Posted by Pinaki Kathiari on June 28, 2010

Read this if you are using photos on your website

James Chudley of Smashing Magazine posted a great article on How to Use Photos to Sell More Online. Its a lengthy article with great photo examples. The article was written for products, but I believe these can be put to use no matter what you are doing online. Most importantly, we don’t want to put up a photo just to put up a photo… make it do something for you like:

Show off product benefits Don’t give reasons not to buy Create an immersive experience Make ‘em laugh Educate and inform Tell a story Highlight your innovation Show people doing something Don’t mislead users Evoke an emotional response Plug accessories Show features and versatility Understand needs Match imagery to the brand Sell a lifestyle Demonstrate exciting features Make it beautiful Avoid cliche stock shots Create desire

Be stylistically consistent Convey the itangibles Show some personality Be subtle sometimes Look professional Be consistent Use unusual vantage points Shoot from the best angles Show objects in their natural evironment Convey a sense of scale Image size is important Show the product in use Shoe how it works Make choosing easy Enhance the experience Show details Show me what it looks like Encourage interaction Show me I’m in the right place

We curate quite a few websites where we manage the use of photography. We work hard not to “slap on a photo”, but make it have some meaning and usefulness in the grand scheme of the website. Read the full article.

Topics: art, design, inspiration, interfaces, life, marketing, photography, presentations, website curation