Aleksandr Sviridov is a 25-year-old designer from Turkmenistan who has been specializing in YouTube thumbnails since 2023. His journey began as a hobby in early 2021; he loved creating digital art, doing various photo edits, and retouching in Photoshop
He also explored video editing and interior design, but ultimately decided to dedicate himself fully to developing as a professional thumbnail designer. Aleksander is available for hire.
Twitter (X) → x.com/Sviridov_cg
Telegram → t.me/sviridov_cg
Featured design
Overview
The client for this project is a fellow thumbnail designer I’ve been working with for the past few months. I’ve created quite a few design-related thumbnails for him.
Previous work for this client
This time, the brief was as follows:
In this video, I review 10 different AI tools for thumbnail designers and showcase what they can do. Each one is unique and offers different functionality. I need a highly clickable thumbnail that clearly captures the core message of the video.
The main challenge was to showcase a variety of AI tools without making the composition feel cluttered.
Reference images
Starting assets
Here are the main assets I started with for this project:
Logos: Standard 2D logos that I later converted into 3D elements
Client photo: A high-quality image from a pre-made asset pack
Pose reference: The foundation of the composition, used to establish the overall layout
Background: A bright, minimalist room that supported the clean visual direction
Base assets
Composition
Initially, I came up with two concept sketches entirely on my own, without using any references. I got fairly close to finishing one of them, but at some point it started to feel too simple and uninteresting. That’s when I turned to Pinterest for inspiration, where I found the chessboard image included in the references section above.
Early drafts that didn't work out
Editing
From base plate to final render
Unlayered
Workstation
Building this setup was a journey. I actually started with a very weak PC that could barely run Photoshop. As I earned money through my design work, I saved up and upgraded my workstation piece by piece. Overall, I’m really proud of the setup I’ve built.
Hardware
Monitors: AOC Q27G40E & AOC 27B1H2
CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
RAM: 32 GB DDR4
Storage: 1TB SSD + 2TB HDD
Tablet: XP-Pen Deco 01 V2
Software & Tools
Adobe Photoshop: The core foundation of all my work
Stable Diffusion: Used for post-processing
Nik Collection 6: Used for final color correction
Gemini: Used for writing prompts and handling AI generations
Pinterest: Used to search for ideas and inspiration
Yandex: Used to source images and assets for the project
What's the best part of making thumbnails?
I really enjoy seeing the quality of my work grow over time. It brings me immense pleasure to see my progress and receive praise from the people who used to inspire me. Ultimately, the best part is my continuous development as a designer—and, of course, making new connections, haha
Best thumbnail you've ever made?
I can't pick just one thumbnail because I like many of them, and it wouldn't be fair. So, I decided to show my picture from a recent contest instead. I am very happy with it and proud of the work I did.
Best thumbnail you've ever seen?
If you found this edition of Unlayered helpful, please consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from this workflow too! 💙