How To Choose Photos For Your Brand And Website
Carefully curated imagery in your brand and on your website can set you apart from your competitors, instantly establish the mood of your brand, and attract your ideal client all at once. Plus, from a practicality standpoint, images on your site break up content so information is easily digestible and creates a visually stimulating experience.
Whether you take your own photos, use stock imagery or hire a photographer for a custom shoot, you need to consider the vibe of your brand & decide what style of imagery reflects your company’s values to create a cohesive professional brand.
For example if your brand is spunky and light-hearted you may consider images that are light and bright with a clean editing style. The images might even have bright colors and feature people laughing, smiling and having fun or being silly.
However, if your brand is high-end and serious then the images might include a muted color scheme, a dark editing style, and people dressed in business attire with contemplative facial expressions.
Whatever style or vibe of imagery you choose, you just need to make sure it’s consistent for your brand. We have found a lot of great images on Unsplash. These images are FREE to use however you’d like and there’s a HUGE selection with different styles. All you need to do is decide which editing style best represents your brand’s mood and use images with that style consistently.
How to Choose Photos For Your Brand And Website
1. Reflect Your Ideal Client
Birds of a feather flock together. Make sure the people in your images represent your target demographic (i.e ideal client). Showcasing examples of your ideal client will attract MORE people like them. Consider the age, sex, nationality, etc of the people featured. For example, if you own a retirement community your photos should showcase the elderly demographic.
2. Showcase Appropriate Emotions
The emotions and facial expressions of the people in the images should reflect how the client or customer will feel AFTER they use your product or service. For example, if you own a massage studio, the people in your images should look relaxed and peaceful, just like they would right after they got finished with a massage.
3. Set The Tone With Clothing And Environment
The clothing choices and background environment should reflect the setting and tone that you want your company to have. For example, if you own a law firm then business attire would be appropriate because you want to portray professionalism and build trust. You might also consider the shoot location to be in a very clean and tidy environment.
4. Feature Your Brand Colors
The colors displayed in the clothing, environment and background should reflect the vibe and mood for your brand. For example, if you own a daycare for children then the colors in the images should be bright, fun and young. However, if you own an expensive high-end handbag company you might consider a more neutral color palette so that your brand feels refined and sophisticated.
5. Choose An Editing Style That Matches The Mood Of Your Brand
The way a photo is edited (using filters that emphasize colors and textures) can also add to the mood of your images. For example if you own an antique furniture store, your images could be edited with a vintage filter to create a consistent feel and message for you brand.
PRO TIP: Whatever style of editing you decide on, you need to make sure that ALL of your images have the same editing style. This creates consistency, which enhances professionalism and builds trust with your potential client or customer. Take a look at your images next to each other to make sure they all look like they were taken by the same photographer with the same editing style.
5 Ways To Get Your Images
Hire a photographer and orchestrate a styled shoot.
Take photos yourself with an iPhone or DSLR. We love using VSCO for editing our own iPhone images.
Borrow your friend’s images. Do you have a talented friend with a cool Instagram feed that matches your brand vibes? Tap into that talent.
Hire a college kid! If you're on a tight budget, but want some photos taken, consider hiring someone just starting out to build their portfolio.
Use stock images. Unsplash is our favorite resource for stock images. The images are FREE to use however you’d like and there’s a HUGE selection with different styles. PLUS: Unsplash has collections already laid out for you to look through for similar photography styles and vibes.