Haroune is a 23-year-old thumbnail designer from Algeria. He started making thumbnails almost two years ago, and points to the Thumbnails 101 server as the turning point — the people he met there pushed his work to a level he hadn't thought he could reach. He now designs for creators including Browney, GroovyGavin, Drew Dirksen and DanCookedit. Haroune is available for hire.
Twitter (X) → x.com/Harounedesign
Website → harounedesign.com
Discord → @harounedesign
Featured design
You're wrong about the world and it's making you sad
Overview
I was given the title and a quick brief from Jamie, and to be honest, at first I overthought the concept, given that it was a video concept that could be interpreted in various directions. So I had to do my research and come up with something entirely unique, given this type of video, and for such a small channel it needed and aimed to be an outlier in order to scale the channel rapidly.
References
So, I was heavily impressed by the AI in Context team and their exceptional growth in a short period of time, and I was also given this exact thumbnail here by the client. So it was like an agreement from me and him to go this direction. And through my searching, I'm taking inspiration from YouTube.
Thumbnail from AI In Context, "We're Not Ready for Superintelligence" — shown as a screenshot with a top comment overlaid, the presenter behind a board-game world map dotted with red and white playing pieces.
I found also these other two thumbnails, which helped me understand how I can manipulate a realistic concept into somewhat like a 3D board game that also doesn't look fake and corny.
Thumbnail from Isaac Carlton, "I Recreated a Soccer Movie at Home" — a toy footballer mid-bicycle-kick on a miniature grass pitch, "it moves" pointing at it, with Isaac behind holding a camera against a green screen.
Thumbnail from Dan Kieft, "You're Prompting AI Video Like A Caveman" — the evolution-of-man line-up walking across a table, ending at a man hunched over a laptop, with Dan pointing down at him and "Don't be this guy" across the top.
From AI base to Final
Then I started the process of making the actual thumbnail. I began talking to ChatGPT to generate me a JSON prompt in voice instead of typing, because that helped me lots of times be more specific and more detailed about a concept, explaining everything from the scene to the colours, the atmosphere, the lighting, the poses, the composition, and every single thing, resulting in both an accurate and fast process that doesn't require much editing afterwards.
And I had already gotten a great base from it within the first prompts, and then:
The image generated straight from AI — Jamie leaning in over the lit map, smoke rising off the cooling towers, red arcs and tiny fighter jets running across China, Russia, England and the USA.
I slapped the face of the guy into the scene, using both AI and Photoshop skills. I also tweaked the background a little bit and added text with a bit of glow and Liquify to avoid making it boring.
And then lastly, ran it through the final Camera Raw Filter.
Jamie's face swapped in and pulled up into a hood, and "It's all LIES" added with a soft red glow.
Unlayered
Tools
Communication: Discord / WhatsApp / X
Sending files: Google Drive
Editing: Photoshop
AI: ChatGPT / Claude / Nano Banana
Assets: Magnific
What makes a thumbnail stand out, in your opinion?
Thumbnails, in my opinion, should pass three stages to be called a banger.
1: Pattern interrupt — meaning an entirely unique, creative thumbnail that stands out from the usual repetitive thumbnails in that niche.
2: Curiosity — it has to tell the most exciting part of the story without spoiling it.
3: It has to rhyme with the idea of the video and the title, because if your thumbnail is clickbait and has gotten a high CTR, it could affect the retention graph very badly.
What do you enjoy most about making thumbnails?
Has to be the artistic aspect of it. I only started designing in general because I felt the satisfaction and passion about creating an entirely new piece from nothing.
Best thumbnail you've ever made?
Thumbnail made for 3am kebab: "I Fought in the World's Biggest Food Fight"
Best thumbnail you've ever seen?
Thumbnail from Inoxtag, “7 days to survive in the Jungle! (with the French Foreign Legion)”
If you found this edition of Unlayered helpful, please consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from this workflow too! 💙