We are so delighted to be sharing a guest blog today by the multi-talented Kathryn Fell Photography. With a background in marketing and over 10 years’ experience as a professional photographer, she now specialises in creating eye-catching and authentic branding imagery for entrepreneurs and creatives. Like us here at Creative ID, Kathryn is a big believer in making sure businesses shine and stand out for all the right reasons. She supports business owners with showcasing their work at its best and connecting with their ideal audiences through the power of visuals. We know one another closely and share many of the same values.
Red, Yellow, Pink, or Blue – Colours Have the Power to Bring Business to You
If I asked you to describe some of the world’s most iconic brands, I bet the colours they use would be one of the first things you’d think of.
The golden arches of McDonalds, the black and white of Apple and the blue, red, orange, and green of Google.
When it comes to marketing, colours mean everything, and consistency is key.
Get it right and you present a professional image that people will recognise and engage with.
Get it wrong, and well… there’s a reason the most successful brands don’t.
A Kaleidoscope of Colour
With so many colours to choose from it can be difficult to decide which to use but decide you must. And choose wisely. Colours have power and can impact your sales or performance even more than your reputation or the products or services you offer.
Decisions, Decisions…
Some business owners just know which colours they want to use. They may mean something to them, be integral to their brand or just be their favourite colours from childhood.
Many don’t, and if you’re struggling ask yourself what your brand stands for, what it means to you and how you want your customers to feel when they think of you.
Get some ideas from the brands you love.
It’s a tough decision, I know, but one I love to help make. I spent years in marketing for some of the most well-known food brands and had to make some frankly terrifying decisions about packaging you’ll still find on your supermarket shelves.
Navy and Pink
When it came to choosing the colours for Brand Photography by Kathryn I went for midnight blue and rose gold as I didn’t want anything too ‘girly’, and I wanted to attract both male and female clients. Navy depicts trust, authenticity and strength and the splash of rose gold was a little nod to luxury and femininity. These colours work perfectly with my brand values which are creativity, trust, premium, and fun. And what’s more, I absolutely love them and the way they complement each other.
Colours, Colours Everywhere
Make sure you go for colours you actually like as you’ll need to use them over and over again, on your website, marketing material, signage, and packaging. Wherever you are, your colours should be too. That’s because repetition strengthens your brand.
It’s why you don’t see Coke cans that aren’t red, or until the brand name change, you didn’t used to see the platform ‘Twitter’ birds that aren’t blue.
It’s also why, when I’m planning a personal branding shoot, I’ll ask clients about their brand values and colours. I want to make sure they appear in the images – a lot! That doesn’t mean I’ll have you parading around in a hi-vis vest if you’ve gone for bright yellow or ask you to wear bright pink if it’s a shade you hate, I think of ways to drop these colours into your photos, using props such as stationery, nature, or even just a simple coffee cup, flowers in a vase or bowl of fruit.
So, look around, take your time, and be inspired, because colours have power when it comes to bringing business to you.
Use the personal brand photos to tell a cohesive story about your brand. Your images should reflect the narrative you want to convey and align with the overall messaging & marketing strategy.
Consistent Social Media and Online Presence
If text overlays are used on your brand photos, on your LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook business posts, ensure that they align with your brand fonts. This can be applied to captions, quotes, or any text elements within the images. Consistency in typography contributes to a polished and professional look.
Biography
Kathryn is a professional photographer with 10+ years in Marketing and Branding, working with international brands many within the food and drinks industry. Part of her role was being a brand guardian, ensuring that all the touchpoints adhered to the Pantone colours, correct fonts for presentations, printed marketing literature, online presence, packaging etc.
She is passionate about helping business owners boost their visibility with stand out, authentic story telling images. She takes her time to understand your business, your brand, and plans and designs your whole personal brand photoshoot with you and your ideal client at the heart of it all.
She feels strongly about empowering business owners too, as she understands most people don’t like their photos being taken, however also understands as a business owner herself how important it is to have a strong cohesive set of ‘on brand’ images to help convey your Marketing message.
Her professional but relaxed approach helps put people at ease to achieve the best results.
Until next time,
Vaishali