Okay, it’s been a little while since I‘ve done an episode of Flag-Phile, but it‘s
been really overdue for a long time, so without further ado… Hey, wake up!
What time is it? How long have I been out?
It‘s the future now. We have another episode for Flag-Phile…
Wait? The future? Do we have…
No, we don‘t have flying cars yet. It‘s only 2019.
2019? Who‘s the president?
The president? You don‘t want to know…
Of Indonesia?
Well… Joko Widodo, why do you care so much about Indonesia all the sudden?
Because the second episode really took off. Surely pandering to Indonesia will be the
way this channel will take off.
No, actually talking about the Soviet Union was the way to go. Still love you, Indonesia
[wink]. Anyway, I got another episode, here‘s the script.
Why flags are like YouTube thumbnails?
Yeah, it‘s a bit of a funny idea, but hopefully we can…
It‘s about time we made this! Finally!
[Intro]
Nice! Updated KhAnubis Productions intro.
It’s just KhAnubis now!
Anyways, flag design is something that should be taken seriously, *cough* Liberia.
Actually, don‘t forget the Vexillographer thing!
Oh right, yeah. Anyway, if you ask me, one of the key things that will define the passion
of a group towards a common goal is a good flag design. It‘s why I‘m wearing a shirt
stylized after the flag of Colorado, and don‘t even own one on the Oregonian flag. In a similar
manner however, YouTube thumbnails also fall into this camp.
Now, what exactly do I mean by this? Well, while comparing the flag of Moldova (Maryland)
to the thumbnail of this video may be like comparing apples to bananas, they both kind
of fall into the same category of general usage. Like, while apples and bananas may
be vastly different fruits that you eat in vastly different ways, they are still fruits
that you are eating, and need to eat in order to survive. [cocks banana] Because we’ll
kill you if you don’t. In a similar manner, flags and YouTube thumbnails are both rectangular
objects graphically designed to catch your attention and please the eye. Plus, flags
are meant to be observed from afar, and thumbnails are meant to be observed up close but really
small, so if you’re going for a bunch of small, little details crammed into that little
space, it’s not exactly going to work all that well.
It is pretty interesting where the two differ however, I mean a good thumbnail is one that
draws a viewer’s attention and makes itself unique and remarkable, if not a tiny little
bit controversial. Conversely, while flags also do this, they don’t do these things
in necessarily the same way, like in Pocatello, Idaho. Hey, do they still fly that old hunk
of crap?
No, actually they just changed it not too long ago. It looks way better now.
Oh yeah, that does look a lot better, I remember I said that the old one looked like the wrapper
to a cigarette box, or something like that.
Of course, the main rules for designing a flag differ significantly from what you might
want to follow for a video thumbnail. In short, flags symbolize things you generally know
about, whereas thumbnails generally symbolize things you don’t know about. I mean, you
probably know what Germany is, but you might not know what this video is. That’s why,
and this is crucial, the thumbnail has text displaying the gist of the video, and the
flag has no text whatsoever. The German flag doesn’t have “Bundesrepublik Deutschland”
splattered all over it, because the colors are meant to say it all. This. Is. Germany.
To quote Ted Kaye, “If you need to write the name of what you’re representing on
your flag, your symbolism has failed”. Designing a flag or a thumbnail, while they
can be easy and fun, should ultimately be taken seriously. For flags, the North American
Vexillological Association (NAVA) have detailed five key guidelines for designing good flags:
Keep it simple, so that a child could draw it from memory.
Use meaningful symbolism, as in, keep it relevant to what you’re representing. For example,
the Union Jack was an amalgamation of the flags of England, Scotland and Ireland, all
coming together in a sign of unity to say, “screw you, Wales!”
Use 2 or 3 basic colors, this rule is frequently broken, but only do so if you still have a
valid excuse. Also, only use basic colors, and colors that contrast with each-other.
No lettering or seals, text has always been a major source of controversy in the vexillological
community, but sometimes it can be pulled off, like with Rhode Island’s “Hope”
or maybe with California’s “California Republic”. Those could work, but for God’s
sake, not Montana! Keep it distinctive but related. What do they
mean by this? Well, one good example is the flag of Texas, which, while you may have confused
it for the flag of Chile, you would never confuse it with the flag of the United States.
With this in mind, it does still have the same color palette and design template as
the US, all the while still being quite distinguishably Texan. Basically, it acknowledges Texas while
also acknowledging that, probably to the dismay of some within the state, Texas does not exist
within a void.
Okay, that’s all well and good, but what about for YouTube thumbnails? Well, there
may not necessarily be any formal rules, but there are some good guidelines to follow that
may not necessarily apply to flag design. First, follow the 16:9 aspect ratio that YouTube
uses. If you don’t, your thumbnail will get partially cut off, whereas flags are a
bit more flexible in this regard. If a flag doesn’t go by this rule, you just get a
flag at a different size. Second, obviously use attention-grabbing pictures, and either
use or eliminate negative space. Obviously, this would never apply to a flag, for many
obvious reasons. I will admit, I’m not going to be writing
any theses on this, because this is where the similarities kind of break down. However,
having a good or a bad flag can make or break your community, people will gather around
to support a common cause if it has an awesome logo. I mean who wouldn’t want to come to
Bhutan’s aid? Their flag has a freaking dragon on it! And in a similar manner, a good
or a bad thumbnail can make or break a video’s performance. This may seem somewhat arbitrary,
but it is pretty easy to see what a good flag or thumbnail can accomplish, and the damage
a bad flag or thumbnail can bring. However, while bad flags have too many colors, too
many intricate designs, or will just say the name of their territory-- as if to clarify
who it’s representing-- a bad thumbnail will have text you can’t really see, poor
color choice, and will be partly cut off because you used the wrong aspect ratio. If you mess
up the aspect ratio of a flag, the worst thing that will happen is… Switzerland.
Of course, to back it all up, bad flags and bad thumbnails will have similar results.
A bad thumbnail will result in something like, “Wow, that video looks boring. They couldn’t
even represent it with a good thumbnail?”, while a bad flag may result in something like,
“Wow, this state is so boring, they couldn’t even make a good flag to represent us”.
I mean, I guess that means the main connecting factor between flags and thumbnails is that
you should put some effort into them for people to like them. Wow, that sounds just like life!
As always, thanks for watching, and be sure to like, share, and that other stuff. Also,
since I will be going to VidCon London next month, I will be missing the 17th of February,
so I decided to open up my channel to a guest video on that week. If you have an idea for
a video you want to make for this channel, there is a link to a form in the description
and the pinned comment. And as always, I will see you on Sunday.