Key art that survives the thumbnail — because that's where 90% of discovery happens.
Streaming discovery is won or lost in a 180x270 pixel rectangle. For HBO Max's original-series launches, I produced the full creative package: hero banners for the app, character posters for OOH, social countdown assets, and streaming thumbnail variations — all from a single shoot, all locked to the show's visual DNA.
A poster for a bus shelter and a thumbnail on a phone are two completely different design problems. The poster breathes; the thumbnail screams. Historically, key-art teams solved for the hero image and let the downstream resizes suffer.
HBO Max needed a system where the thumbnail variant was as considered as the OOH — because the thumbnail is where most of the audience meets the show.
Approach
Thumbnail-first compositionStarted every show's key art by designing the 180x270 streaming thumbnail. If it works at that size, it works at all sizes.
Character-driven hierarchyOne character in focus, one visual hook, one title. No ensemble shots in the hero — ensembles go in the character gallery.
Aspect-ratio systemDesigned a seven-ratio system so any single image could be adapted to billboard, bus-side, social story, and thumbnail without re-shoot.
Animated countdown assetsPre-premiere social pieces built as animated Lottie / MP4 packages with a countdown plate and show-safe motion.
Show-bible color taggingEvery show got a color extract — dominant hues pulled from the pilot — that fed downstream into thumbnails, email, and merch.
Key Features
Hero Banners
16:9 and 21:9 cinematic banners for app homepage and CTV. Every hero has a motion version for live tiles.
Character Posters
Portrait-oriented character singles with show logo mark and episode-tease copy locked to the brand kit.
Countdown Social Assets
Animated pre-premiere assets across Instagram, TikTok, and X — all matching the show's motion language.
Thumbnail Variations
Per-show A/B test set — six thumbnail variations, each targeted at a different audience cohort.
Title Treatment
Bespoke title lockups — one per show, extendable to all marketing surfaces. Typography does the heavy lifting.
OOH Package
Billboard, bus-side, subway, and phone-kiosk adaptations — each with print-safe crops and brand-safe copy.
"The thumbnails started performing like headlines. We've been designing for the wrong surface for years."
— HBO Max VP of Marketing
Results
+18% trailer play rate across the first six shows launched on the new system.
A/B thumbnail winners lifted premiere-day streams 22% vs. single-variant baselines.
Three Clio Entertainment nominations across the portfolio.
System adopted across Warner Bros. Discovery for 2026 slate launches.
