Hey, aspiring YouTubers! Let's talk about one of the biggest elements that can make or break your content creator career: YouTube thumbnails!

You know, that first little image that makes you stop in your tracks before you even click to watch the whole thing. Yes, we're diving deep into IanBoggs and how his YouTube thumbnails evolved into the eye-catching thumbnails that made him stand out among millions of YouTube channels.

But we’re not stopping there—we'll also talk about best YouTube thumbnail practices, how you too can create a thumbnail for YouTube like a pro, and how to use a thumbnail maker app to up your game.

Let’s Start With Ian Boggs

If you’re not familiar with IanBoggs, he’s one of the top creators on YouTube with a whopping 18.1M million subscribers and more than 1.6k videos! That’s insane, right? But all this impressive feat was achieved with the help of attractive thumbnails as well! Ian’s YouTube channel and his custom thumbnail for YouTube have evolved from basic video snippets to visually stunning, high-quality thumbnails.

At the beginning of his YouTube journey, Ian’s thumbnails were simple – no custom designs, just random snapshots from the video itself. And guess what? His first video with one of those video snippet thumbnails still managed to generate an engagement of 262K views. But the thing is, the results were inconsistent. The channel was seeing engagement numbers dip below 100K views on some videos.

The Thumbnail Evolution: From Bland to Bold

Fast forward to 2017, IanBoggs started experimenting with custom thumbnails, and here’s where things really started to change. He tried several approaches, each offering unique insights into what worked and what didn’t for his audience:

1. Type 1 Thumbnails

What it was: These thumbnails featured a single, unedited image from the video with minimal text.

Why it didn’t work:

• Lack of visual appeal: The thumbnail for YouTube was too simplistic, often featuring dull or irrelevant snapshots that didn’t grab attention.
• Minimal editing: The absence of eye-catching design elements like contrasting colors, borders, or readable text made these thumbnails blend into the crowded YouTube feed.
• Forgettable fonts: The text used in these thumbnails was either too small or used generic fonts that failed to stand out.

2. Type 2 Thumbnails

What it was: This style introduced split-image banners featuring dynamic people-centric images of Ian, paired with bold, large-font text.

Why it worked:

• Strong focal point: The inclusion of Ian’s face created a direct connection with his audience. Thumbnails with expressive faces naturally attract clicks because viewers are drawn to emotion and personality.
• High readability: The bold text and clear design made the video’s topic immediately recognizable, even on mobile devices where thumbnails appear smaller.
• Better use of contrast: Strong contrast between background and foreground elements helped the thumbnails pop out on YouTube’s cluttered interface.

Result: This was a breakthrough. The Type 2 thumbnails consistently pulled in over 1 million views per video because they combined a professional look with a sense of personality. The images and text together told a story, making viewers curious enough to click and become one of the best YouTube thumbnail images.

3. Type 3 Thumbnails

What it was: IanBoggs experimented with minimalist designs—thumbnails that focused on a single image with very little or no text at all.

Why it didn’t work:

• Overly simple: While minimalism can be effective, these thumbnails lacked the engagement-driving elements found in the Type 2 designs. Without text, the audience wasn’t given a clear reason to click.
• No clear context: In some cases, viewers couldn’t immediately identify the video’s content just by looking at the image, leading to fewer clicks.
• Missed opportunity for branding: These thumbnails didn’t reinforce Ian’s personal brand as strongly, lacking the consistent visual style that audiences came to recognize.

Result: Though engagement remained decent, the views didn’t reach the same heights as the Type 2 thumbnails. The minimalist approach was clean, but in a fast-paced platform like YouTube, too much simplicity can sometimes make your content appear less exciting.

4. Type 4 Thumbnails

What it was: A more experimental phase where Ian tested text-heavy thumbnails that featured bold titles or phrases across the majority of the image space.

Why it didn’t work:

• Too much information: While informative, these thumbnails were often cluttered with too much text, which overwhelmed the viewer. People don’t want to read a long sentence on a thumbnail—they just want to know enough to be curious.
• Poor visual hierarchy: The heavy use of text reduced the impact of visual elements like Ian’s face or other engaging imagery, which could have better connected with the audience emotionally.
• Hard to read on mobile: Since most viewers watch on mobile devices, thumbnails with large blocks of text become illegible when scaled down, leading to fewer clicks.

Result: The engagement dropped significantly with Type 4 thumbnails. While the message was clear, the overload of text took away from the visual impact, making these thumbnails less effective in grabbing attention. A simpler, more visual approach worked better for Ian's audience.

Type 5 Thumbnails

What it was: This style returned to a bold, eye-catching design, with Ian’s image prominently featured on a red background, using large, clear fonts.

Why it worked:

• Bold simplicity: The design was both minimal and impactful. The prominent use of red—a color that naturally attracts the eye—helped his videos stand out in the YouTube feed.
• Focus on the creator: By featuring Ian’s face prominently, he reinforced his personal brand, making his videos instantly recognizable to his audience.
• Optimized for mobile: The use of large fonts and clear visuals ensured that the thumbnail on YouTube remained effective even when viewed on smaller screens, a crucial aspect given the number of users who watch YouTube on mobile devices.

