innovation warehouse brand photography guidelines

INNOVATION WAREHOUSE

© 2013 Klaus Bravenboer, Peter Thomson, Ross Mackay

Photography GuidelinesVisual storytelling 2

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INTRODUCTIONPhotography is an essential tool to bring a brand to life. The Innovation Wa re h o u s e ’ s p h o t o g ra p h y should express it’s core values of approachability, professionalism and productivity.

Most importantly, the Innovation Warehouse is a brand about people, not the physical space. While it’s important to showcase the space, we try to focus on how people interact with it (and each other).

As the Innovation Warehouse brand expands to new locations the emphasis in photography will switch from individual locations should to the overall values of the brand.

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✖LINNOVATION WAREHOUSE


PEOPLEThe community is the backbone of the Innovation Warehouse and this needs to reflected in all our official photography.

Emphasise• Professionalism• Engaged and busy• Welcoming• Inclusivity

Show• Working hard• Interacting with others• Making use of the space

Avoid• Posed shots• Stock photography feel• People looking bored• People looking anti-social

Interacting Solitary

Natural Unnatural

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SPACEGood photography of the space itself is vital for both attracting new members and showcasing the current ones.

The space needs to feel homely and used by members but not cluttered.

Emphasise• Homely feel• Inviting community

Show• Plenty of space to work• Interaction with the space• Close-ups to put the viewer into

the story

Avoid• Clutter and mess• Large empty spaces• Long shots of the entire space• Soulless and corporate shots

Inviting Empty

Homely Cluttered

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QUALITYAll official photography should be of high quality. A camera phone photograph might work for social media but doesn’t fit with the professional tone the brand needs for print and the officeal website.

Try to• Use natural lighting where

possible• Shoot away from the windows• Get a good dynamic range

Photos must be• High resolution• Properly exposed• Appropriately cropped

Avoid• Noisy low light photos• Reflections• Blurred photos

Good range Underexposed and flat

High resolution Low resolution and noisy

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FOCUSThe focus of the photo should change depending on the context but there are general rules to follow.

Make the• Subject in focus• Subject matter obvious

Make use of• Shallow depth of field for

emphasis

Avoid• The entire scene in focus• Blurred subjects

Clear subject matter No clear subject matter

Subject blurredSubject in focus

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CROPPINGPhotos should be cropped to emphasise either context or detail.

Contextual photos are wider shots establishing a scene or environment. Examples include the Innovation Warehouse office space or a room of event attendees.

Detail shots focus on a person or object. This could be a portrait of a member working or a speaker at an event.

Contextual

Detail

Cropping to an interesting detail



PRODUCT STORYTELLING

Each of the four product categories have additional guidelines to be followed.

Consider the core brand values and product-taglines as well as the target audiences for each product story:

COWORKINGCOMMUNITY

INVESTMENTGROWTH

TRAININGEDUCATION

EVENTSINSPIRATION

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PRODUCT:COWORKINGWhen photographs are used to promote the coworking space consider the following:

Emphasise• Community• Productivity

Make the space seem• Inviting• Large• Welcoming

Make use of• Warmer tones

Emphasis on community Empty space

Welcoming Unwelcoming

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LINNOVATION WAREHOUSE


PRODUCT:INVESTMENTWhen photography is used to promote the investment services extra guidelines should be followed:

Try to capture• People hard at work• People doing deals• People in meetings• Whiteboards / charts• Balance between casual and

formal attire

Hard working

Professional

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PRODUCT:TRAININGWhen photographs are used to promote the training services consider the following:

Emphasise• Growth• Learning

Show• Productivity• Interaction with charts / diagrams• Classes in progress

Avoid• Boredom• One sided teaching• Charts by themselves

People engaged and interacting Disengaged

Interactions Just charts

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PRODUCT:EVENTSWhen photographs are used to promote events and meetups consider the following:

Emphasise• Attendees• Speakers

Show• Engaged audiences• A full audience• An inviting space

Avoid• Bored and distracted people• Empty chairs• Too much emphasis on slides

Engaged audience Disengaged

Full audience Empty chairs

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SOCIAL MEDIAPhotography for use on the official social media accounts is slightly different.

Quality• Still aim for high quality but

camera phones are acceptable for Twitter and Facebook

• Use quick event photos during and directly afterwards

• Follow up after the event with better quality photography

Subject matter• Don’t overdo it on the cat photos• Mix of the different products

Avoid• Black and white photography• Stock imagery• General office empty shots

Homely Empty

Vibrant colour Black & White



CONCLUSIONThe Innovation Warehouse is known by its fruits. Photography is the best way to tell the story of our members and their successes.

For a prospective visitor to the Innovation Warehouse, photographs are the best way to get a feel for the space and the people.

Better quality photography will lead to better communication with our audience.

innovation warehouse brand photography guidelines

Design

innovation warehouse

klaus bravenboer

peter thomson

ross mackay people

inviting space

ross mackay quality

coworking space

space needs