Proven results, stunning project

Most designers would create a typical dog evolution thumbnail. We did the opposite. Instead of showing a standard “dog transformation” thumbnail, we flipped expectations with a clear picture of a dog and added bold text that contradicted what viewers saw: "This is not a dog." This created a massive curiosity gap, forcing viewers to wonder what it really meant.

This created massive cognitive dissonance. The result: 1.3M views and a 200x outlier performance for our client.

Inspired by Niko Omilana’s “breaking news” style thumbnails, we exaggerated the audience’s first thought when hearing “Afghanistan” - the Taliban. By framing it as a news headline with “Women have no rights” alongside “Taliban” tapped into curiosity.

We designed a cinematic, realistic news-style thumbnail that looked authentic while sparking controversy. The result: 1.5M views and one of the channel’s top-performing videos.

Hollywood has often portrayed laundromats as fronts for money laundering, even though this wasn’t mentioned in the script or tied to cartels in reality. We built on that association, making the laundromat the centerpiece with bold text saying, “This is not a laundromat.” This allowed viewers to draw their own conclusions, creating a stronger impact.

The thumbnail was designed with a 3D style that wasn’t widely used at the time. This fresh visual approach helped it stand out and perform exceptionally well.

We explored different ways to trigger competitive instincts (boys vs girls, fragile egos, and playful rivalries). Inspirations came from film posters, childhood quarrels, and high-energy visuals like Squid Game and Mr Beast thumbnails. We focused on three core emotions: curiosity, wow factor, and competition.

We tested multiple compositions, iterating from sketches to poster-inspired layouts. The final thumbnail simplified the concept with three boys and three girls, striking the perfect balance of clarity. This combination of fresh composition and emotional triggers made it irresistible to click.