Taimoor, also known as "TT," is a 19-year-old graphic and thumbnail designer who first started designing during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
He initially discovered thumbnail design through Upwork, where he began taking on projects and gradually realised how much he enjoyed creating thumbnails for YouTube creators. From there, he never looked back.
His work improved significantly after he started entering Thumbnails 101's weekly challenges, which helped him sharpen his skills, experiment with different styles, and ultimately attract more clients.
Since then, TT has worked with creators and brands including AMP, Airrack, Groovy, Gavin, Sabri Suby, No1, and many more. Alongside his design work, he's currently studying engineering while working part-time as a thumbnail artist. TT is available for hire.
Twitter (X) → x.com/MTaimoorT
Instagram → portfoliott.vercel.app/
Featured design
01 - The first idea
I'd actually worked with Edward on a thumbnail before, so when he reached out a few months later about a new video, I already had some idea of his style and what he liked.
The video was about Edward taking his roommate on a 10-mile hike, but there was a twist: he was actually going with his girlfriend. He didn't have a finalised title yet, but the rough idea was something along the lines of "I Forced My Roommate to Hike 10 Miles…"
Initially the plan was pretty straightforward. Edward wanted to use the actual location from the video and the assets he had, but make the thumbnail more interesting and realistic. He sent me a few photos and I started with a simple concept.
Starting assets
The first direction, made using the real location and Edward's own assets.
02 — A completely different direction
A day later, Edward messaged me again. He'd been looking through YouTube and came across a Sidemen hiking thumbnail that immediately clicked with him. He sent it over and said:
I was looking through YouTube and saw this Sidemen hike. This is the feel I wanna go for. Like an epic journey, and Ash and Hailii are behind me trailing me.
So we decided to scrap the first direction and try something much more cinematic. Something that actually felt like an epic journey rather than just a typical hiking thumbnail.
The Sidemen hiking thumbnail reference.
Edward also sent me a rough sketch of how he imagined the composition. At this point I knew the poses were going to be really important.
Edward's rough sketch of where he wanted the three subjects to be
I sent Edward a few pose references so we could get the right body language and framing. Luckily, the assets he sent back were really good. Good assets honestly make a thumbnail 10x easier to work with. When the expressions, poses, and angles are already strong, you have so much more freedom building the composition.
Some of the pose references I sent Edward to help get the right hiking pose and body language
Raw photos Edward sent back once I asked for poses that would fit the new composition
03 — Building the world
Rough composition, the basic structure I wanted to have before editing
The background was probably the trickiest part of the whole thumbnail. I knew I wanted a huge, dramatic hiking environment, but I couldn't quite figure out the composition. I tried generating a few backgrounds with AI, but the results just weren't giving me what I had in my head.
So I ended up going back to something I've always enjoyed — photo manipulation. I took different stock images from the internet and pieced them together until I had the environment I wanted. I also used Freepik AI to create the waterfall, because I couldn't find an image that worked properly with the composition.
Final background composition
Once the environment was coming together, I moved on to the characters. I changed their clothing and worked on the lighting so they actually felt like they belonged in the scene, instead of looking like they'd simply been cut out and placed on top. I used Magnific AI to help with some of these adjustments, but the main focus was still manual editing and compositing.
Because the goal was to make the thumbnail feel realistic, lighting was probably the most important part of the entire edit. I wanted everything to feel like it was shot in the same place, under the same conditions.
Before/after adjusting the lighting
After around 3–4 hours, I finally had my first proper version. I liked it, but I still felt like something was missing.
The first full version after building the environment and compositing the subjects
I showed the thumbnail to a few close friends and asked them to be brutally honest. One of the biggest pieces of feedback was the lighting — the subjects didn't feel like they were being lit by the same environment, so some of them stood out more than others.
I went back into the edit, balanced the lighting across all the characters, and made the subjects feel much more connected to the scene. The difference was pretty immediate.
The version after reworking the lighting to make all three subjects feel like they belonged in the same scene
A couple of days later, I opened the thumbnail again with fresh eyes and started noticing little things I could improve. I pushed the lighting even further, added a signboard in the background showing the direction and distance, and changed the way Edward was holding the camera so it felt more natural and added another layer of storytelling.
Before/after changing to selfie pose
Those details might seem small, but they made the whole scene feel more believable and gave the viewer more to look at.
Honestly, this is probably one of my favourite thumbnails I've made so far. What started as a pretty simple hiking concept ended up turning into a much bigger creative process, and I think the biggest difference came from being willing to completely change direction, listen to feedback, and then come back to the thumbnail with fresh eyes.
Unlayered
Tools
Communication: WhatsApp / Discord
Editing: Adobe Photoshop
AI: Magnific AI
Image assets: Magnific / creator-provided assets
What do you enjoy most about making thumbnails?
The thing I enjoy most is the creative freedom. You can literally make anything you want, and there's always a new way to approach an idea. You have to constantly think creatively and figure out how to turn a simple concept into something people want to click on.
Your favourite thumbnail style to work in — and one you avoid?
My favourite style is definitely hyper-realistic thumbnails. I love building scenes that feel almost like a cinematic masterpiece and making everything look as realistic as possible. The style I usually avoid is gaming thumbnails. It's just not a style I really enjoy working in.
One tip for someone just starting out?
JUST KEEP GRINDING. Don't compare yourself to other designers, don't give up, and never stop learning. Keep improving your work, experiment with new things, and most importantly, teach others what you learn. You'll grow a lot faster when you're willing to share your knowledge with other people.
Best thumbnail you've ever made?
To be honest, I'd say these are probably the best thumbnails I've made so far. I'm really proud of how all of them turned out, especially the ideas behind them. I love that they're creative but still tell a clear story at a glance, and they're the ones I'd happily have in my portfolio.
Best thumbnail you've ever seen?
I’d have to pick one of these two. They’re all really different, but I love the concept behind each one and how creatively the idea has been turned into a thumbnail. Each of them does something in its own way that makes me stop scrolling and want to see the video.
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