Our Top 3 Picks for the Best Design Templates
Graphic design templates are the digital tools that every YouTuber needs. And we’re here to tell you everything you need to know about them.
If you’re hustling to grow your channel, your to-do list is already long. According to Elite Content Marketer, 23% of YouTubers say lack of time is their number one challenge. Trying to learn graphic design programs from scratch isn’t the best use of your time. Not when there are better, more efficient options.
Luckily, in today’s digital world, graphic design templates can save you time and hassle. Sounds good, right? If you want the scoop on those, scroll to that section. But if you’re keen on a background in graphics, we have that covered, too.
Importance of Graphics on YouTube
Social media users are bombarded with content. So what makes them view yours? There’s no magic formula to make a viewer stop scrolling. But trendy, engaging graphics are – without a doubt – part of it.
Giving thought to your graphics is important for several reasons:
- A consistent style makes your channel more memorable
- A well-designed logo and channel art can help to secure brand deals
- Optimizing your thumbnails can increase views and subscribers
The Type of Graphics Your YouTube Channel Needs
Before we go any further, let’s talk about the types of graphics that your YouTube channel needs.
Channel Art
Your channel art is the header that appears at the top of your YouTube page. It will look different depending on whether it’s viewed on computer, mobile, or TV. Take a peek at your channel art on each type of device to make sure you’re happy with how it looks.
Channel Icon
Your channel icon is a circular image that’s similar to a profile photo. Some YouTubers will use a photo of themselves. Others opt for a logo they created for their channel. Whichever image you choose, it can be updated in your Google account settings. Just give it a few minutes to update over on YouTube.
Video Thumbnail
When you upload a video to YouTube, the platform will provide three thumbnails you can use. These are automatically generated, so they may catch you in an unflattering position. Or they may not capture the topic well. Many YouTubers opt to create a custom thumbnail instead.
Interested in knowing how your thumbnails perform? SEO helpers that are intended to grow your YouTube channel can test the effectiveness of your thumbnails. They display different ones on alternating days to see which one garners more views.
YouTube’s Size Requirements for Graphics
Graphics that are sized incorrectly means they might be cut off or pixelated. This is bad in any circumstance. It’s worse if you’ve spent a bunch of time creating them. For easy reference, these are the current size guidelines in 2022:
Channel Art: 2048 x 1152 pixels (minimum). At the minimum dimension, keep images and text within 1235 X 338 pixels.
Channel Icon: 800 X 800 pixels
Video Thumbnail: 1280 X 720 pixels
Graphic Design Templates for YouTube
With the help of the following websites, designing graphics can be fast and easy. Each site offers graphic design templates specifically for YouTube. Want some new channel art? Need to design a thumbnail? After choosing a template, you simply drag and drop to edit and customize.
Here, we’ll highlight some of the perks and drawbacks for each site. From there, you can decide which makes the most sense for your needs.
Canva
When browsing templates on Canva, you can narrow the search by selecting the category that matches your YouTube channel. Travel, fitness, gaming, and music are just a few of the choices.
Their free plan includes 250,000 templates, and the paid version gives you even more options.
Time-Saving Feature
Their handy palette generator lets you upload a photo and Canva will suggest coordinating colors. This can remove some of the stress from your design decisions. Their photo editing tool lets you choose your focus by opting to blur either the background or foreground. This can be a nice feature when designing thumbnails, as it lets you add text over the blurred part of the image.
Snappa
Snappa isn’t as well-known as Canva, and the jury is still undecided on which is better. Some users say they prefer Snappa for two reasons.
Firstly, all 5 million images in Snappa’s library are free, regardless of which plan you’re using. This means you’ll never fall in love with an image and then realize it’s behind a paywall. Secondly, Snappa doesn’t have the slow loading times that some Canva users experience.
The biggest bummer ? Snappa’s free plan only allows for three downloads per month. Consider upgrading to their pro plan or team plan for unlimited downloads.
Time-Saving Feature
A useful tool on Snappa is the ability to remove backgrounds from photos. This one-click feature works for images from Snappa’s library as well as user-provided photos. It’s a real time-saver when creating headshots, thumbnails, or selling branded merchandise (FYI: Canva and PicMonkey also offer this ability, but only with their pro plans).
PicMonkey
Depending on the plan you choose, PicMonkey lets you create a brand kit. Your brand kit is a handy spot to keep your fonts, colors, and graphics. It will display at the top of your menu while editing within PicMonkey.
PicMonkey offers a 7-day free trial, but that’s where the free ride ends. Beyond that, you’ll need to select the paid monthly plan that fits your needs: basic, pro, or business.
Time-Saving Feature
PicMonkey has a feature where you can change the color of just one element in a photo. Let’s say you have a photo of yourself wearing a blue shirt. But you’d prefer the shirt to be red to coordinate with your other design elements. Use PicMonkey’s color changer tool. It takes some practice, but it’s much simpler than an editing tool like Photoshop.
Graphic Design Templates Save Time
Designing graphics for your YouTube channel is a necessity. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be time-consuming. Using graphic design templates will provide good results in an efficient time frame. And that’s a winning design every time.
