Creating a scalable, global photography system.
Developing a photo system for global deployment is a real challenge. While a truly custom-shot library is great, practical considerations can provide some interesting constraints. In collaboration with global finance and legal teams, our creative team knew we’d need populate much of the global photo library from stock sources, and dove into how to add a unique impression that would help unify images across 50+ categories for different product lines and industries.
Defining the style.
The new collection introduced a “cinematic“ photo style that brought with it a deeper, richer color palette, active lighting, and more direct engagement between people—both within the photos and with the viewer directly. The collection further reflects the diversity of the business, and its industry, and technology solutions. It showcases authentic, in-the-moment situations for employee, customer, and partner interactions, and recasts them in a new style that delivers a sense of rich storytelling and emotion.
A lot goes in to articulating a photography style. From subject matter, composition, color tone, and visual components to more subjective criteria like authenticity. Even after arriving at answers, the next hurdle is explaining it in a clear way to diverse groups of creative practitioners.
A comprehensive program of guidelines and educational content helped ensure that employees and vendors alike understood and applied the new system as it rolled out worldwide.
