Lesson #23 : Leave it to the professionals
Considering my previous role as a ‘Creative’ in advertising I was pretty adamant I didn’t need a Stylist for my first product photo shoot. I mean, how hard can it be to position your own product and add a few props either side to give it some context?
As a Solo founder I am used to planning and doing everything myself and naturally left no time to prepare for the shoot – a shoot that could dramatically transform the My Icon Story brand, attract new customers and ultimately generate new business. I could not afford to f**k this up!
With only 2 weeks until shoot day I felt completely out of my depth. I had never been on a product shoot, let alone planned one. It was time to call in the professional.
I booked my shoot with Yeshen Venema, who for the last 3 years, has worked in partnership with Mugdha Sapte – his studio stylist. I met with Mugdha and spent 2 invaluable hours planning my shoot: what I wanted to get out of it, the products I wanted to shoot, what the shots would be used for (social, content, editorial, website gallery) and any themes or focus that would determine props, styling and visual identity. I can’t put into words just how important it was to do this especially as I had never done a product shoot before. I left feeling completely prepared and confident that the output of the shoot would be nothing less than pure brilliance. Thank you Mugdha!
Shoot Day!
Shoot day was literally a ball of fun and I couldn’t have asked for anything more for My Icon Story’s first professional product shoot! Yeshen and Mugdha made the whole day so enjoyable was planned to perfection. Above all though, it was creative, collaborative and fun! From organising the different scene set-ups to playing with coloured paper, washi tape and post it notes, we gave every single product photo life and character and brought the vibrant and playful nature of My Icon Story to life!
Creating a visual identity: Lines, icons, colour
Minimalist line design is our strongest brand identity so we used strips of washi tape in My Icon Story brand colours to create a visual identity for the brand and photos in the shoot. Our icons are without a doubt our most important feature. This is what makes My Icon Story unique in the personalised gift market. Printing hundreds of single icons on square Moo business cards was a simple way of communicating our vast icon variety, themes and subjects.
Finally, bright pop colours is what gives My Icon Story it’s fun and playful character which is why we loved playing with different coloured paper and card to create interesting compositions and angles.
And we even had time for a few off-plan shots…
Top Tips:
- Plan, plan, plan in advance
- Bring in the professionals and work with a stylist
- Determine the purpose of your shoot and what the photos will be used for
- Create a shot list
- Create a prop list
- Don’t follow the norm – create your own visual identity
- Have fun!
Enquire or book a shoot with Yeshen here
