ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA — VidCon is the single largest gathering of creators, platforms and industry in the world, and for two consecutive years Dava was there in two roles at once: on the Creator Track stage and on the show floor as a sponsor.
In 2024 and again in 2025, Dava Thumbnail Director Damian (DamianDZN) was selected to speak on the Creator Track at the Anaheim Convention Center, teaching the packaging playbook behind some of the most-clicked thumbnails on YouTube. Both years the room filled before the session started, with a line of creators outside the door waiting to get in.
Inside the room
Packed. Both years.
This is what a Dava session at VidCon looks like from the back of the room. Every seat taken, creators standing along the walls, and a line outside the door of people still hoping to get in after the doors closed.
It happened in 2024. It happened again in 2025. When the people who make thumbnails for Jake Paul, Red Bull and 100 Thieves show how it is actually done, creators show up.
- 2
- Years on stage
- 0
- Seats left
- 1,000+
- Creators trust Dava
2024: How Top Creators Actually Make Viral Thumbnails
Damian's first VidCon session ran Saturday, June 29, 2024 in Room 207CD as part of the Creator Track. Billed by VidCon as one of the world's top thumbnail designers, he walked a packed room through the full process behind a top-performing thumbnail: title ideation, concept, design and the final call on what actually ships.
The session leaned on real work for creators and organizations including Jake Paul, 100 Thieves, Preston, Unspeakable and Red Bull, and on the packaging decisions that separate a video that gets pushed from one that stalls.
2025: The Thumbnail Myth
VidCon invited Damian back in 2025. This time the session took aim at the advice creators hear most: bright colors, big faces, open mouths. The talk broke down why the best-performing videos routinely break those rules, and why the idea, the audience and the value of the video decide the click — not the polish.
Two invitations in two years from the biggest creator conference in the world is not an accident. It is the same reason more than 1,000 creators trust Dava with their thumbnails.
On the floor: the Dava booth
Both years Dava also sponsored VidCon with an exhibitor booth in the Creator Track Zone. Creators stopped by between sessions to talk through their channels, look at real thumbnail and editing work, and meet the people who would actually be doing it. Many of the creators Dava works with today first shook hands at that booth.
Speakers
Damian (DamianDZN)
Thumbnail Director, Dava
Damian leads thumbnail design at Dava and is one of the most in-demand thumbnail designers in the creator economy, with work for Jake Paul, 100 Thieves, Preston, Unspeakable, Red Bull and more. He has spoken on the VidCon Creator Track in 2024 and 2025, teaching creators the packaging process behind thumbnails that earn the click.
About Dava
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Orem, Utah, Dava is a content production company with a full-time, in-house team of more than 50 editors, designers and producers. Dava produces long form video, Shorts and thumbnails for more than 1,000 creators and brands, and its work has generated billions of views. Dava has been featured in Inc. and Business Insider, and is the official editing and thumbnail partner of VidSummit. Media inquiries: support@davastudios.com.
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