YouTube Creator Charts.
Billboard-style creator rankings that reached every YouTube employee in six countries.
Most YouTube employees didn't know YouTube's creators.
A surprisingly small set of well-known creators were being invited to events, featured in campaigns, or asked for product feedback — while thousands of top-performing channels went unrecognized by the very company that hosted them. It sometimes led to awkward moments when creators visited the offices and went unrecognized by staff.
Make creator data impossible to miss.
Taking a cue from the music industry, I designed a Billboard Charts-style format ranking creators by quarterly watch time — the metric YouTube had just shifted to as its primary success measure. Charts were printed as posters and placed in kitchens, lunch areas, and yes, bathrooms across all YouTube offices, globally.
Scannable design
Minimal information density — rankings, a few key metrics, color-coded trends, and category icons readable at a glance.
Localized
Each office received a global chart plus region and country-specific charts relevant to their market.
Physical distribution
Posters placed in high-dwell areas (kitchens, bathrooms) rather than email inboxes — where people actually had time to read them.
How it came together
- 01
Identified the awareness gap
Noticed that creator knowledge at YouTube was concentrated in a few teams — most employees couldn't name a top creator outside of the biggest names.
- 02
Designed the chart format
Built a Billboard-inspired layout ranking creators by watch time, with color-coded metric changes, category icons, and country flags.
- 03
Localized for each market
Produced global charts plus vertical-specific, regional, and country-specific editions so every office received content relevant to them.
- 04
Distributed via facilities teams
Coordinated with office facilities teams in eight locations to print and post charts in kitchens, common areas, and bathrooms every quarter.
The Creative Landscape of YouTube →
An independent publication spotlighting creative excellence on YouTube — by taste, not fame.