Best Content Creators That Inspire

As a content creator, finding inspiration can be as easy as catching a glimpse of what your fellow content creators are doing.

Watching quality content made by others will also help you understand what the audience wants, so you can appeal to them with content of your own.

So, without further ado, here are our top picks for content creators worthy of inspiration.

1. David Firth

David Firth has been making web cartoons since the early 2000s. His unique style has garnered him many fans over the years.

David uses a variety of animation techniques to give life to a cast of bizarre characters living in a surreal world. His content has a dark sense of humor and is often disturbing and macabre, but therein lies its appeal – there is nothing quite like it on the web.

David publishes content on YouTube and on his personal website. We recommend you watch Salad Fingers, a cartoon about a deranged hermit living in a post-apocalyptic countryside.

2. Red Letter Media

Red Letter Media is a duo of Milwaukee-based film makers, film critics, and b-movie know-it-alls called Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman.

Mike and Jay take delight in making fun of both mainstream and indie cinema. Their content is part sketch-comedy, part serious film analysis, and a 100% homage to the art of film-making. They are an independent voice in the over-saturated, hype-prone world of online film content.

You can find Red Letter Media content on their official website, as well as on YouTube and Bandcamp. To best place to get started with RLM content is their multi-part series on the Star Wars prequels.

3. Every Frame a Painting

Every Frame a Painting is the moniker of Tony Zhou, a film producer that examines the works of cinema through an editor’s lens through video essays.

Tony’s content is always well researched, polished, and focused on the topic at hand. He analyzes film-making techniques used by famous directors, and explains how and why they work to produce memorable cinematic experiences.

You can find episodes of Every Frame a Painting on YouTube. We suggest starting with his analysis of Buster Keaton and his effect on the art of comedy in cinema.

4. Zero Punctuation

Zero Punctuation is a one-man show starring Yahtzee Croshaw, a fast-talking video game critic with a massive chip on his shoulder. Yahtzee has been making content since the early 2000s without missing a beat.

Zero Punctuation is an animated video game review series where Yahtzee performs emergency-room dissections on mainstream (and sometimes indie) games. The games Yahtzee reviews are frequently left in a mangled state after he’s done with them, which makes for excellent comedy.

Yahtzee publishes regularly on the Escapist, and you can also watch episodes of Zero Punctuation on YouTube. We recommend watching his review of Metal Gear Solid 4 to get a sense why Yahtzee remains unmatched in his content niche.

5. Matthewmatosis

Matthewmatosis has turned video game analysis into a science. He publishes content infrequently, but each video is clearly a labor of love and well worth waiting.

In his videos, Matthewmatosis goes over games with fine-tooth comb, focusing on design, mechanics, themes, and how they interact to make games work. Watching his videos on games like Mario Galaxy or Metal Gear Solid 3 feels like participating in game-development seminar on prestigious university.

You can find all of Matthew’s content on YouTube. A good place to get started is his analysis of Dark Souls.

6. SsethTzeentach

Ssethtzeentach reviews obscure video games using memes and internet humor. His content resembles a fever-dream of gaming addicts, and the audience loves it.

Sseth’s approach to content creation is to find a game most people haven’t heard of, and then hype it up in the most bizarre way possible using obscure references, gaming humor, and a bit of game-analysis on the side.

SsethTzeentach publishes videos on YouTube and streams on Dlive. Check out his review of Recettear to get a taste of what his content is about.

7. Jim Sterling

James (Stephanie) Sterling is an old-school video game critic that started their career on Destructoid and the Escapist in the early 2000s. Since then Jim’s gone fully independent to pursue greater creative freedom.

Jim offers scathing criticism of the video-game industry and its various shady practices, including predatory monetization, corporate shilling, workplace abuse, and terrible game design. If you feel there is something deeply wrong with the current state of the video game industry, Jim is who you want to follow.

You can find Jim Sterling on their website, YouTube, and Twtich. Tune in to the Jimquisition, a weekly show that covers the latest news from the gaming industry.

8. Super Bunnyhop

Super Bunnyhop is made by George Weidman, a mild-mannered video game journalist specializing in gaming history. His content is topical, on-point, and easy to follow for anyone who shares his interest in games.

