YouTube has rolled out a new channel design. Currently, you can switch to and from the new design. However, on March 7, 2012 the migration to the new design will be mandatory and automatically switched over for all existing channels.

What Changes

With the old design, many brand channels use header banner images that contain specific web and social links. The new design changes the approach to layout by the following: 

• There are no separate banner images used in the new channel design 

• The channel content can be pushed down up to 150 pixels to expose the background image as desired. (This used to be handled by a separate banner image.)

The other notable change is the addition of a Featured Tab, complete with four template options provided by YouTube.

”The Featured Tab is an optional tab that can be used for displaying your Playlists, Channels, and/or videos from a Playlist in a straightforward and easily editable way.”

Options include:

This allows for more flexibility in how you display content, giving more prominence to different types of content depending on your specific needs.

What Doesn’t Change

Much of the core content on your channel will not change, and will migrate to the new design without issue. The following content will remain unchanged:

• Videos
• Playlists
• Comments
• Subscribers      
• Like
• Account Settings
• About Content

For a full list, see What Automatically Migrates to the new Channels design after I opt-in? 

YouTube has provided channel owners with more options for how to display content, while making the migration process to the new design as easy as possible.

See the complete New Channel Design Guide. 

If you see any good examples of brands using the new design in creative and unique ways, feel free to share them here.