You may remember us addressing how you need to catch your target market’s eye with a pretty photograph and capture their attention with the story it’s telling. This week I want to go a little further into that concept and discuss more of what your brand photographs can say about you and how you can stand out aesthetically. In the end, I want to help guide you in the right direction for your own brand photography
But first, I have to get something off my chest….
I have to admit, last year I started to get frustrated with the brand photography industry and the rut I felt it was headed into. Just like any visual industry, there started to be specific “money shots” that are guaranteed best sellers and everyone (myself included) did. These images are still great, however, I felt like our industry was starting to lose the creative images that would truly sell a specific business’s story. Now, don’t get me wrong, these formula shots are still great brand photographs to include in your collection but they do pose a problem : If everybody looks the same, how are people going to stand out?
(Specifically - how will YOU stand out?)
To help guide you in the right direction for your own brand photography, I want to give you a breakdown of how we work with our clients.
First and foremost, we know that the foundation of your brand is your story. That story is essential to how you show up for your customers - and it should be essential to the story your brand photographs tell.
There are many elements that go into properly telling your brand story. From the atmosphere created by texture, lighting and colors to the location, accessories and angles from which the photographs are taken, there’s a sweet spot that should be tailored for your business to accomplish the most successful brand photographs.
Picture, if you will, a crowded coffee shop, bright noon light streaming through the broad windows and bouncing off the white walls and polished concrete floor. Above the register - a large iMac and Square console - hangs a sign detailing each drink, it's crisp white lettering in stark contrast against the chalkboard. In perfectly designed symmetry spreading out from the sign, a golden clock, “coffee is life” quote and white marble potted plants are arranged on seamless floating shelves. Lining the edge of the white and grey marbled counter, cylindrical golden candle votives sit; their formation only broken by the occasional dainty, white coffee mug and saucer keeping a their patrons company. A small white cabinet sits at the very end of the counter, housing three rows of delicious pastries, lined in neat rows. Every element has its intentional home. In the center of the room, stands the owner, a young woman in her 30’s. Her crisp, white assymetric blouse is perfectly offset by a long gold necklace with a simple golden rod at the end. Her designer jeans are immaculate, fitting her form like they were custom made for her. Gracing her feet are a pair of black velvet Birdies, the Starling cut complimenting the hemline of her jeans. With a chic modern hairstyle, she stands relaxed and with poise, a confident closed mouth smile on her face. It’s an uplifting place; a place of productivity, high energy and high performing community.
Now, you find yourself in the same coffee shop. It’s dark, neither dawn nor dusk, the only light falls from the industrial incandescent fixtures above. A warm golden tint casts itself upon the white walls, clinging to the shadows and hollowing the shelves and their contents. Newspapers stack the counter. Chairs are neatly sat at empty tables. A lone coffee mug sits beside its saucer on a table by the window, just out of range of the florescent beams floating down. It’s shadowy presence draws your eye. In the center of the room is the owner, a young woman in her 30’s. She looks at you, leaning halfway against a chair, her arms gently crossed as her charcoal sweater falls untucked from her jeans. A small coffee stain is slightly hidden at her right pocket, the hem of the sweater unveiling the seeping color. While to some it may seem lonely, you instead are reminded of your groggy travel to and from work on the subway at wee hours and of your college trips abroad - travelling at the least appealing hours to get the most out of your money. A sense of comfort and nostalgia greets your distant memories.
Each of these coffee shops, while similar have different stories to tell. Perhaps, one of these spaces even spoke to you while you were reading about them - and that, right there, is the point. You connected with a story. So sure, I can write a pretty description but, what is the story behind each of these places??
For both of these coffee shops, I envisioned the same owner, just with a different story and different passion.
In the first version of the coffee shop, I envisioned a high performing boss babe who - a driven entrepreneur herself - wants to create an inspiring space for other young, energetic entreprenuers and individuals to do their work and host their meetings. She values a lack of distraction and the opportunity for productivity a clear mind can provide. She is concise and speaks with clarity and authority. I built the aesthetics of the coffeeshop around her story through colors, textures, lighting, details (like the perfectly lined candles and pastries) and body language. Her clothing was styled to communicate her minimalist approach to life and directness of business. I knew her target audience would be drawn to her confidence, accomplishments and tidiness.
In the second version, I wanted to take the same coffee shop but alter it to tell the story of a different owner. She grew up a military brat and went to college to be a journalist, inspired to tell the unfiltered truth. After a summer college internship just outside London - which she skrimped and saved to be able to afford - she fell in love with the colorful faces of the late night working crowd; a crowd she often found herself in due to her own late night hours running errands and chasing stories for the journal she interned for. She found home in a late night cup of thick, black coffee. So she set forth to create a space that could harbor the tired, driven, hard working individuals she’d grown accustomed to. Providing a space where she could offer comfort and quiet, she also relished in the stories that would walk through her doors over the years. For her story, I built an image of the same (well, almost the same) coffee shop to illustrate her heart. The setting focused on the quiet while newspapers leant to her history and also her clients’ value of keeping up with the current times. Her shop is clean, soft, comforting and you get the sense you can safely rest here and be appreciated for the work you put in - an idea that can be communicated through something as small as a coffee stain and as simple as a cozy, untucked sweater.
Each of these small business owners had a unique vision for their coffee shop. Their life experiences and the need they saw defined who they wanted to reach and the type of business they wanted to build. If the only photograph they had to showcase their businesses were of them smiling while holding a cup of coffee towards you while standing in front of the coffee menu sign, their story wouldn’t be told. They’d look pretty much just like each other’s businesses and wouldn’t stand out. It’s the details that truly speak volumes.
When we work with our clients, we get to know their origin story, their life experiences, what drives them, what their life philosophies and values are, their goals and interests and so much more. We help them pick a suitable location that will compliment their story. Sometimes that means we curate the look in our studio or at their own home or storefront. We even love going on location for branding photographs. Then, the lighting and textures are built in, coordinating with their brand colors. From there, we storyboard and brainstorm marketing ideas to truly showcase exactly what their brand is about.
When you’re examining where branding photography can take your business, I urge you to think through every aspect of your brand and pick a photographer that’s willing to invest in your story and bring all the details together for you. There are many elements that go into successfully telling your unique brand story. Give your clients something to capture their attention and draw them into your world, not just catch their eye!
