Graphic design trends are becoming more and more about simplicity, which places even more emphasis on the photography that accompanies a design. Photographs can have many layers of emotion that can combine to tell a unique story. Everything from lighting, colors, subject matter, angles, and depth of field come together to give the photo its meaning. This emotion can then be added to your designs to create a much more impactful message.
Storytelling
Photography allows for people to communicate with their audience through visuals and aesthetics alone. A strong photograph is able to tell a story without the addition of text. However, when photography is combined with graphic design, it becomes a means to instantly set the mood for the message being conveyed. Imagine an advertisement for a kayak with a picture of the kayak on a white background. You can see the kayak and read whatever message goes along with it, but it doesn’t communicate anything else. Now imagine the same ad, but this time the photo takes up the whole background and is of someone kayaking on a beautiful lake at sunset. Even with the same text you get so much more out of the ad with the more thought-out photo. It conveys the sense of adventure and relaxation that comes with kayaking. Before you even realize what the ad is about, it’s already drawing you in.
Brand Identity
Since photography is a visual tool, it also lends itself to the creation of a strong brand identity. When photos all have a sense of similarity among them—whether it be from color, lighting, or something else—they become much more unified. A strong brand may pick a particular aesthetic for their photos to have. That way there’s a higher chance of the viewer recognizing the brand and creating an emotional tie with those particular photos. Even when the brand recognition hasn’t been established, having unified photos will still be much more appealing and less distracting. A common practice to unify photos in design is using a shallow depth of field. This results in only the subject being in focus. The blurry background then creates a nice area for text to sit on top of and stand out against for maximum legibility.
Finding the Right Photos
The challenging part of incorporating photography into your brand is deciding what is right for you. Many businesses aren’t exactly filled with the most photogenic content, but that is where the other aspects of photography can come in. Using unique lighting or adding a color filter can completely change the look and feel of a photo. Taking the photo from a new perspective can also achieve wonders. Construction companies can show their level of precision with a close up detail shot that a far away, full subject photo would never convey.
Everything has potential to become an effective and aesthetically pleasing photograph. It’s just up to the photographer to capture it in the best way possible for your needs. As advertising becomes more and more prominent, people spend less and less time actually paying attention to the ads around them. A strong and engaging photo can help entice your audience to view your message.
