Product Styling

Improve the look of your products and improve your sales.

One of the nicest things that can happen when entering a shop is the feeling you get from just being there. How it all comes together… the colors, textures, styles, and fragrances… to form the whole atmospheric package. This first impression is a bit harder to achieve in an online shop, but not impossible. If you focus on honing the factors you can control… the design of the page, the styles, colors and look of your products, the atmosphere that you are trying to achieve is sure to emerge. Try to stay true to your own personal style and maintain the look you envision… clean, simple, fresh, and current.

Consider details like lighting, colors, shapes, textures and size relationships. Add props if they enhance the look you’re trying to achieve. All of these factors come together to capture the essence of your product. If the image is for a print or web catalog, shoot on either a white or black background. This puts the emphasis on your product and not the environment. If the images will be used in a featured position, styling is much more important because this key image can be used to set the tone for an entire brochure, catalog or website.

Point of view plays a big part. Shooting down at about 15 degrees is probably the most common view. Looking up at the product makes it look bold and powerful.  Wide angle lenses exaggerate angles and perspective. This can create a great impression or turn off the viewer.  Buyers like to see quality and a high quality image creates a good first impression.

Cleaning, steaming and other prep

Pay special attention to cleaning. Photoshop can remove the dust bunnies but it’s much less expensive to brush them away before you shoot. Remove all traces of dirt, grease and fingerprints. Wear a pair of nitrile gloves to keep smudges off the product. The smaller the product the more obvious the dust and dirt will be.

We gently clean your products before shooting to remove dust and lint. We use microfiber cloths and anti-static brushes  to help ensure your products look their best for photography. Garments and fabrics are steamed and ironed to remove wrinkles and add creases where appropriate.

Keep your shooting and retouching costs to a minimum by prepping the products as much as possible before they get to the studio.

Styling

Imagine two coffee cups. One shot plain, on a white background. The other, shot on the same white background but filled with steaming coffee with a heart shape drawn in the rich crema floating on the top. Which one makes you want the cup more? Often, spending just a bit more on the photography can multiply your sales many times.

Color

It is really important to depict the color of a product in its truest form. Buyers don’t like being surprised when an item they receive is markedly different from what they saw on your site. Put your creativity aside and let the product speak for itself.

Bottom Line

Your goal should always be a clean honest look at your product. A look that emphasizes your product’s good points without creating an unrealistic expectation by the buyer.