Hailing from a rural Canadian town with little opportunity, Jonathan Sippel somehow finds the resources to create thumbnails for some of YouTube’s most prominent creators.

  “When I take on a project, I put my everything into making it the best I can. I normally spend between 3 to 10 hours on each thumbnail using apps like Photoshop and Blender. I use images from my own personal asset library, and if I need something I always license images legally through several stock websites. My paid 3D model library is also growing from past projects, and these can be used in endless ways.”

  After receiving a diploma in 2010 for 2 years of studying photography, Jonathan has pinballed between many different niches from shooting portraiture to architecture, glamor to digital-illustration, and concert photography to weddings. His portfolio may be broad, but through consistency he has mastered the art of ideation, and knows how to achieve results with little resources or time.

  Even if a thumbnail designer doesn’t need to set up studio lighting, shoot with manual settings, or direct people how to pose, it doesn’t mean that these skills aren’t relevant to creating more believable imagery. Regardless of skill level, anyone can spot bad thumbnails from miles away and keep on scrolling. The more seamlessly a thumbnail is assembled, the more pull there is to click.

  We all know YouTube thumbnails play by their own rules, and they are constantly changing. Jonathan stays up to date by listening to the Colin and Samir Podcast and participating in Creator Now and other Discord communities.

  “Ever since Vid Summit 2022 I have been very busy, and I appreciate everyone who has reached out with projects and engaged with my content. Being a solopreneur I cannot respond to everyone, but I am actively creating more ways to teach about thumbnails as well as create them for my clients.”