YouTube One Channel now has a Responsive Design
What does THAT mean?
YouTube introduced One Channel last week. With the upgraded look (still optional) your Channel will look and act the same across multiple devices.
New YouTube Channel Art
Here is the template YouTube provided for creating your new Channel Art:
There are some very important things to note about this template. The Red area in the middle of the template is where your information that you want to have seen on ALL devices goes. The Max width of this area is 1280 px wide by 350 px tall. This is all that will been viewed on a mobile phone. The additional Pink area is the added width provided for Tablets. The additional Green area is the maximum area shown on Desktops. The desktop / laptop viewable area will vary depending on the resolution of your screen. The max size is 2120 px wide by 350 px tall. The image will scale down to the mobile size for smaller resolution desktops. Viewed on a TV the whole image will be seen. Overall image size needs to be 2120 px wide by 1192 px tall.
What does all this mean?
Lets put on our Marketing Hats for a few minutes. Why let all the space go to waste? The RED area needs to be your core message. Every device will get this area displayed. That does not mean the other areas get totally ignored (like in the template). There can be information in these areas – just know it will not always bee seen. Here is the image I am currently using:
Let me walk you through my thought process for creating this image. Tool needed: any photo editing software that will allow you to use layers. The middle section is what will be viewable on all devices. It is all that will be seen on Mobile phones.
Most important information goes here
I added my Ebook to the image for the desktop version. It is OK that viewers on phones do not see this image. I originally had it on the left and this is what happened.
By moving it to the right and up slightly it was not obscured by my photo or the Icons on the bottom of the area.
The entire image has website information in the upper portion and I will add more information into the bottom area at a later date. These areas are only seen if someone is viewing my channel on a TV.
When you upload your image YouTube gives you a preview of what that image will look like on all the different devices. This gives you an idea if something needs to be re-positioned. Here is the preview they provided for my image:
As you can see in this preview the ebook was on the left. It does not show where other profile items will be placed (like your image).
Why bother with YouTube Channel changes now?
It is optional at this point – but it will be non-optional soon. YouTube is giving you the chance to get your branding and Channel Artwork created before they automatically switch every page. If you want to be seen as “Cutting Edge” in your industry – get it done now and do not wait. I know that the image I created is not the best out there. It only took me 10 min and really very little thought. I can change it again later as I really decide what I want to have it look like. This does work for now, and it has more thought behind it than doing nothing. I do not want to be perceived as “behind” in my industry – do you?
