How to use color to take your brand photoshoots to the next level
On the surface, deciding what colors to wear in your brand photoshoot seems deceptively simple.
You might be thinking, “well surely, I should just wear my brand colors, right?” That can be a great choice if you’ve nailed your branding and the colors reflect exactly who you are, what you do and how you want your clients to feel. If that’s not true, or you simply don’t love the limitations of having to find styles in your exact brand colors, it becomes a much more difficult decision to make.
Yet, it’s worth figuring out because color is a powerful tool that you can harness to drive home the message of your brand in a single glance.
The power of color
When you look at a color, how do you feel? Oftentimes, there's a subtle but visceral reaction, a quick impression in your brain sparked by that color and its subliminal meaning.
For example, when you look at red you could feel hungry, energized, or powerful. When you look at yellow you might subconsciously feel happy, energetic, or even alarmed. As these feelings are evoked, they also bring with them an urge or desire. They can even drive certain expectations and experiences!
This is why huge, successful companies pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to branding agencies to pick the perfect colors for their brand.
McDonald’s is a great example of this. Red and yellow are known to stimulate hunger. When you see the McDonald’s logo or drive by a location, that color peaks your hunger and you may find yourself craving a Big Mac, even enough to be drawn in to grab a quick bite. At the same time, these colors also are very stimulating to the mind and not pleasant to hang out in for long periods of time, which is perfect if you’re in the fast-food business. You don’t want people lingering for hours. It’s designed to be an experience where you get in, get your food, and get out.
On the flip side, if you head to a spa, you’ll usually see colors like purple, blue, and gray. These colors are soft and soothing to the senses, creating a feeling of ease and relaxation - exactly what they want you to experience with their services. You’ll also see a lot of white, which represents purity and evokes an expectation of detoxification and cleansing.
If simply seeing colors can elicit feelings and expectations in others, think about how powerful it is when you wear a certain color. That same psychology of color concept applies to others and you for double the impact. Slipping into a certain color can change how you feel about yourself, affecting your mood and energy during the photo shoot, which shows up in the final photos.
When you look at it this way, color is a powerful tool that you can use to your advantage to take your branding shoots to the next level, from the inside out.
This is why it's not about wearing the exact colors of your brand to make sure you match the color story. It's about using what you wear to evoke the feeling of your brand, drive an urge or desire and create an experience to powerfully convey your message all in a single glance.
So how do you tap into this power? Here are three important things to consider when choosing what colors to wear in your brand photoshoot.
First, consider how you want to feel during your photoshoot.
Even if your brand identity is spot on for your business, it can be very limiting to only be able to wear the exact colors of your brand. These colors might be great for your business but are they also great for you? Do they make you feel amazing? Do they showcase your full personality? Are you excited to wear them?
As a business owner, it’s way too easy to always put the business first. The key is to remember that you didn’t get to where you are now by removing any sense of yourself from what you do. People buy from people, not from a business. You got to where you are because you are the secret sauce that makes what you do different and special and unique.
Blending into and becoming your brand in the photoshoot won’t be nearly as powerful as complementing your brand by letting your full, unique, authentic self shine.
Next, determine how you want others to feel about your brand when they see these photos.
Your brand colors have likely been chosen to drive home the story of your brand and create a look that ties in with your mission and purpose. Now it’s time to consider what feelings and expectations that will bring up for your ideal client.
In other words, how do you want them to experience your brand?
If you want them to associate feeling energized, excited, happy, hopeful or warm with your brand go with colors in the red, orange and yellow color families.
If you want them to have a calm, relaxing, and trustful experience with your brand, choose colors in the blue, purple, and green color families.
If you want them to feel sophistication and elegance consider going with neutrals like black, white and gray.
Luckily, how you want people to feel about your brand is a reflection of who you are as a person so these two will likely go hand in hand.
For example: If you want people to feel energized and excited about your brand, slip into orange. This color will also help YOU feel energized and excited which feeds into the emotion captured in the photo. Isn't it beautiful how these two work together?!
Finally, consider the vibe of your brand.
Once you’ve selected your ideal colors based on how you want others to feel and how you want to feel, it’s time to pick the exact shade of that color. Every color comes in dozens of shades that impact the exact response it provokes. A dusty, muted blue will provoke a slightly different response than a bold, rich cobalt blue just as a soft, light pink will elicit a different feeling than hot, vibrant pink.
Does your brand have a serene, calm, and all-natural vibe to it? Consider going with soft, muted colors (blush, sea green, dusty blue, etc.) and neutrals (cream, light grey, beige) to give viewers a sense of ease and serenity when viewing the photo.
Is your brand all about having fun, being playful, and enjoying life? Then you'll want to go with vibrant, saturated, and rich colors like hot pink, cobalt blue, kelly green, fuchsia, etc.
If your brand is natural, earthy, and sustainable, then earth tones like mustard, burnt orange, olive green, and brown will convey that easily.
If you’ll be wearing different colors than your brand colors, this is also an easy hack to make sure everything still goes together and makes sense from a design perspective, when placed into your website or social media color story.
By being thoughtful in your color choices, your branding photos can have twice the impact in half the time!
Written by Guest Blogger, Rachel Michael