Why it didn’t fully succeed: Despite being clean and bold, this style wasn’t as consistently engaging as Type 2. The lack of additional visual elements or split images meant it might not have conveyed enough excitement or storytelling for certain viewers.

Result: Engagement hovered below the 1 million mark, which is still strong, but it didn’t quite hit the peak success of the earlier thumbnails. While visually striking, the Type 5 thumbnails may have lacked the variety and intrigue that made Type 2 so compelling.

A Summary of IanBoggs YouTube thumbnail game

Let's go over a quick summary of the evolution of IanBoggs' YouTube channel.

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What Helps Make The Best YouTube Thumbnail Templates?

Now, let’s take a break from Ian Boggs and talk about what makes a good thumbnail on YouTube in general. If you’re creating your own content, these are some golden rules for YouTube thumbnail design:

1. Make it Vibrant: Your action thumbnail needs to grab attention in less than a second. Using bright colors, high contrast, and compelling images will help your video stand out in a crowded feed. Think about the thumbnails that make you click—often, they have a pop of color or strong contrast.
2. Keep the Text Minimal: YouTube thumbnail best practices suggest that you should avoid cluttering your thumbnail with too much text. Viewers don’t want to read an essay before clicking! A short, punchy phrase works best.
3. Use High-Quality Images: Blurry or pixelated images are a huge no-no. Always use high-quality images that are sharp and visually appealing. The cleaner your image, the more professional it looks.
4. Face It: Thumbnails with people’s faces—especially ones showing emotion—are more likely to get clicked. This is because humans are naturally drawn to expressions and emotions. Look at Ian Boggs’s most successful YouTube thumbnail images, and you’ll notice his face is almost always front and center.
5. Consistency in Design: Try to stick with a consistent thumbnail design across your videos. This builds your brand and makes your channel more recognizable. Whether it’s a specific color scheme, font, or layout, consistency is key.

Boost Your Thumbnails with Rizzle

Just imagine having a tool that simplifies the entire thumbnail creation process, making it faster and more efficient—enter Rizzle's Thumbnail Maker feature.

Creating a custom thumbnail like IanBoggs that catches your audience’s attention can be challenging. But with Rizzle, you can easily create professional-looking thumbnails for your YouTube videos in minutes!

Here’s why Rizzle's thumbnail maker is a game-changer for YouTubers:

• AI-Powered Action Shots: Rizzle’s smart AI analyzes your video and automatically selects the most visually engaging moments, like big smiles or exciting action shots, ensuring your YouTube thumbnail template captures attention right away. These AI-generated YouTube thumbnails have been shown to boost engagement by 3x!
• Access to Premium Stock Media: Rizzle integrates with Getty Images, allowing you to choose from over 500 million professional, royalty-free images.
• Easy-to-Use Templates: With over 300 pre-designed free thumbnail templates, Rizzle takes the guesswork out of creating thumbnails.
• AI-Assisted Copywriting: Rizzle's AI generates attention-grabbing titles that increase click-through rates, ensuring your video gets the views it deserves.
• Dynamic Layouts: Rizzle’s AI also creates multiple thumbnail layout options by selecting the best frames from your video.

Thumbnail Best Practices You Should Follow

We’ve already touched on some best practices, but let’s dive a bit deeper into what makes many custom thumbnail for YouTube absolutely great:

1. Size and Aspect Ratio: The ideal aspect ratio for YouTube thumbnails is 16:9, with dimensions of 1280x720 pixels.
2. Color Scheme: Choose colors that complement each other and make your image pop. You might want to use your brand fonts and colors to keep things cohesive.
3. Simple but Powerful Text: If you’re using text, make sure it’s easy to read. Use bold, clear fonts, and don’t go overboard with too much information.
4. Explore Templates: Don’t be afraid to use thumbnail templates to speed up the process. Once you find a style that works, you can use it repeatedly and tweak small elements like text and color.
5. Consistency: Make sure your thumbnails reflect your brand. You want people to immediately recognize your YouTube videos based on the thumbnails.
6. Text and Design Elements: Your thumbnail should give a sneak peek into the video, but it shouldn’t mislead viewers. Use the thumbnail and video title together to build curiosity and compel viewers to click.

On a Final Note!

If you’ve been inspired by Ian Boggs and his YouTube journey, you’ll know that creating a thumbnail for YouTube is an evolving process. What worked yesterday might not work today, so you have to keep experimenting with the best YouTube thumbnail templates and design elements. You can either use any of the free thumbnail maker tools or hire a professional designer for your YouTube video thumbnails. The goal is to create YouTube thumbnails that are visually appealing images that grab attention and draw people to your content.

Remember, your thumbnail is the first impression people get of your video. So, Make it count and create the best eye-catching YouTube thumbnail with the best YouTube thumbnail maker, Rizzle!