A picture’s worth a thousand words, or more!

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, but I say good quality photographs are worth a hell-of-a-lot more. No matter how fabulous your business or product is, bad quality, unprofessional photographs can really let you down. Graphic designers can only do so much with layout and type setting. At the end of the day bad images make for bad results, so put the digi-cam away, same goes for the iPhone. Photography is something best left to the professionals.

There are too many examples in the world where bad photography seriously undermines the apparent professionalism and reputation of a business. Shopping centre food courts house a myriad of whacky interpretations of advertising– please tell me who on earth would order Mie-Goreng when the picture looks more like plastic tangles of jaundice cow’s intestines. No exaggeration.

Would you order that meal?

When you are considering updating your website, having a business card made or hiring a graphic designer to create any other piece of promotional material, you need to also consider the imagery. Whether you hire a professional photographer, or opt for the more economical stock-image option, investing in good quality photos can really make your business shine.

Sarah Belle Design is a client we have worked closely with in the past. Specialising in re-vamping and re-designing interior spaces, both Sarah and I agreed that hiring a professional photographer to shoot her past work was worth the investment. The crisp high resolution images we received became the focus of all the graphic design work, highlighting Sarah’s fantastic work and bringing an increased level of sophistication to her website.

Beautiful photography on the Sarah Belle website. Click through to see more…

Another approach to acquiring imagery is stock image websites. There is a vast pool of high quality professional looking photos on the web, and chances are that there is something relevant to your business and profession. Long term client of ours, About Beauty, found that stock imagery catered for their image-needs. The collection of images we chose all featured a pink Gerbera, which has become the hero of all the graphic design.

Application of stock imagery… effective and economical

Now, lets talk about your headshot. You know, the one on your Linked-In account, brochure, website, business card– whatever else you choose to post your face on. Before we move forward, I ask you, is it the same photo you have attached to your Facebook page? Does it feature you having a good ol’ time with your buds? Or are the cropped out to leave a strangely framed, highly pixelated shot of you (give or take an arm or two).

Having a bad head-shot is just as bad as having bad breath, sweaty palms or a toothpaste stain on your tie. It undermines your professionalism and makes you look disreputable.
A good quality professionally photographed headshot will last you up to five years. It will make you look like a clean, polished professional that clients want to work with. There is really no reason for you not to get one done, so get on it people!

Professional head-shots as seen on the CE Family Lawyers site. Click through for more…

At the end of the day, potential clients want to see results before they invest, so the quality of the photographs you put on your promotional material is paramount. Don’t discount the power of images! We eat with our eyes, and judge a book by its cover, so make sure the pictures you use make you stand out from the crowd and shine!