Minggu, 29 Juli 2018

How to Take a Product Shot: Two Approaches Compared - envato.com coupon

So, you have a product. Obviously, you want to showcase it in the best light possible, which is why you should delve into a type of commercial photography known as a product shot.

As the name suggests, the main idea behind it is to shoot your product in an attractive way for diverse purposes. For example, you can use said imagery for catalogues, advertising, brochures, pitches, and more. Basically, any time you need a proper but appealing representation of your product, you turn to product shots.

Needless to say, if you want your shots to come out gorgeous and to fulfill the purpose you set out for them, you need to take care of myriad different elements. To make this easier for you, we’ve prepared a list of things you should look out for when dealing with product shots.

But not only that! In this post, I’ll show you two different approaches you can use to get the perfect shots for your products.

As a general rule of thumb, however, make sure that the products you show aren’t distorted, as you don’t want to cheat your potential customers. Likewise, if you have more than one product shot taken, go for a cohesive look to tell a story that makes sense for your brand.

1. Creating Product Shots on Your Own

app product shot mockup
Taking product shots on your own can give you certain liberties. Nonetheless, here are a few of the things you will need to figure out if you’ll be going down this path.

Manufacturing the Product

First of all, you need to have the product you want to showcase manufactured. Try to make it in the highest quality possible, so that it looks great in your photos.

Brainstorming an Idea

Next up, you need to have the right idea for your product shot: do you know what you want it to be like? What should appear in the image? Where do you want to take it? Answer these and other basic questions so that you have a direction to follow.

As mentioned above, if you’ll be taking more than one product shot, make sure they’re cohesive all around, so they fit together (e.g. if you want them to be black and white, or have a specific light story, keep it going throughout your product shots).

Searching for the Right Photographer

More often than not, you will need to hire a photographer if you want your images to look professional. It’s recommended that you ask potential candidates for their portfolio, to see what their expertise is and if they will be able to deliver on your idea.

Gathering the Appropriate Equipment

Lights, lighting reflectors, a camera that takes high-quality photos, a tripod, and other equipment is absolutely necessary to take product shots that will show what you have to offer in an attractive way.

Getting Models and Props

If you’d like your product shots to include people interacting with, wearing, or displaying your product, then you will need to find models that fit the profile you’re trying to hit.

Likewise, you need to think about the props that will appear in the shots (e.g. if the model will be sitting, what will they be sitting on?).

Finding a Location

Now you have the ‘what’, ‘who’, and ‘with what’, it’s time to establish the ‘where’. Scout for the right location (and assemble the required permits, if necessary), so that everything will be ready for the day of your shoot.

Going Through Post-Production

Lastly, once you’ve taken the images, they need to go through an editing phase (for this, you will need a computer, editing program, and skills), so that they look the best they can.

2. Creating Product Shots With Placeit

t-shirt product shot mockup

Another way to get professional and beautiful product shots is through Placeit. Placeit is a platform that allows you to create high-quality product mockups with just a couple of clicks. This means that you can easily put your design, app, or other product in a realistic environment without going through all of the hassle mentioned above; you just need to place it (get it?) in a mockup and you’ll have your final image in seconds.

To create your product shot with Placeit, you need to do the following:

Design Your Idea

Of course, you first need to have your product, app, or design ready and with the right dimensions to be imported into Placeit and placed in the mockup shot. This will guarantee that your design is cool enough to attract the eyes of the audience you’re trying to reach.

Know What You Want

After you have your design and a screenshot of it, you need to come up with an idea of what you want for your product shot: who should be interacting with it? Where should they be?

Luckily, Placeit has a large selection of mockup images (and they’re adding more every day!) that you can use for your product, so you’re sure to find something that fits your original idea.

Upload It to Placeit

Once you have a screenshot, or the URL of your design, and the idea of the image you want, you just need to upload it to Placeit, pay the required fee, and download it! In a matter of seconds, you’ll have gorgeous, professional shots to showcase your products.

Conclusion

So, whether you go through the whole process of taking a shot of your product or prefer to use one of Placeit’s mockups, the main idea is that, in the end, you’re left with an image that will yield the results you intend for your product shot. Doing so will guarantee you’ll be one step closer to achieving the goals you have set out for the brand you’re creating!

The post How to Take a Product Shot: Two Approaches Compared appeared first on Envato.



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Selasa, 24 Juli 2018

10 Tips for Making Brand Merchandise - envato.com coupon

Getting a store, app, band, product or service up and running is no small feat. After pouring your heart and soul (not to mention a humongous amount of time, effort, and money) into creating this brand, you need to make sure it sees the light of day. Enter, brand merchandising.

