Photography: Packaging’s Secret Weapon

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With 72% of consumers claiming packaging influences their purchasing decisions (1), photography is an often-overlooked but critical part of pack design. Photography is the secret that can elevate packaging from the mundane to the mesmerizing, and the utilitarian to the unforgettable. Great packaging photography not only enhances visual aesthetics and provides unique standout, but also reinforces brand consistency, boosts appetite appeal, and injects personality. All these factors significantly impact consumer attraction and ultimately drive sales.

In this article, we explore how photography can be a game-changer for packaging by delving into three key themes that can lead to winning results.

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Amplifying Appetite Appeal

Appetite appeal is the visual quality that makes food look delicious and desirable. This concept is crucial in influencing consumer purchasing decisions, as people typically eat with their eyes first. Consider how a beautifully photographed dish will make your mouth water instantly, even if you're not hungry. Irresistible food photography relies on perfecting the holy trinity: lighting, composition, and styling.

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Lighting: Good lighting can make food look fresh and enticing. Natural light is often preferred as it coaxes the true colors and textures of food from the shadows, adding vibrancy.

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Composition: Don’t underestimate the importance of food arrangement - it’s an art form in itself. Techniques like the rule of thirds, leading lines, and framing can guide the viewer’s eye and make the image more engaging (and scrumptious).

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Styling: Props, backgrounds, and garnishes should complement the food without overpowering it. Don’t forget that the food should remain the star of the shot.

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For Quest Protein Bars, our objective was to showcase the irresistibly delicious flavour that the bars represent rather than showing the actual bar. Each flavour required both horizontal and vertical shots to display the various panels of the cartons and wrappers. We wanted powerful imagery, that made people crave the product, while embracing the imperfection of real-life snacks. Our goal was to make the bars look as tempting as the treats they replace.

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To achieve this, we selected a 3/4 angle as the optimal perspective to highlight the enticing shapes and textures of the food. Consistently casting light from the top left, we created shadows that accentuate the delectable nature of the snack.

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Getting the best results relies on involving the right team. Talent, including designers, photographers and food stylists who specialize in food imagery, can elevate the quality of the imagery to something both delicious and inviting.

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Infusing Personality

Photography can express a brand’s personality in ways that text and graphics alone cannot. The style of photography—a playful wink, a sophisticated nod, an authentic embrace—conveys the essence of the brand, its voice, its soul.

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For example, a trend focused brand might embrace bright, saturated colors and strikingly vibrant compositions that pop off the packaging. In contrast, a sleek luxury brand might convey its message through minimalist photography, using clean lines and muted tones to evoke elegance and sophistication.

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Guidelines to create imagery which reflects a brand’s personality include understanding and embodying multiple elements; the brand’s core values, audience preferences, and the emotions the brand wants to evoke all play a factor. Mood boards and style guides can be a useful part of the process, ensuring that every photograph taken aligns with the brand’s spirit.

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To this end, establishing comprehensive photo guidelines is crucial. For a prominent food brand, we developed an extensive style guide meticulously outlining the photography's personality, styling, and lighting. This ensured the imagery resonated perfectly with the target audience, striking the right tone and enhancing consumer appeal.

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Creating Brand Consistency

Brand consistency is the cornerstone of any successful marketing strategy. It binds together the various elements of a brand’s identity, ensuring that each piece of packaging sings the same song and echoes the same sentiments. Photography plays a vital role in unifying a brand’s visual identity across all packaging and platforms. When consumers see the same photographic elements—styles, colors, and themes—repeated across different products, they can often identify the brand before even seeing the name.

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Consistency in photography reinforces the brand's principles and impression. Whether it's through the use of specific lighting, color schemes, or compositional techniques, maintaining a consistent visual approach helps to build a brand’s recognition and connection.

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For example, in our work with Quaker, we proposed a brand redesign with photography that evokes the Quaker story. Quaker’s food needed to appear natural, wholesome and delicious, with product photography the main focal point of each pack. We developed guiding principles for their photography, defining 'Fixed Points’ such as natural cool/warm single light sources, a hero product depiction, a scattering of ingredients, and a table surface. 'Flexible Points’ included camera angle, supporting props for ingredients, and surface texture. By maintaining these fixed and flexible elements within the brand photography, Quaker ensures that each image aligns with their brand identity while allowing creative expression to keep visuals engaging and fresh.

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Integrating Photography Beyond Packaging

The power of photography extends beyond the physical confines of packaging, spilling into the digital and social realms. Taking a multi-channel approach ensures that the brand’s visual identity is strong and cohesive wherever the consumer encounters it.

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For example, the photographic style established on the packaging can be seamlessly integrated into off-pack communications, reinforcing the brand’s message across platforms. Whether through captivating social media posts, engaging online advertisements, or visually appealing e-commerce listings, consistent imagery helps maintain brand recognition and trust.

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In a world where the first impression is often the last, clear and compelling photography is the hook that holds a shopper’s attention. By maintaining a unified visual strategy across touchpoints, brands can create a lasting impact and foster a deeper connection with their audience.

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Conclusion

Photography really can be the secret weapon of great packaging, shaping how a product is perceived, remembered, and chosen. It's the thread that weaves together brand consistency, appetite appeal, and personality into a seamless narrative. Brands seeking to push beyond the ordinary should embrace the power of photography. Let it tell your story, speak your truth, and create a visual legacy that lingers in the minds of consumers long after they’ve left the aisle.

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Are you ready to elevate your packaging? Please get in touch, and together we can explore how a strategic approach to photography can transform your packaging into a powerful marketing tool.

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1. Research by the Paper and Packaging Board