Choosing Images That Match Your Brand

What You’ll Learn

• How to choose images that reflect your brand personality and audience.
• How to build a consistent visual style (subjects, colors, lighting, framing).
• How to use images strategically on key pages to support copy.
• Basic editing guidelines for consistent color and contrast.
• Accessibility and performance tips (alt text, size, formats).

Start With Strategy (Who + Promise)

Pick images that prove the promise you make to a specific audience. Before searching or shooting, define:

• Audience: Who should feel “this is for me” at a glance?
• Outcome: What result should the image hint at (speed, quality, relief)?
• Setting: Where your service/product realistically lives (office, home, onsite).
• Mood: 3 adjectives (e.g., warm, modern, energetic) to guide lighting and palette.

Create an Image Style System

Map Images to Key Pages

• Home Hero: One clear, relevant scene with room for headline + CTA; avoid collages.
• Services: One image per service showing the outcome or process; keep aspect ratios identical across cards.
• About: Authentic team or founder portraits; consistent background and crop.
• Testimonials/Case Studies: Pair quotes with context shots (the work, location, product in use).
• Contact: Real office/storefront or team-in-action to reduce friction and build trust.
• Blog: Featured images with consistent overlay or treatment for recognizability.

Stock vs. Custom Photos

Tip: If using stock, avoid cliché handshakes, staged smiles, and over-processed HDR looks. Crop tighter and add consistent color grading.

Consistency Toolkit

• Aspect Ratios: Define site-wide (e.g., 16:9 hero, 1:1 avatars, 3:2 blog headers).
• Color Grading: One LUT/preset (warm, cool, or neutral) aligned with your brand palette.
• Composition: Use the rule of thirds and negative space for overlaid text in heroes.
• Backgrounds: Choose clean, on-brand backgrounds (wood, concrete, soft gradient) and repeat them.
• Props & Wardrobe: Subtly include brand colors in clothing, stationery, or UI mockups.

Accessibility & Performance

• Alt Text: Describe the purpose: “Technician installing heat pump in client’s attic,” not “image123.jpg”.
• Captions: Use for context in case studies and testimonials.
• File Formats: Prefer WebP/AVIF for photos; SVG for logos/illustrations.
• Sizes: Export at display size; use responsive images (srcset/sizes) to avoid shipping huge files to mobile.
• Contrast: If placing text over images, add a subtle overlay (10–20% black) for legibility.

Implementing in WordPress + Elementor

1. Global Styles: In Site Settings → Images (and Theme Builder templates), set default border radius and box shadows for image widgets.
2. Hero Sections: Use a background image with a color overlay matching your brand primary (reduce saturation if text competes).
3. Image Ratios: In cards/grids, lock image height and use Object-Fit: cover for uniform rows.
4. Featured Images: Use a consistent overlay or corner badge to brand your blog grid.
5. Lazy Loading: Ensure images below the fold are lazy-loaded for speed.

Do’s & Don’ts

Hands-On: Mini Exercises

1. Style Board (10 min):

   Collect 8–10 images that fit your brand adjectives. Note common lighting, color temperature, framing, and subjects.

2. Crop & Grade (10 min):

   Take 3 images and crop them to your chosen aspect ratio(s). Apply one preset to all three to check consistency.

3. Hero Test (5 min):

   Place a headline and CTA over a candidate hero image. Add a 15% overlay if needed for contrast.

4. Alt Text Pass (5 min):

   Write purpose-driven alt text for 3 images on your homepage.

Quick Image Checklist

• Images match audience, outcome, and mood.
• Consistent aspect ratios and composition rules.
• Unified color grading and lighting direction.
• Readable text over images with overlays if needed.
• Alt text, compression, and responsive sizes in place.

FAQ: Common Beginner Questions