Varun is 21 year old from India. He started out as a YouTuber himself, and he still runs a gaming channel where he uploads videos once in a while. Making thumbnails for his own videos is how he first picked up Photoshop, and he calls it three years of "uncooked" experience.
In April 2026 he decided to focus only on thumbnails and started working as a thumbnail designer. Varun is available for hire.
Twitter (X) → x.com/cest_varun
Instagram → instagram.com/cest.varun
Featured design
That's how social media shapes us
Where the idea came from
I never made any psychology related thumbnails. I wanted to make one just for the sake of making one, so I went to ChatGPT and asked it to give me any random YouTube title from the psychology niche. After a few tries ChatGPT gave me this (mid-ass) title: "How social media influences human behavior".
Finding the reference
So I immediately went to Pinterest, because I have saved many such posts there that can help. After searching some, I found this image.
Inspiration found on Pinterest
I really loved the idea of the USB cable wrapping around her neck. Suddenly I remembered that I saw this type of image somewhere in the past, maybe in a reel (I don't really remember, it was a long time ago).
Generating the base
So I went to ChatGPT, uploaded the reference and gave it a prompt explaining everything that I had in my mind. ChatGPT gave me this.
The first base image the AI generated
It's pretty bad. So I made some adjustments to it using Gemini (Nano Banana). After trying a few times, I got this.
The image Gemini generated
I loved the pose and angle in this one, so I generated each element separately using Nano Banana.
Assets generated separately
Wrapping the reels
After this I went to Instagram and started taking screenshots of each reel that came up in my feed on my phone.
Screenshots of Instagram reels
I cropped those screenshots and imported them into Photoshop. That green film worked as a guide, and I placed and positioned each screenshot one by one and adjusted them using the Distort and Warp features.
Placing and warping each screenshot around him
After that I deleted the green film and added some glow and shadows to the image.
After wrapping the reels around and adding glow
Final touches
After this the image was looking pretty good, except the part near the phone where the reels are coming out of it looked weird. So I used Gemini (Nano Banana) on it to make it a bit more realistic.
Then I changed the background to this green (which is inspired/copied from the first inspiration), removed the Gemini logo and made some adjustments using the Camera Raw filter.
Unlayered
Tools
Editing: Adobe Photoshop
AI: ChatGPT / Gemini (Nano Banana)
Inspiration: Pinterest
What do you enjoy most about making thumbnails?
I really enjoy making and discovering unique concepts. I love it when I draw a rough sketch and imagine the final version in my mind. You have all of the internet to take inspiration from and come up with your own style and creativity. I try making something new every time. I enjoy making concepts more than making thumbnails.
Where do you usually get your inspiration?
All the internet is yours. If you look, you can find inspiration everywhere. But two of my favorites are YouTube and Pinterest.
If you didn't make thumbnails, what would you be making?
YouTube videos. I love making videos and streaming.
Best thumbnail you've ever made?
The biggest thing that I love about this is the concept itself. I love it when you can tell a story visually without words.
Why everything feels more expensive
Best thumbnail you've ever seen?
I caught my first Pokémon
The real price of the Nobel Prize
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