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YouTube Banner Size and Dimensions Guide 2023
Melissa is an award-winning copywriter and content strategist who combines creative experience with SEO and digital marketing expertise from working for high tech companies and start-ups.
Last updated on 23rd October 2023
YouTube banner size
- YouTube’s Recommended Banner Size is 2560 x 1440 pixels
- Minimum image dimensions: 2048 x 1152 pixels, with an aspect ratio of 16:9
- Minimum image safe area for text and logos: 1235 x 338 pixels
- File size limit: 6MB
Now, let’s dig into the finer points of YouTube channel art size guidelines. First of all, why so many sizes? In a nutshell, it comes down to how your YouTube banner art will display on the many different sized devices people use, from Android to iPhones all the way up to TV screens.
You want your YouTube banner to look great whether it’s displayed on the largest-size screen at the full 2560 pixels width down to the smallest-size phone screen – or any size in between. Otherwise, you’re potentially losing views of your videos and new subscribers.
Here’s a visual guide to YouTube banner dimensions to help put those numbers in perspective:
As you can see, there’s a pretty huge range of sizes you’ve got to plan for to make sure your YouTube banner art displays optimally on all screen sizes. What looks spectacular on a large screen may be rendered senseless on a smartphone screen. Let’s take a look at a few examples in action:
Depending on your image, it can be tricky to get it right on every size screen. But there’s one key that will help make sure your viewers always see your YouTube banner in the right light, and that’s by knowing your “safe area.”
Know your YouTube banner safe area
To ensure your YouTube banner is viewed optimally, you’ll want to understand your “safe area.” If you’re hearing them for the first time, your “safe area” is the minimum area you need to ensure your banner displays correctly.
Make sure any part of your image that’s essential to your YouTube banner is completely within the safe area of 1235 x 338 pixels. You don’t want anything that looks awkward as this could turn potential viewers off your YouTube channel.
Clever YouTube banner examples
Now that you’ve got the dimensions, file sizes and all-around guidelines for your YouTube banners, it’s time to start thinking about design. To help inspire you, we’ve put together a few of our all-time favourite YouTube banner examples. These are some of the most creative and effective banners we’ve ever seen!
Food Insider
For Food Insider’s YouTube page, they’ve designed a banner showing a series of delicious slices of food from their YouTube stories. The banner has five mouthwatering glimpses of food separated by clean white stripes that match their logo. It’s a nice reminder that your YouTube channel art is part of your brand. Stay true to your brand guidelines, even on social networks.
Wyzowl
We’re one of the world’s leading animated explainer video companies, and we wanted the videos on our channel to speak for themselves. As such we’ve gone with a basic banner that shows our logo and our brand colours, with links to some of our other social channels embedded in the bottom right. It’s a colour palette and design theme that matches up well with our website.
Gunnarolla
Gunnarolla is a globe-trotting producer who makes entertaining short films and music that shows off his unique (and humorous) perspective on the world. For his YouTube channel banner, Gunnarolla has gone for a very similar layout to Food Insider, with his logo in the centre and the addition of his posting schedule below.
Remember, he’s not working with global name recognition the way some of the larger brands on our list have, (like our next mention Google). Gunnarolla wisely spells out what he’s about for his audience.
You recognise those colours, right? With such a recognisable brand and colour palette, Google can play it looser and more image-centric than less recognisable brands who need to spell out what they do.
This beautifully executed piece of YouTube banner art does all it needs to do. The Google logo is nowhere to be seen but it’s still immediately recognisable as Google.
Refinery29
Refinery29’s YouTube channel art ranks among the most ingenious we’ve ever seen. Instead of repeating their logo again, which is also part of the home page, they went in a completely different direction. They wrote out their company name “Refinery 29” in block lettering, which is comprised of images from their website and video content. The effect is like being able to peek through a window to look inside what’s going on at the Refinery 29 YouTube channel, but only being able to catch tantalising glimpses. Guess we’ll just have to watch and find out!
GoPro
GoPro cameras are known as the choice of outdoor sports enthusiasts. GoPro’s YouTube channel features a banner with the ultimate panoramic shot of a surfer catching a giant wave. They go 100% aspirational. No overlay. No multiple images sandwiched together to give different views. Just one, long gorgeous GoPro shot. The branding over the image is minimal, which lets this spectacular shot shine without distraction.
Free painting guides on Youtube
I do offer free YouTube tutorials and am often asked “why film free watercolour and Brusho tutorials?” because, as some of you know, I also have a subscrition Patreon channel
I can only say that I am aware of many who are struggling to make ends meet, or are isolated and lonely. Offering free lessons, especially at this time, is important to me. I like to think that It can have a positive affect because if you do something beneficial for someone, they may feel more engaged with the world.
Being totally frank, I am also hoping to tempt some artists who enjoy my teaching and who want to develop their painting , if they can afford to, to join my Patreon channel and therefore enable me to keep sharing.
Obviously my Patreon students have to be my priority and receive a much more in-depth level of tuition, guidance, results and one to one feedback.
Though my love and passion for art is the essence of who I am, there can be days when I just don’t feel like painting to order, in front of a camera, for all the world to see my flaws. I actually cringe when I watch or hear my voice played back! but I also know there are some who are now gaining confidence with their own painting skills, (I’ve seen the amazing results) and look forward to the new, regular challenges from me.
This motivates me to carry on sharing because I believe It’s a way to guide others towards the feeling of achievement they may not otherwise have.
So, finally, if you are enjoying my free tutorials then thats just great, or if you want to join my Patreon channel and move up through the next levels of inspiration, then that would be fantastic also.
An Introduction To Painting With Brusho
This Brusho video is probably the most comprehensive informative free tutorial you will ever find! Here I share with you my many years of experience when working with this medium and share my tips and techniques on how to create beautiful colourful artwork when painting with Brusho.
Includes
Top tips and Brusho techniques
Fun Brusho warm ups
Wax resist
Bleach techniques
My Sprinkle and spray techniques
Brusho Lavender tutorial
White flower tutorial
Materials
All colours are optional this is my choice of colours
Brusho colours Violet Yellow Turquose
Diluted bleach
Size 8 and 10 Brush
Old brush for bleach
Bockingford watercolour paper
