When embarking on a product photography project, one of the most crucial steps you can take is to work from the brand style guide first. Rooting your photography in the brand's aesthetic ensures high-end brand cohesion and consistency. Product imagery should be tailored to the brand. Not everyone you work with will understand a photographer role in contributing to basic brand aesthetic in this way. It’s important to remember that product imagery often acts as a companies first point of contact for new customers. Its where the customer journey begins, and its an opportunity to define the brand and serve the target customer. When incorporating product photography into brand advertisings, a thoughtful product image will incorporate beautifully, and product imagery made without these considerations will often look out of place.

The art director or marketer who commissions your work may not always see the need for educating on the very basics of their brand's aesthetic. However, you understand that perfect product imagery is refined from the essence of the brand. Even seasoned art directors can sometimes lack an understanding of the subtle nuances in product photography that make all the difference in ads that convert.

Why Start with the Brand Style Guide?

1. Establishes Consistency

A brand style guide outlines the visual and stylistic elements that define a brand. By adhering to these guidelines, you ensure that your product photos are consistent with the brand’s overall image. Consistency helps in building brand recognition and trust among consumers.

2. Reflects Brand Identity

The style guide is a comprehensive document that includes details about color schemes, typography, logo usage, and visual tone. By incorporating these elements into your photography, you create images that reflect the brand’s identity and values.

3. Enhances Brand Cohesion

High-end brand cohesion happens when all elements of a brand’s visual presence work seamlessly together. When your product photos align with the brand style guide, they become a cohesive part of the brand’s visual story, enhancing the overall impact.

Steps to Integrate the Brand Style Guide into Your Photography

1. Thoroughly Review the Style Guide

Before you begin your shoot, take the time to thoroughly review the brand style guide. Understand the color palette, preferred lighting styles, angles, and any other specific guidelines provided.

2. Plan Your Shoot Around the Guide

Use the style guide to inform your planning process. Select props, environments, and lighting setups that align with the brand’s aesthetic. Consider how you can incorporate brand colors and visual themes into your compositions.

3. Pay Attention to Details

Even the smallest details matter. Ensure that every aspect of your product photography, from the positioning of the products to the choice of background, adheres to the brand’s guidelines. Attention to detail reinforces the brand’s identity and creates a polished final image.

4. Maintain Open Communication

Keep an open line of communication with the client or the brand’s marketing team. Regularly check in to ensure that your work aligns with their expectations and the style guide. This collaboration helps in fine-tuning your approach and making necessary adjustments.

Understanding Brand Strategy and Customer Voices

In addition to the brand style guide, understanding the brand strategy, customer voices, and the language of the brand as seen from the creative team and community can be translated by the photography in subtle but impactful ways.

Soft and Warm Brands: For a brand that is soft, warm, and authentic, you would translate this into the initial photography concept with warm, soft light and an authentic editing style. Sometimes, less than perfect can be the perfect aesthetic, conveying authenticity and warmth.
Strong and Tough Brands: If a brand is known for being tough and strong, and customer voices praise the product's strength or capability, you would use hard light, emphasize powerful textures, and capture the product’s robustness and durability in your photography.
Clean and Elite Brands: For a brand that is clean and elite, pursuing the perfect glass of wine, for example, your photography concept would focus on clarity, symmetry, and consistency. The set would be designed to strive toward the ideal version of the product, reflecting the brand’s pursuit of perfection.

Benefits of Aligning with the Brand Style Guide

1. Creates a Professional Image

Photos that are in line with the brand style guide look professional and well-thought-out. This professionalism translates into consumer trust and can positively influence purchasing decisions.

2. Boosts Marketing Efforts

When product photos match the brand’s visual identity, they enhance marketing efforts across various platforms. Whether used in social media campaigns, on the brand’s website, or in print advertisements, cohesive images strengthen the brand’s message.

3. Differentiates the Brand

Consistent and cohesive product photography sets a brand apart from competitors. It highlights the brand’s unique identity and makes it more memorable to consumers.

Conclusion

Working from the brand style guide first is a foundational step in building exceptional product photography. By rooting your project in the brand’s aesthetic, you create images that are not only visually appealing but also deeply aligned with the brand’s identity. This alignment fosters high-end brand cohesion, resulting in a powerful and professional visual presence.

The photographer's job is to solve one of the most abstract and complex equations in the marketing effort: executing an abstract vision in real life with a technical image. It's important to be honest with yourself and your clients when laying out a timeline. Here’s the order:

Client reaches out.
Analyze the Ask: Carefully analyze the client's requirements and understand their goals. Review available materials to build your understanding of their esthetic, and audit their strengths and weaknesses. Consider the space and competition. Where is the client positioned in the market and where you can most easily strengthen their standing.
Communicate Your Understanding: Clearly communicate your understanding of the project to the client. Bring in your initial understanding of the brand to the table and ask for the brand style guide. Write a longform breakdown of your process, pricing, potential start dates and completion time line.
Set a Meeting: Arrange a meeting to discuss the project in detail. Complete a through review of the brand style guide, and audit the landscape before the meeting. Review the logistics of imaging their products in person with the client before bringing in the product to be imaged.
Bring in Products: Gather the products to be photographed, have a clear understanding of shipping logistics, be prepared to carefully handle and store products.
Solve the Equation: Figure out how to image the products according to their vision and your artistic eye. Do the work.
Complete Photography and Editing Together: Conduct the shoot and complete the editing process cohesively. Clients often cant see the vision in parts and pieces like you can. Complete the shoot and present polished work.
Deliver Final Set of Work: Deliver a completed, polished set of images. Working independently ensures the best outcome. If you’ve done what’s needed in understanding the brand, its highly likely that you are already on target and will stay more on target, solo.
Stand Behind Your Work: Offer revisions and address any client concerns. If you understand the needs of the work, this wont be an issue.
Marketing Integration: Keep in mind how this element interacts with the larger marketing objective throughout the process, and present formats that are plug and play for the client.

Remember, it’s not that the brand style guide always gives direct instruction on the lighting, color, angle, logo space, etc. It can be that you find an understanding and work from that attitude from the start. Subtle but important differences will take place, creating product imagery that truly fits the brand's style and ad direction, ultimately making a much better overall ad piece.

Kepchar, LLC can refine your brand and product imagery into a brand style guide to help brands without this asset get organized. Let's get you started on true brand consistency that elevates customer trust and understanding. Get in touch with us today, and let’s take your visual brand assets to the next level.