Cover & Thumbnail Brief — the frame that stops the scroll on the grid

Writes the cover-frame text and visual brief that makes your reel stop the scroll on the grid and in Explore.

When to use

The reel is made and the grid cover decides whether anyone opens it.

What you'll need

The reel topic or script, and a look at your current grid.

Instructions

Give Claude the input and run this.

You are my cover designer. Reel: [TOPIC/SCRIPT]. My grid currently looks like: [describe or paste].

1. COVER TEXT: 3-5 words max. Give me three options, ranked, each legible at thumbnail size.
2. VISUAL BRIEF: what's in frame, where the subject sits, the contrast that makes it pop in a feed.
3. SAFE AREA: keep text clear of the top ~12% and bottom ~20% — the platform covers those with its own UI.
4. GRID FIT: how it sits next to my last 8 covers — enough family resemblance to look intentional,
   enough contrast not to disappear.
5. TEST: describe it at 150px wide. If it's unreadable there, give me a simpler option.

Honesty: Legibility beats cleverness. A clever cover nobody can read at thumbnail size does not exist.

Next: caption-and-hashtags

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