Attention Grabbing Thumbnails for YouTube in 2026

I think clean thumbnails are best where they show people fast what the video will be about I remember when I would click to a video and be upset when it wasnt the same as the thumbnail so I would leave fast

I've had this strange idea that I might not do thumbnails at all but just put a bar across the top of each video with color and a label to let my audience know what type of video it is, and then just picking a decent looking screen shot to be the thumbnail. My reasoning is that now that EVERYONE is doing the professional looking thumbnail with the eye catching design etc, that a low effort minimalistic approach will actually be what stands out. If nobody clicks my vids though I'll try something else lol

(My other reason is laziness, I don't like making thumbnails lol)