Meet the Team Photos
For our website, we decided we should take 'Meet the Team' or 'About Us' photos as this would help show who we are and our identity while also creating a connection with viewers. As the photographer of the group, I took on this responsibility.
I thought it would be best to look at our competitors meet the team photos so we could get a sense of different styles and what worked for them.
Competitors
East Street Arts
East Street Art's images were shot on location, using natural lighting. Each image shows the person standing in front of an open doorway, which I interpreted as a way for them to symbolise their brand 'opening doors for creatives'. It gives the impression as if they are welcoming and approachable and saying 'step inside'.
Their team was photographed in a creative way, with each member smiling and wearing natural, earthy-coloured, casual clothing without logos or text that could distract from the image. I feel that by doing this it made them appear authentic and relatable as if they were showing themselves just as they are. I feel that their images contrast with most websites I looked at, as they don't come across as very professional and I don't mean that in a bad way. Sometimes professional images in a studio, wearing formal clothing, can appear very corporate and uninviting to the viewer.
Jerwood Arts
Jerwood Arts' headshot images are taken in a studio with studio lighting and positioned against a grey background , I feel that the use of the same grey background shows professionalism and consistency. The composition shows the person from the chest up and shot at eye-level to which creates a feeling of direct connection with the viewer.
The black and white colour of the images adds to the professional tone and also avoids any distractions from bright colours. The people in the images are smiling which helps to create a positive and approachable feelings of their team.
Hoot Creative Arts
Hoot Creative Arts' images were shot in a studio against a dark orange background, which was an interesting choice as it did not match their branding colours. However, the use of the orange colour in each image helps to create a uniform look. However, the lighting in each picture changed and this resulted in the orange colour on the background looking different in each image, which personally I think makes the images appear unprofessional.
One main thing I noticed when looking at their images, was that the subjects wore clothing featuring bold text, logos, and patterns. I feel that this was distracting and could even associate themselves with unintended brands. Because of this, I think it would be best to avoid using clothing with text, logos, or patterns when taking our photos.
Globe Arts Studio
Globe Arts' images were taken in the studio against a blue background, which matched up with their brand colours, creating a cohesive and consistent look throughout the images.
The images of them individually seemed to be taken at a 3/4 length. This framing made it so the viewers were able to see the person's clothing as they are wearing branded t-shirts. By wearing branded t-shirts this helped to create a uniform look and also further their brand awareness.
Innovation Arts
Innovation Arts' images were taken in a studio, against a white background. This choice looks very professional and clean.
As the images were headshots, the people were photographed from the chest up, which created an images that would be more focused on their facial expressions. The expressions shown in their images where mostly smiles, this creates an approachable and friendly vibes.
The images were also made in black and white, which I feel adds to the clean look of the images. By removing colour from the images helps the viewer further focus on key details of the image such as facial expressions.
My Photos
When it came to photographing my own images for our team, I showed the rest of the team the research I had done on competitors' images. We all agreed that Jerwood Arts' and Innovation Arts' images inspired us the most and would convey a message of professionalism yet friendliness.
I mentioned that the images Hoot Creative Arts had done were very distracting and that we should avoid text, logos and crazy patterns in our clothing choices. However, I suggested we take note of the outfits the Globe Arts Studios team were wearing as they were very casual and 'everyday' clothing, I think this would make us seem more approachable and friendly whereas the smarter clothing worn by Innovation Arts almost seemed too corporate and serious.
We decided that the final images would be black and white, although colour can make the image seem more appealing we wanted the lack of colour to emphasise our facial expressions. Also, I decided on a headshot crop like Innovation Arts as this would further emphasise the focus on our facial expressions.
Illustrations
Figure 1 - East Street Arts. (n.d). Helen Moore - Engagement Leed [jpeg]. East Street Arts. https://www.eaststreetarts.org.uk/profile/staff/
Figure 2 - East Street Arts. (n.d). Karen Watson - Artistic Director [jpeg]. East Street Arts. https://www.eaststreetarts.org.uk/profile/staff/
Figure 3 - East Street Arts. (n.d). Liz Ainge - Space and Place Lead [jpeg]. East Street Arts. https://www.eaststreetarts.org.uk/profile/staff/
Figure 4 - Jerwood Arts. (n.d). Kaya La Bonté-Hurst [jpeg]. Jerwood Arts. https://jerwoodarts.org/what-we-do/who-we-are/
Figure 5 - Jerwood Arts. (n.d). Lilli Geissendorfer [jpeg]. Jerwood Arts. https://jerwoodarts.org/what-we-do/who-we-are/
Figure 6 - Jerwood Arts. (n.d). Clíona Malin [jpeg]. Jerwood Arts. https://jerwoodarts.org/what-we-do/who-we-are/
Figure 7 - Hoot Creative Arts. (n.d). Jonathon [jpeg]. Hoot Creative Arts. https://www.hootcreativearts.co.uk/about-us
Figure 8 - Hoot Creative Arts. (n.d). Untitled [jpeg]. Hoot Creative Arts. https://www.hootcreativearts.co.uk/about-us
Figure 9 - Hoot Creative Arts. (n.d). Holly [jpeg]. Hoot Creative Arts. https://www.hootcreativearts.co.uk/about-us
Figure 10 - Globe Arts Studio (n.d). Untitled [jpeg]. Globe Arts Studio. https://www.globearts.org.uk/team
Figure 11 - Globe Arts Studio (n.d). Untitled [jpeg]. Globe Arts Studio. https://www.globearts.org.uk/team
Figure 12 - Globe Arts Studio (n.d). Untitled [jpeg]. Globe Arts Studio. https://www.globearts.org.uk/team
Figure 13 - Innovation Arts (n.d). Sally Pring [jpeg]. Innovation Arts. https://innovation-arts.com/about-us/
Figure 14 - Innovation Arts (n.d). David Christie [jpeg]. Innovation Arts. https://innovation-arts.com/about-us/
Figure 15 - Innovation Arts (n.d). Sam Lakha [jpeg]. Innovation Arts. https://innovation-arts.com/about-us/
Figure 16 - Innovation Arts (n.d). Jonathan Guppy [jpeg]. Innovation Arts. https://innovation-arts.com/about-us/
Figure 17 -