A Four Point Guide to Choosing the Perfect Image

Images can make or break a brand. As much as a good design is important for marketing materials nothing can replace the impact of an engaging image. Images add realism and authenticity to your product. But often just realism is not enough. The images must be engaging enough to prompt the intended response from your audience. Here are a few pointers to help choose the right images.

Power

Powerful images are those that capture your audience and create an imprint in their memory. Images are like teasers. We want a user to be so impressed by an image that they are tempted to experience your product or service themselves. Lighting, depth of field,  proportion, layout, dynamism, actions, expressions and many such elements determine the impact of a photograph. Hire a good photographer and talk to them about your brand and your audience. The difference between the result of the same subject photographed by a professional versus an amateur will be massive.

Emotion

Whether it is intentional or not, images convey a mood to your audience. People look at an image and associate it with a feeling. Studies show that having a human element in an image connects with the audience much more than an image without it. For example, A photo of a happy couple unwinding with a glass of wine on the backdrop of a beautiful nature landscape is likely to have a much higher impact than just the flat landscape on its own.

Relevance

The images you use must reflect your brand. For example, if your product is a Luxury resort, the images need to portray that to the audience. If they make your property look like a B n’ B then it is a clear failure. Creating bespoke relevant imagery for your brand will make all the difference. Treat your audience with respect by using real images of real people and places. Never try to disguise a stock image as a real one. This will help your customers build that trust and credibility towards your brand.

Quality

This one’s a no brainer. The last thing you want is to put in all the effort in choosing the perfect images and uploading low quality ones so your users don’t get the full impact. Always ensure your images/photographs are taken at a good resolution. But do not upload them directly to your website or it will chew up on bandwidth and take ages to show up. Use the high quality image and compress them to smaller optimised versions that will reduce the size of the files while still maintaining the clarity of the image.