Image Matters

A Guide to Curating the Perfect Visuals for Your Project.

Has an advertisement ever left a lasting impression on you, lingering in your mind for days or even years? Take the Dove brand, for instance. Their advertising strategy stands out by featuring models of diverse shapes, sizes, ages, and races, fostering a sense of inclusivity and broadening their appeal to a wider audience. By selecting the right imagery, a brand can enhance its recognition even before the viewer encounters its logo or packaging.

Here are several factors to keep in mind when choosing your images.

Purpose and Audience

Before you start your image search you need to define the purpose of your marketing piece; understand the purpose of your design project and who your target audience is. Are you trying to evoke certain emotions, convey information, or promote a product/service? Knowing your audience helps in selecting imagery that resonates with them,

Asking these three questions may help:

What are you trying to communicate; are you trying to persuade or inform?

Who are you designing for and what are their needs?

How do you want your target audience to feel or act after receiving your marketing piece?

Context

Another important consideration is the intended display platform: digital or print? Since the requirements vary significantly between the two, a useful guideline is to prioritise larger image files for printed materials and smaller ones for digital platforms.

When designing for a website, email template or social media, you need to consider screen size and resolution. If you have an image that’s too big then this will affect your loading speed. It’s important to know the specification requirements to ensure the image will display as intended.

Specification will differ between platforms so it’s important to get this information before you start your search.

If you are designing for print you need to consider the print quality and size of the image.

Photographers and graphic designers typically require images of 300 DPI as the standard for printing.  High-quality (High-res) images, 300 DPI,* means that every inch contains 300 dots of ink.

When an image is stretched to fit a larger space, its DPI (dots per inch) will decrease, leading to a lower resolution image. This decrease in resolution can result in a loss of image quality, as individual pixels become more visible, causing the image to appear pixelated or blurry, especially when viewed at close distances, which can undermine the professionalism of your design.

It’s also worth considering the orientation of the image. There’s nothing worse than setting your sights on an image and then realising it won’t work because it is portrait and you need something landscape to fill your landscape page design. You can always crop an image to fit but sometimes this changes the focal point of the image therefore doesn’t always work.

Experiment

Experiment with different types of imagery such as photography, stock photos, illustrations and graphics; the selection should complement your overall design project and appeal to your target audience. If time or budget is limited then using stock imagery as-is can work, but in some cases, it will make more sense to customise the image to align with your brand. For example, to customise a stock image, you could change the colour of the main object or cut it out and place it on a different background.

Relevance

You want your images to relate to your design topic, theme and message; however be mindful of being cliché. The most effective imagery isn’t always a literal representation of the content but rather evokes a certain mood, emotion, or concept. Explore metaphorical or abstract imagery that adds depth and intrigue to the design. You also want your images to relate to the target market and their culture and background. Be mindful of images that could be misinterpreted or offensive in certain contexts. Remember to consider cultural nuances and sensitivities when selecting imagery, especially for global or multicultural audiences.

Brand identity

Images need to align with the brand’s identity, values, and guidelines. Consistency is key for brand recognition.

Your brand identity can be expressed through your logo, colours, fonts and tone of voice but your images should also complement and reinforce these elements. For example, a playful and fun brand can use images that are bright and humorous whereas a corporate brand may use formal photography that may convey a more serious tone. A graphic designer can edit stock imagery to better fit your brand and create a unique brand asset.

Get Feedback

Once you’ve selected potential imagery, gather feedback from colleagues, clients, or target audience members. This can help you ensure that your choices resonate with the intended audience and effectively communicate your message.

Need help with elevating your creative project?  Reach out to Citicreative we would be happy to help, it’s what we do.

* DPI Meaning | What is DPI & How to Check/Change it | Adobe