I really tried to like Philip DeFranco’s new set, really. You can see the old one here, on his Wikipedia page. After looking at the new one for about three weeks, I am no longer on the fence: the old one is better. By a lot.
You may think that creators just turn on their camera and start filming willy-nilly but actually, the sets-backgrounds-whatever you want to call them, are meticulously planned out. The background is a visual representation of who the creator is -- it literally works like a showcase of the creator’s personality as told through visual cues. It’s not just a branding tool and different genres of vloggers have different archetypes of what should be in the background. All Beauty vloggers have a large beauty blogger candle, for example.
Ali, a Creative Strategist at YouTube on Medium wrote of the subject last February;
When vloggers have their bed in the background, they are saying that this is intimate. You’re literally in the most intimate space in their house. Booktubers have books in the background which instantly communicates “I’m a reader.”
And so on. Which brings us to DeFranco’s, whose set Ali praised in 2017. DeFranco, whose news show has become a YouTube staple, used to have a background that was a bright, distinctive blue DeFranco jokingly called the “Phil Blue.” It was a very unique cobalt. The geeky toys on the shelves and various art (some of which DeFranco was selling) adorning the walls behind him let the viewer know what fandom he belonged to (like Star Wars, for example). Despite all the business of the background, the high contrast black couch and colorful pillows on either side of his shoulders helped redirect the viewers gaze back to what DeFranco was saying in the video. The couch and posters felt like a living room.
The new set is even more busy than the old but has nothing to redirect the viewer back to DeFranco’s face. The weird industrial/steampunk/Fallout lamps are too far away from his shoulders to have the effect the color-blocked pillows on the old set had. Worse, I’ve found myself repeatedly distracted by what the items are on the shelf behind him. It’s cute that they are Easter eggs and reference his past logos and shows (like the trio of monkeys, the clock) as well as him taking the next step in his career, but I can’t figure out what half of the items are. By the time I realize I have been distracted by what’s in the background, DeFranco is onto the next story and I have to rewind the video.
The new set is supposed to be more professional but instead of evoking a living room or intimate setting in someone’s house, it gives off a waiting room or gothy lawyer office vibe. The high contrast of the old set has been replaced with a dark and muted color scheme that blends DeFranco into the background, his brightly lit head floating there, discombobulated.
Old set: 8.7/10
New set: 4.3/10
