A quick guide to brand concept planning
November 15 2020
Whether you’re photographing a model or two or inanimate objects for product shots there are certain things to consider when planning through a photoshoot for a campaign or branded content.
Get to know the brand
The first thing to consider when you’re hired for a shoot is the brand. Who is behind the brand, what kind of audience are they looking to market to, and what is it they stand for. Understanding the brands values and their personality will help you create a campaign that will resonate with the audience and allow them to connect to you and what it is you’re offering. Take Mejuri for example, they stand behind simplicity and buying jewelry for yourself. They target the customer, encouraging the customer to buy jewelry for themselves as opposed to other jewelry stores who may focus on their jewelry as a gift you purchase for someone else. Papa’s Herb markets themselves as a laid back easy going brand, its colourful and fun and aims to remind you of Miami in the 80’s. Considering their personality, their product shots and photoshoots have to incorporate colour, vintage pieces and give the audience the warm feeling of Miami. Elisa Gentile is a ready to wear made to order Toronto based brand focusing on individuality and innovation. Creating pieces that are cohesive, fluid and reflect pieces of art. This is reflected through her product shots and editorials, developing individual sets that reflect the undertone of the collection. The latest collection “Ruhe” aims to tell a story of self reflection, giving off a calming aura, using soft and neutral colours in the pieces and in the sets the essence of Ruhe is captured in its photographs of the pieces.
Once you come to know a brand, you can begin to explore the following steps in order to plan and execute a photoshoot.
Developing a concept
Sourcing models & accents
Selecting the perfect site
Create a palette
Coming up with a strong concept drives the entire photoshoot. You can begin by selecting a colour scheme. Determining which colours compliment your products or your models can help emphasize the main subject and create a stronger cohesive photo or set. There are 3 colours you should focus on, base accent and neutral. Brands can also toggle 4 colours in the palette if it suits the theme. The base colour should be the one that emulates the brand and its dominant features. The other colours follow suit based on compatibility with the first colour. The accent colour, chosen second has to match with the base colour as it will create an accent for the base colour. The neutral colour typically acts as a background colour or a filler, it’s not meant to attract attention rather fill the empty space between the base and accent colours. Choosing branding colours for a photoshoot can be based on one of the schemes below.
Colour palette planning
Source: https://99designs.ca/blog/tips/branding-colors#:~:text=1.,in%20hues%20for%20different%20purposes.
Once you’ve tackled the colour scheme, you can develop a mood board using photographs for inspiration. This is also used to give models a sense of the vision you’d like to execute when shooting for the brand. Having a reference for models makes it easier for them to understand your vision visually as opposed to a simple description which leaves the concept up for interpretation. Though sometimes you can end up shooting better pictures by accident when you’re just going with the flow instead of following a structure for the shoot. It is important to have as a fallback incase the model isn’t able to execute the brands vision.
Source models and accents
Using the information you got from researching the brand, you can make decisions when casting models or sourcing accents for your photos. As cliché as it is, each photoshoot and piece of branded content has a certain “look” and by researching the brand you can decide which models or accents compliment the look of the brand. You have to consider whether the model is able to give off the right look for the brand. Consider if they’re able to express emotion, how comfortable they are with certain poses and how their overall look compliments the brand. By holding a casting for models, you can use their previous work and photographs to visualize them.
On the other hand, you may not be working with live talent at all, rather you have to create a set that communicates the brands personality. Take the “Papa’s Herb” for example. The brand is fun, laid back, colourful and gives off a vintage Miami vibe. Creating a set for this brand means bringing in a vintage vibe. In the example shown below, we used a retro speaker, bright coloured cards, a typewriter, retro phone and record player. All of these items were sourced in bright colours to match the brands colour schemes and the vibe of the specific campaign.
Location, location, location
The site for the photoshoot is the final step in the process of planning a photoshoot. Whether it’s in a photography studio, an at home makeshift set or an outside set, theres several things to consider when picking out a site. The first is whether you want an indoor or outdoor shoot. There are pros and cons to each, the first major one being lighting. On the right day, sunlight might provide the best possible light without any other lighting equipment for the pictures. On the other hand you may live in a place like Toronto where you have to shoot inside for majority of the year because of the unpredictable weather. In that case you have to consider an in studio shoot. Budget, time and size are important to consider when looking for the right studio. Using a preplanned shot list can help with timing when you’re paying for a studio by the hour. Coming prepared with your shot list can lesson the amount of time you need to scramble around in the studio adjusting models and sets. On occasion, the set may also house decor pieces that you can incorporate into your set to make the images stronger.
Images shot at Studio by House in Mississauga, ON.
Sometimes you can get away with just showing up to a shoot and going with the flow, you may even get some cooler pictures that way but if you’re a planner like me, you’ll want to go in with an idea of what the day’s going to look like. These are the 3 main steps I consider when I’m planning for a photoshoot.
With Love, G