In the old thumbnails a lot of information was visible, most of this information was already in the title and barely readable.
After researching a lot of other youtube thumbnails I realised that most channels only feature their logo, and try to convey emotion with the image shown. To show this idea I made a few quick mockups and got some feedback.
After the feedback I worked on making the coloured shape more interesting, and reflect the emotion. Harsh and red for intensity, round and blue for melancholy and organic and green for calmness.
For the final version I changed the layout up a bit to make it so that whatever image is chosen, the logo won't interfere. Also the logo was made bigger and more prominent
And here is the final look on the youtube channel. Together with the livestream operator a moment for the image is chosen, to reflect the emotion. The main focus is connection between human and instrument.