A brand is recognised before anyone reads its name. A logo and colours are not enough: the light, the framing, the faces and the rhythm of your images shape the overall impression too. Yet many companies produce photos and videos one at a time, as needs arise, and end up with images that do not look alike. Here is how to build a consistent visual identity, and why it changes the way you commission production.
What does a consistent image mean?
Consistency does not mean uniformity. It means setting a few clear rules that recur from one image to the next, so a visitor recognises your world on your website, on LinkedIn, in a brochure or in a film. A one-off production answers the need of the moment; a visual identity settles in over time.
The five pillars
- Colour. A dominant palette drawn from your brand guidelines, a colour treatment in post-production (grading) and sets, clothing or props that match it.
- Light. Natural and soft, contrasty and dramatic, or bright and clean: pick a mood and stick to it.
- Framing. Wide or tight shots, symmetry, room for text, horizontal and vertical formats planned from the start.
- Rhythm. In video: shot length, editing speed, music, subtitles, the way you open and close a film.
- Faces and places. Who appears, how, in which settings. Real colleagues, real places, a sincere tone rather than generic images.
From brand guidelines to a photo and video guide
Your brand guidelines already cover the logo, colours and fonts. They gain from a short photo and video guide on top: one or two pages with examples of what is in style and what is not. It works as the brief for every new shoot, for your internal teams and for your suppliers.
| Pillar | Question to ask | Example of a rule |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | Which shades dominate? | Two brand colours, warm tones, no extreme saturation |
| Light | What mood? | Soft window light, light shadows |
| Framing | What distance, what composition? | Off-centre subject, free space for a headline |
| Rhythm | What energy? | 3 to 5 second shots, instrumental music, subtitles |
| Faces and places | Who, where? | Real colleagues, real workplaces |
Common mistakes
- Multiplying suppliers without a shared brief: each set has its own style.
- Mixing generic stock photos with real images of the company.
- Changing style with every campaign, which prevents recognition.
- Forgetting formats: a stunning landscape image that fails in vertical.
- Producing only once: the identity ages and drifts from the rest of the brand.
How to go about it
- Take stock. Gather your existing images and spot what works and what clashes.
- Choose a direction. A few references, a mood, three to five simple rules.
- Shoot within a frame. A shot list, guidelines on light and formats.
- Check consistency. Compare new images with the old ones before publishing.
- Keep the library alive. Add images throughout the year rather than in one block.
With this approach, producing photo and video together, at the same time and under the same direction, keeps the same light, the same faces and the same setting across every channel. You can also see the six types of photos every business needs and the twelve moments of the year not to miss to feed this library. Our approach is presented on our business photography and business video pages.
To remember. A visual identity is not one successful image, it is a series of images that look alike for good reasons. Five clear rules beat an over-ambitious style.
A brand image to build?
Tell us about your world: we will define the rules and the first set of images with you.