Now, if you’ve ever seen ‘Envato’ t-shirts, ‘Coca-Cola’ hats, or ‘Guns n Roses’ pins, then you’ve experienced brand merchandising at some point. However, if you don’t know what it is, brand merchandising is basically placing your brand (e.g. your logo or slogan) on products that your target audience can use, but that aren’t necessarily related to what you sell or offer (like t-shirts, bags, pencils, etc.). This helps your brand get out there and improves brand awareness, since not only will the owner/recipient see it, but everyone around them will also be made aware of your brand.

If done right, brand merchandising can be a low-cost way to get publicity—the key words being, “if done right.” If you think merchandising is the right step for your brand, here are some tips to help you make the most of this opportunity to get your name out there.

Using Brand Merchandising the Right Way

1. Pay Attention to Your Message

Nobody will want to advertise your brand if they don’t agree with your message. That’s why you first need to ensure your brand has a good foundation: quality, efficiency, values, and more. This way, your customers will wear your items proudly.

Speaking of which, it doesn’t hurt to have a clean, creative, and gorgeous design that people will want to don. Create your own logo with this online logo maker!

brand merchandising mockup - hat

2. Have a Strategy

To take full advantage of your brand merchandising, you need to have a set strategy. Knowing who you’re targeting, what you want, how you’ll get it, and how much you’re willing to invest in it will keep you from spending time and money on things that simply aren’t worth it. Plus, it will increase your chance of succeeding, so start setting a well-researched strategy.

brand merchandising mockup - shirt

3. Choose the Right Products

When choosing the right products to manufacture, you need to think about your consumers: their age, who they are, what they like, etc. This is because you need to make sure you give them something that they will perceive as valuable and that they will actually want to use.

Other than that, try to stay away from trendy items (unless your brand is all about trends), since these can go out of style fast.

brand merchandising mockup - hoodie

4. Start Out Small

If this is your first attempt at doing brand merchandising, your best bet is to start out small. Releasing a limited number of products will help you test the waters before jumping into the deep end with a large order.

brand merchandising mockup - pen

5. Create Quality Items

It will be hard to get your audience to use your merchandise if the t-shirt is unraveling or if the tote bag has a pixelated image. Not only that, but shoddy products will speak badly of your brand. This is why you should always choose quality. Opt for nicely made items and print a clean, proper design on them.

If you want a better idea of how your products will look before starting production, you can use Placeit to create realistic mockups!

brand merchandising mockup - cup

6. Get Creative

The first thing that might come to mind when thinking about brand merchandising is to make t-shirts with your logo on them. However, you shouldn’t limit yourself to just that: make pillows, mugs, tumblers, notebooks, hoodies, hats, and other items people may want to use. Get creative to stand out!

brand merchandising mockup - pillow

7. Avoid Seeing It as Profit

Selling your brand merchandise may make sense at times. Nonetheless, you should avoid seeing this as a way to make a profit. The main idea behind brand merchandising (unless you established something different in your strategy) is raising brand awareness, so set your expectations there.

brand merchandising mockup - tote

8. Don’t Be Too Pushy

Being too intense with your brand merchandising can be extremely off-putting for your audience and may have the opposite effect than what you’re trying to achieve. Also, don’t add your telephone number, your logo, your slogan, your website, your address, etc., to your designs. Something clean and well-designed can be much more effective.

brand merchandising - tank

9. Focus, But Don’t Limit Your Reach

To create a brand, you need to have an audience to target, and to know everything about it. Still, even though you want to reach your target audience with your merchandise, you don’t want to limit yourself. After all, you never know who could be made aware of your brand because of the person wearing or using your merchandise. That’s why you should create products that more people will want to use, not just your target.

brand merchandising - shirt

10. Know How to Distribute It

Do you know how your merchandise will get to your target audience? Will you sell it or gift it to them? Will you give it away with a purchase? Will you have it available on your website? Or will someone be handing out your merchandise outside your store? Whatever the case may be, it is important that you create a solid plan to distribute your items. After all, they won’t do you much good if they’re all in boxes kept in your basement.

brand merchandising - poster

Conclusion

So, all in all, brand merchandising can be a good move for you, depending on what stage your product or service is at. If you want to guarantee that you will reach the goals you’ve set out for it, follow the tips above to get closer to them and raise your brand awareness effectively.

In any case, be sure to test out what your merchandise will look like in realistic scenarios with the help of Placeit and its mockups.

The post 10 Tips for Making Brand Merchandise appeared first on Envato.



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