Knowing where your thumbnail lies on The Thumbnail Doneness Scale can show viewers what to expect before they even watch your video.
And understanding this can help you:
- Better engage with your audience.
- Improve CTRs
- Elevate watch time.
Here’s how…
The Thumbnail Doneness Scale… Explained!
Hear me out: your content style should define your thumbnail style.
The Thumbnail Doneness Scale helps you understand where your content fits on YouTube and if your thumbnail matches your actual content. This is essentially a steak temperature scale.
On the far left of the scale, you’ll find “rare” thumbnails, which are basically screenshots.
On the far right of the scale, you’ll find “burnt” thumbnails, which are overexaggerated.
There is nothing wrong with either of these styles.
In fact, I share a ton of different thumbnail styles in my newsletter every week. If you want to see some of those thumbnail examples, you can subscribe to The Anti Clickbait Club.
But, the viewer simply has style preferences. And it’s your job to satisfy those preferences by visually linking your thumbnail and content.
6 Ways to Define Your Content (The Thumbnail Doneness Scale)
Rare Thumbnails are Raw and Relatable
This is as raw as it gets. Rare thumbnails are either direct screenshots from a video or auto-selected from YouTube Studio. You will find these exact moments within a video.
Who Should Use These: Very down-to-earth, conversational and information-based channels with very light editing. If you have an unedited vlog, this is the thumbnail style to use.
Creator Examples: vlogbrothers, penguinz0, Kai Trump, Sam Sulek, ClearValue Tax.
Medium-Rare Thumbnails are Basically Moments
These are usually screenshots or still photos with an additional element, such as text.
The major difference between medium-rare and rare thumbnails is that these usually aren’t exact moments within a video. You may, however, be able to find a similar frame within the video, often because these creators do photoshoots. These include a small bit of polish.
Who Should Use These: Elevated vlogging, recipe cooking, outdoor, and lifestyle channels.
Creator Examples: Casey Neistat, Taylor Alesia, Kelly Wakasa, ESPN.
Medium Thumbnails are Polished But Down to Earth
“Medium” thumbnails are more polished than “Medium-Rare,” but not as embellished as “Medium-Well.” That’s why they’re right in the middle.
Compared with previous levels, there is a more intentional focus on colors, composition, and overall visualization and packaging design.
Who Should Use These: Hobby, lifestyle, self-help, cooking, business, and entertainment channels with an editing that that is mostly talking head but with additional graphics.
Creator Examples: Epic Gardening, Binging with Babish, Haley Pham, Safiya Nygaard, ScreenCrush, Ali Abdaal.
Medium-Well Thumbnails are Polished But Real
Medium-Well thumbnails are slightly-embellished visualizations of the video topic. The key difference between these and “Well-Done” thumbnails is that there is still a practical level of realism.
Who Should Use These: Entertainment-based channels based around topics that the average person could one day do or aspire to do.
Creator Examples: Ryan Trahan, Red Bull, Marques Brownlee, Bryson DeChambeau, Mia Maples.
Well-Done Thumbnails are Cinematic and Exaggerated
These are the epitome of YouTube thumbnails in 2025. They are cinematic.
Typically, these “Well-Done” thumbnails are highly exaggerated, polished visualizations of the video topic. They often include a visual that is slightly unrealistic. Liken these to modern movie posters.
Who Should Use These: Entertainment-based channels with over-the-top topics and ideas that the average person will likely never do. The editing style is usually fast-paced, and often done by professional editors.
Creator Examples: MrBeast, Michelle Khare, Joshua Weissman, HopeScope, MrWhoseTheBoss, Nick DiGiovanni, Mark Rober.
Burnt Thumbnails are Over-the-Top
You’ll know one of these thumbnails when you see it.
They are extremely exaggerated and colorful thumbnails with saturation cranked up to the max. The visuals usually amplify the content you’ll see in the video to an unnatural level. These colors are usually meant to attract a younger audience.
“Burnt” thumbnails are often confused with MrBeast thumbnails, but they go exceed his doneness. If MrBeast’s saturation is at a 50/100, these channels’ are at a 100/100.
Who Should Use These: High-level creators who make content aimed a kids (please make it appropriate).
Creator Examples: Brent Rivera, Ben Azelart, Stokes Twins, The Royalty Family.
Why Does This Matter
Once you understand where your content style fits on The Thumbnail Doneness Scale, you can better match your thumbnails to your content. This is a better way to cater to viewers.
Imagine if you clicked a “Well-Done” thumbnail of a man wrestling a giant shark in the ocean, then you watched the video and realized it’s just a 40 minute fishing vlog of a man peacefully sitting on a boat in the middle of a lake.
You would stop watching.
That example is extreme, but it’s a trap for too many creators.
Matching your thumbnail to your content can lead to higher CTRS, longer watch time, and more engaged viewers because they feel satisfied with what they originally clicked.
3 Major Learnings for You:
- Your content style should define your thumbnail style.
- Matching your styles can increase watch times.
- Different viewers want different types of content. And some viewers want different types of content at different times. Cater to the right viewer at the right time.
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Thumbnail Sources: Ben Azelart, Binging with Babish, Casey Neistat, ClearValue Tax, Dude Perfect, Epic Gardening, Haley Pham, Joshua Weissman, Kelly Wakasa, Michelle Khare, MrBeast, Red Bull, Ryan Trahan, Sam Sulek, Taylor Alesia, The Royalty Family, Topper Guild, VlogBrothers.