It’s simple, really.
If you want your website to look beautiful, you need to use beautiful imagery.
These days web designers are using images as integral components to a site’s content and not just for decoration.
Images strike us hard (without asking for permission), so ensure they evoke an immediate and lasting first impression. They grab our attention without the need for the viewer to read and digest pages of monotonous information, and help us to quickly form a relationship with the brand.
Here are our 4 rules for succeeding with photography on your website:
Quality
As far as quality is concerned, it’s important to pick a suitable resolution. There is nothing worse than a blurred image, so consider sourcing an image that is at least 1.5 times the size of your canvas to ensure the image is viewed at its best (bear in mind that a lot of devices these days have super high resolution ‘retina’ displays).
Selection
Images should create context and form part of your brand narrative. What are you trying to say? How does this image serve to enhance your website/brand? If you are using people through your photography why not choose a picture of someone using the product in a positive light?
Composition
The composition relates to the part of the image you want the viewer to focus on. How will it be cropped? What are you trying to draw attention to? Is the main subject of the photo properly exposed?
Stay true to your brand
Source original photography to proudly tell the story of your brand. Stock imagery can be obvious and contrived; it will rarely portray what you are really trying to say. So get creative and take control of your imagery. Having just invested in a new camera and studio lights, we’re really enjoying the creative element of sourcing our own images.
Finally, here are some example of websites that have really succeeded through their choice of imagery. Enjoy!
https://vsco.co/
http://www.instrument.com/
http://www.flklrsurf.com/#hello
http://www.ouurcollection.com/
http://www.polerstuff.com/
