Provide two descriptions for your product:
- Short: a one sentence description, suitable to be used as a subtitle
- Long: describe what your product does, who it is meant for, include a list of defining features, another list for potential use cases, etc.
Please compare your product to others already for sale. When existings products are similar, provide clear information on what differentiates your product from the competition. Explain its unique selling points.
Trademarks
Before you settle on a product name and graphic for its icon, make sure it does not infringe on existing trademarks or copyrights. Please describe what your trademark search has turned up, including links to your findings, to support your choices.
In addition to avoiding the use of trademarks owned by others, we invite you to choose a product name, icon and design language that does not attempt to replicate an existing product on our catalog. This is common courtesy to the other developers whose products are already distributed on our catalog.
More technical guidelines for creating product icons are available on a dedicated page.
Promo
Video
- 4K 3840x2160 preferred but minimum HD 1920x1080, submitted as a high-quality H.264 or better.
- Jump straight into action. Avoid intro bumpers as they dramatically decrease views.
- Show what the product does.
- Include icons of each supported video app.
- Include shots of your product being used in each supported video app.
- NEW An 8 second long 1280p 1280x720 version to be used when the mouse is sitting above the video thumbnail. Choose an 8 second-long portion of the demo video that best shows the product in action. This small video is looped as long as visible. 8 second demo video example
Our own experience suggest that the 8 second preview should play back at twice the normal speed. This fits well with the lack of audio, and compresses more content for the user to see.
Thumbnails
Our recommendation is that you create two versions of each thumbnail meant to identify your videos, one for YouTube and one for our website. The resolution is common to both:- 4K 3840x2160 preferred but minimum HD 1920x1080. File size should be 2MB or less.
The requirements for the YouTube version of your thumbnail are specific to that platform:
- Titles need to remain visible when the thumbnail is previewed at very small sizes so make your text large and clear, 25 characters or less.
- Include icons of each supported video app. These are usually found in a corner, so that users can quickly determine if the video covers the app they are using.
- Prioritize output from the product to engage users. Show what the product does, not the product name, author, etc.
Here is an example of what the YouTube thumbnail for a demo video would look like:
NEW The version of each thumbnail you create for our website should have no host icons. Our website shows app compatibility information in multiple places, so the icons would be redundant. Avoid the product name, logo or titles, unless the product itself is a collection of titles and therefore that’s the output you are trying to show. In summary:
- Avoid any titles unless that’s what the product does.
- Avoid host app icons.
- The thumbnail should show what the product does, not repeat the same branding over and over.
Here is an example of a thumbnail for the same demo video, created for our website.
Tutorial
Video
- When producing your own tutorial, 4K 3840x2160 preferred but minimum HD 1920x1080 submitted as a high-quality H.264 or better.
- When giving us the job of creating the tutorial, provide video and/or music assets that should be used. This can be a subset of the assets used on the promo video to create a consistent feel across videos for a product. Provide documentation of your right to use these assets.
- NEW BUT OPTIONAL An 8 second long 1280p 1280x720 video to be played. This is to be considered optional, since we can automatically generate one from the tutorial video.
If you choose to provide an 8-second preview to be associated with the tutorial, remember that it does not have to be cut from the tutorial. We will otherwise create one for you. Similarly to advice given for the demo video, it makes sense for this 8-second preview to play back at twice the normal rate. The lack of audio in these small video previews seems to fit well with the faster playback rate.
Script
When giving us the job of creating a tutorial for your product, provide step-by-step instructions of what should be shown in the tutorial and what assets to be used at any particular point. When writing the script, it helps to think of how you want to gradually present the product to the user. If the product is a completely new idea, introduce it as such. If the product enters a crowded category (e.g. content creation for Social Media) have the script mention what makes it unique (e.g. “first product to focus on the food industry”.) If it has a specific focus within a larger category, explain what that focus is (e.g. “motion graphics inspired by 80s technology”, “titles with character-based animations”.) It is likely impossible for the script to cover every single preset or template in the product. Instead, choose which preset or templates to cover carefully. Showing how to configure a particular effect is often the best way to give important context to the user, i.e. answering the important question “How do I tailor this to my needs?”Thumbnail
Follow the same specs as the thumbnail image, but please do not use the same image as you did for the Promo Video. You may want to stick to the same theme, but don’t add “Tutorial” to the image and call it a day. The two banners should be distinct.
The same considerations made for the Demo apply to the Tutorial thumbnail. It is best to create one version for YouTube and one version for our website.
When creating the YouTube version of your thumbnail, make sure to include the words “How-to” or “Tutorial” somewhere in the graphic. This allows users to quickly differentiate between promo videos and tutorials.
Here is an example of what the thumbnail for a video tutorial meant for YouTube would look like:
NEW Here is an example of a thumbnail for the same tutorial, created for our website.
Newsletter
Banner Image
There are some important distinctions between the banner graphic you will supply for the newsletter and the thumbnails you supply for the promo and tutorial videos. While it is certainly possible (even advisable) to have the same base image for both, the banner image you create for the newsletter should have far less detail:- 4K 3840x2160 preferred but minimum HD 1920x1080. File size should be 2MB or less.
- Show an example of the product’s output or something that explains the product.
- Do not include your product’s title, unless the title itself demonstrates the product’s output (this is usually true only for titling products). Remember that the product’s title is already displayed in large font below the graphic, so having it displayed twice is a waste. Instead, use the banner graphic to show what the product does. Users will ultimately be interested in your product for what it outputs, not for its name.
- Do not include a vendor logo or host application icons. Compatibiltiy information is included in the title or subtitle (e.g. “for Final Cut Pro”).
- Your may include the the price and introductory discount if appropriate.
Landing Page
Banner Image
- Graphic file should have 3840x1080 resolution.
- This graphic should not include the product title or description. These are always displayed right below the graphic, in large font.
- The graphic should overall be dark in appearance, as our navigation elements are white and composited directly over your banner graphic.
- Keep the area under our navigation elements as clear as possioble of detail, so as to keep the navigation elements visible.
- Refer to the following Photoshop template to help you lay out your content:
Banner Video: NEW
- 3840x1080 video, submitted as a high-quality H.264 or better.
- Duration should not exceed 8 seconds.
The landing page fades to the static graphic (Banner Image) once the video is done playing or you can choose to have your video loop. In our experience, looping videos don’t work as well. As we hope to integrate these videos on our homepage, looping videos are also at risk of feeling out-of-place in that context. The plan to display these videos on our homepage should also explain the 8 second duration: that will be delay between one video and the next.
Your video is currently displayed on all devices and screen resolutions, but we plan on giving you the options to submit a square video soon, to be used both for the product landing page and in social media campaigns.
Tips
- If your product does not have any visual output, consider creating banners and thumbnails by compositing images of your product in action. This is especially true for audio plugins or apps.
- Avoid unnecessary text or logos, in other words don’t crowd the design with anything that will drive attention away. Many details will be invisible when the thumbnail is previewed at small size anyway.