YouTube Thumbnail Designer & Visual Researcher

We are looking for a creative and research-oriented Thumbnail Designer for our horror, disturbing, mystery, and dark content YouTube channels.
The role involves much more than conventional graphic design. You should be capable of researching specific images, understanding YouTube thumbnail formats, and manipulating real-world visuals in Photoshop to create thumbnails that match a particular visual style.
Key Responsibilities
1. Visual Research & Image Sourcing
Research and find relevant real-world images based on video titles, outlines, and references.
Source images from YouTube, CCTV footage, news archives, forums, social media, gaming communities, and other platforms.
Identify specific scenes, objects, people, locations, and incidents that fit the video's subject.
Find unusual, disturbing, and visually interesting images rather than relying on generic stock photography.
2. Thumbnail Format Understanding & Replication
Understand and analyze the specific thumbnail formats and references provided by us.
Identify the image styles, camera angles, compositions, subject placements, and visual treatments used in those formats.
Find images that closely match the given visual direction, rather than simply finding pictures related to the topic.
Recreate similar compositions and visual styles using Photoshop.
Maintain consistency across thumbnails belonging to the same format.
3. Photoshop & Image Manipulation
Combine, manipulate, and edit multiple images to create compelling compositions.
Perform background removal, object isolation, image compositing, perspective adjustments, and scene reconstruction.
Adjust lighting, colours, contrast, and image quality to match the required reference.
Make raw images suitable for YouTube thumbnails while maintaining a realistic appearance.
4. YouTube Format Research & Development
Independently explore YouTube channels and discover interesting thumbnail formats within our niches.
Identify successful and unique visual styles that could be adapted for our videos.
Suggest new thumbnail formats and creative directions rather than relying entirely on references provided by us.
Understand which image styles and presentation techniques work best for different types of content.
Stay updated with YouTube trends, creators, and evolving thumbnail styles.
What We Expect
Strong Adobe Photoshop skills and image manipulation abilities.
Excellent internet research and image finding skills.
A good understanding of YouTube, its content formats, and thumbnail styles.
Strong visual judgment and an eye for composition.
Ability to understand and replicate visual references accurately.
Creativity and the ability to independently discover and suggest new formats.
Attention to detail and willingness to research extensively to find the right visuals.
Important: This is not a conventional thumbnail design role where you simply receive images and add text. You will be provided with video titles, outlines, and sometimes specific thumbnail formats or references. You will be expected to research the right visuals, understand the required style, and edit them in Photoshop accordingly.
We are looking for someone who can not only execute existing formats but also independently discover and develop new ones.

Skills
Adobe Photoshop, Graphic Design, Sourcing

Work arrangement
Yes