George’s videos often analyze long-running video game series such as Mario, Zelda, or Fallout to understand how they fit in a wider cultural context. Sometimes he does interviews with figures from the gaming industry to get an inside look into how games are made.

Supper Bunnyhop is hosted on YouTube. Check out his deep dive into the Metal Gear universe to see what his content is all about.

9. PowerPlayChess

PowerPlayChess is a chess show hosted by chess grand master Daniel King. His commentary videos are a must-watch for anyone with an interest in improving their chess game.

Daniel has years of experience under his belt as a professional chess player so his advice is always on point. But what sets Daniel apart from other chess content creators is the comfy atmosphere. Daniel’s soothing voice makes it easy to follow intricate chess games between high-ranking players, making it easy for newcomers to follow along.

You can find PowerPlayChess on YouTube. Daniel’s coverage of the historic match between Kasparov and Carlsen is great entry point for the channel.

10. Shut Up & Sit Down

Shut Up & Sit Down is a show produced by a trio of board game enthusiasts, Quintin Smith, Matt Lees and Paul Dean. They review board games both new and old.

Shut Up & Sit Down delves deep into board game mechanics, themes, and moment to moment gameplay to judge if a game is worth playing or not. They often use sketch-comedy to spice up the reviews, which adds to the charm of their content.

Shut Up & Sit Down has its own website where you can find reviews, top games lists, reports from board gaming conventions, and everything else in between. Check out their review of Concordia to get a taste of their content.

11. Numberphile

Numberphile is a YouTube channel about maths made by Brady Haran. Brady collaborates with mathematicians from Nottingham University and beyond to explain complex mathematical topics in an easy to understand way.

The main appeal of Numberphile is that it has something to offer both to professional mathematicians as well as laymen. Math-curious viewers can learn about cool topics such as infinity, Klein bottles, and math riddles, while the more mathematically-inclined can appreciate the underlying math that makes them possible.

You can find Numberphile on YouTube, as well as content from Brady’s other channels including Computerphile (computer science), Periodic Videos (chemistry), and others. We recommend watching the video on how 1+2+3… = -1/12.

12. 3Blue1Brown

Grant Sanderson is the creator of 3Blue1Brown, a YouTube channel that explains tough math concepts with elegant visualizations. Grant also produces content for Khan Academy’s math courses.

3Blue1Brown is a channel dealing with a niche topic, but it does such a stellar job illustrating how math works, that it has much wider appeal than it appears. It is effectively a free advanced math course with production values that rival university-grade content.

3Blue1Brown is hosted on YouTube. We recommend checking out the episode on exponential growth and epidemics.

13. Kurzgesagt

Kurzgesagt produces pop-science cartoons that explore innovative ideas in ecology, space travel, science fictions, and related fields. It stands out among similar content creators thanks to its bright and colorful visuals and rich audio.

Kurzgesagt decides which topics to cover based on popular demand. They also take the time to research the topic extensively, resulting in highly polished content that everyone can enjoy.

You can find Kurzgesagt on YouTube. Watch the video about the ant megacolony to see what Kurzgesagt is all about.

14. Domains of Science

Domains of Science creates bite-sized science presentations through animated infographics. They cover STEM disciplines including maths, physics, biology, chemistry, and computer science.

Domains of Science uses the infographics content format to its full extent. To explain a graph can take longer than to make one, and DoS capitalizes on this by giving guided tours through the information presented on the graph.

Watch DoS on Youtube and be sure to check out the Map of Quantum Physics,

15. World War Two

The aptly-named World War Two is a channel dedicated to chronicling the events of World War 2 on a week-by-week basis. It is hosted by the documentarian Indy Neidell.

World War Two is styled as a news broadcast, with Indy narrating the events that happened during the same week back in the war. The war is covered from each sides’ perspectives, making the content feel like a sprawling epic.

World War Two is hosted on YouTube. Check out the series of episodes on Perl Harbor.

Conclusion

Finding a content creator that you like is the best way to get inspired to make content yourself. We hope you found something to your liking after browsing our list.