My Favorite Content Creators

As I explore becoming an independent content creator, I realized there are a lot of things to consider:

• What medium do I want to focus on?
• What topic will my content center around?
• What style am I going for?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my inspiration for this career choice was drawn from my favorite YouTube channels. So, I thought it might to helpful to examine what I really enjoy about these videos, and what elements I might want to incorporate into my own content.

Mr. Kate

What are the videos about?

Kate Albrecht is an amazingly creative interior designer who, together with her husband Joey, executes some pretty impressive room transformations. The channel include different playlists or sub-series, such as videos where they makeover a room on a budget, videos where they feature renovations to their own home, videos where they transform office spaces, and more.

What is the style?

These videos are very similar to an HGTV show. You’ll have the hosts talking to the camera to introduce the room they’re going to make over and interviews with the homeowners. But a lot of the video features the actual makeover process, including, of course, before and after footage.

What I like about the videos?

The personality of the hosts really come out, and they are so genuine — Kate is upbeat and quirky and often has fun banter with Joey. Kate also walks through a lot of the transformation projects, making them seem like things that I could replicate; I always walk away inspired to do some creative project of my own. They have also cultivated a supportive community of what they call ‘creative weirdos’ and will often shout out their online community in their videos.

Abroad in Japan

What are the videos about?

Chris Broad is a British YouTuber who has lived in Japan since 2012, after moving there to teach English. His videos give us a glimpse into life in Japan, and often focus on food or things to do in the country.

What is the style?

The videos will typically begin with Chris speaking to the camera and setting up what we’re about to see. And even once we get into the core of the content, a lot of the video features a lot of speaking to the camera, along with shots of the food they’re eating or the activity they are doing. Most of the time, the action looks natural and not staged.

What I like about the videos?

Chris is very genuine with his sarcastic, British humor and isn’t afraid to poke fun at himself. He also has recurring guests with big personalities. With the videos focusing on travel, food and Japan, I of course love the subject of the content. Chris will often do videos in response to requests from the comments sections, and I like that interaction with his online community.

coolirpa

What are the videos about?

April is a seamstress and designer extraordinaire, and in her Thrifted Transformations video series, she takes thrift store clothes (often outdated and ill-fitting) and transforms them into stylish designs.

What is the style?

The videos start with an introduction from April, explaining the thrifted transformation we’re about to see. The rest of the video features a time-lapse of the sewing process with a voiceover from April explaining the steps. We get before and after shots at the end.

What I like about the videos?

Though the projects are probably pretty complicated and require some skill, April walks through the process in a way that’s easy to follow and not overwhelming. I like how she will be honest about the mistakes she has made throughout the process or things she would do differently if she were to do it again, bringing us along on her journey. The transformations are inspiring and also get my own creative juices flowing. The filming process seems pretty simple with just a few basic set-ups, but with the editing choices, the videos are still engaging.

NativLang

What are the videos about?

Josh is a language fanatic who creates educational videos about the history of languages and interesting linguistics facts.

What is the style?

These videos are actually animated, often with a mix of still images and animated characters. Josh provides the voiceover. He’ll often include an anecdote of his own personal connection to the subject of the video.

What I like about the videos?

The videos are pretty light-hearted and include humor, while still providing really interesting facts and historical background. I like that the host often talks about his own personal connection to the topic of each video.

My takeaways

There are many other YouTube channels that I follow (special shout-out to Dr. Pimple Popper and Naio Nails) but I figure this was a good mix. The list was varied but there are definitely common elements that I’d love to incorporate in my own content:

• Authentic voice and genuine personality
• Humor
• Connection with the online community
• Tips or creative inspiration

I think my next steps will be to create a few videos myself, either centered around local food places or crafting projects. I can test out what types of shooting styles work for me, what content topics are fruitful enough for a whole series of videos, and how I can best incorporate my favorite elements from the video series that I follow.