3 Ways to Show Your Personality in Brand Photos
Colors, fonts, messaging, values, pillars…all of those are important pieces to building a strong brand. But what about personality? This to me seems like an obvious necessity for personal brands, and I’ll go so far as to say even non-personal brands. Identifying personality is a non-tagngible aspect of a brand, and perhaps one of those ‘know it when you see it’ sort of things. But regardless is important in standing out among other competing brands in a specific industry.
So, how do you convey personality?
Is it through messaging?
Is it through visuals?
Is it through values and pillars?
Yes - to all the above.
But today, I’m going to focus on 3 ways you can leverage your brand visuals (we’re talking personal branding photos here) to convey personality!
Shot Ideas
You can plan for shots that actually are intentional in showing your personality. For example, when I worked with Isabel of Striped Dog Creative, she wanted her fun, expressive and bubbly personality to shine through with some intentional shots that were specifically called identified in our shoot plan as “expressive image”. Similarly, when my client Erica came back for a second session, she was really looking for some images that were fun and different and in her words ‘cheeky’. So we worked through some ideas that were fun, different, but also tied back to her super busy life as a real estate agent (can we say #multitasking).
2. Outfits
Outfits are a fantastic way to let your personality shine through during your personal branding session. Clothes are often times what people remember when they first meet someone. I mean how many times have you attended an event and meet someone new, and immediately forget their name, but of course remember that they were wearing this amazing green blazer? I know I’ve been there:
“you know the guy in the blue hat…”
“I forget her name, but she’s wearing this adorable yellow sundress”
“hey, remind who is the woman wearing the gorgeous mauve sweater?”
Outfits are what we wear, and our style is usually determined by our personal tastes and personality (and of course fit). Therefore leveraging outfits can be such a simple way to showcase your personality. My friend and client Kate is exceptional at doing this. She is able to show off her glamorous and Parisian personality through many of her luxe (often times on a budget) dresses, shoes and accessories!
3. Locations
A lot goes into finding the perfect location for your personal branding session. Just like you, spaces have personality (or sometimes lack there of). Things like architectural details, color and decor contribute to a space’s personality. And it is important to ensure the space matches your brands aesthetic, but also will it help showcase your personality?
For my client Hayley Denker Marketing, I worked closely with her to find a space that would go along with her brands look and FEEL. I came across this Peerspace Studio Space which was perfect. The space had colorful artwork (which was a perfect match for her brand’s visuals), but the furniture was simple, clean, modern, with a vintage feel - aligning with her brands no-fluff approach to marketing. This space, on the other hand, would not have been a perfect match for a brand with a lux, sophisticated, high-touch personality.
Summary
There are lots of ways to showcase your personality into your personal branding session…and these 3 are just meant to get you started. If you want to view more of my portfolio, click here to scroll through!