I have discovered a new passion of mine and it’s not in front of the computer at all…it’s styling pretty props to take pretty pictures! Oh but it’s so much more than a pretty picture. Often people ask me how to generate hype and get people excited for their new brand launch and I have a whole list of ideas, but this post is focused on the idea of doing a styled shoot around your new brand. And when I say styled shoot I don’t mean you get a bunch of vendors together with a bride and groom. I mean create styled images centered around your new brand with your new logo and other items.

Something I started doing recently for my full branding clients is to give them about a dozen social media images for Instagram and Facebook that are meant to show sneak peeks of their new brand leading up to their launch. Some of the images include a monogram logo, a shot of patterns, their business card, stationery, peep of website, etc. I then took it up a notch and decided to make a styled shoot out of it so now instead of generating all the images on my computer I take pictures with props that go with my client’s brand. I will get a bunch of props together that have the same color palette and look and feel of my client’s brand and then I’ll take an assortment of pictures. Some of the pictures are just objects arranged in a type of frame meant to showcase a logo I then will insert on the computer. Some of the pictures include actual items like a brand board or stationery.

Here is an empty frame picture and the picture beneath it is the final image where I inserted the logo in the center of the blank space:

Here are a few more images:

SOME TIPS:

•  CHOOSE PROPS AND COLORS RELATED TO YOUR BRAND – When you rebrand you should know the “feel” it should bring to others. You should know what emotions it portrays and certainly its colors. Choose props related to the feel of your brand. For this shoot above I chose to use white and pink flowers because this brand is all about a soft and feminine look and uses blush, peach, white, and a light sage. I choose props in that color family and kept things soft. I didn’t even have to buy anything except the roses!

• TAKE SOME “BLANK” IMAGES – What I mean by that is that not every item you print will turn out in images. For example, I initially took pictures of printed out business cards for this brand, but they weren’t showing clearly in images so instead I took a “blank” image and inserted the business cards using Photoshop. They make for pretty pictures on instagram too!

• DO IT ALL AT ONCE – To ensure the same lighting make sure you have everything you want to shoot ready for that day.

• THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX – I printed out my clients’ patterns and used that in my pictures. Anything I could do to beef up their brand and take a picture of I did it!