Brand Photography for a Surface Designer, Artist and Author
Client Overview
The client is an accomplished artist, and surface designer whose work spans lettering, stationary, fabric, calendars, mugs and desk accessories, to name a few. Her signature lettering and joyful aesthetic have earned her national recognition, including a feature in What Women Create magazine.
Project Goals
The objective of this photoshoot was to document the artist’s creative workflow, workspace, and product displays for her magazine feature and future marketing use. The imagery needed to feel bright, authentic, and editorial - celebrating her personality while highlighting the artistic detail of her designs. Multiple outfit changes and styled stations were planned to showcase versatility and depth.
Challenges
The shoot took place in a small studio space with limited natural light.
The compact environment required careful staging to maintain variety in angles and compositions.
Lighting was uneven, with minimal available daylight, so box lights were used to bounce light off the ceiling, creating a soft, flattering illumination.
Maintaining color accuracy across product types - glossy mugs, paper goods, and fabric - required consistent exposure and white balance control, as the environment cast a yellow hue that required extra adjustment.
Although the space presented some logistical constraints, the client’s thorough preparation made each setup flow efficiently.
Creative Approach
From the start, the client was exceptionally prepared and detail-oriented. She organized multiple creative stations, each arranged with materials and props to reflect different aspects of her artistic process. She also selected coordinated outits that complimented her brand palette and added visual harmony to the scenes.
My lighting strategy had to be adjusted mid-shoot as those yellow hues were difficult to dilute. I ended up using box lights to bounce a white light off of the ceiling to diffuse the yellow. As well as a white light focused lower on the space to even the tones. During editing, I took extra care to retouch minor imperfections, such as wall seams, window glare, and subtle shadow inconsistencies to achieve a clean and professional finish. I also ended up increasing exposure on many of the product shots to bring out the detail and rich color.
The workflow with this client was smooth, collaborative and inspiring - a true reflection of her professionalism, creative and kind spirit.
The final gallery presented a bright, cohesive, and editorial collection that showcased the client’s artistry and attention to detail. The images successfully illustrated her creative process from sketch to product, reinforcing her position as a leading voice in the surface design artitistic community.
The client expressed her delight with the outcome and stated her intention to use me exclusively for her ongoing brand photography needs.
