So, you’ve designed your product, tweaked your prototype, started manufacture and the next step is to capture that perfect image to get those orders flooding in. We go behind the scenes with Black+Blum to get the lowdown on what it takes to capture the perfect image
Good photography is an essential part of selling design – to buyers, press and the public. A strong image will not only convey the beauty, ingenuity and function of your design, but a mood and lifestyle that your potential customer aspires to.
Interior products duo Dan Black and Martin Blum know just what it takes to get the best shot. “From our first products, we have always invested in professional photography. At the beginning we relied on friends who were photographers as they offered us good rates, and crammed in as many pieces into a day’s shoot as possible. Photography is so important as more often that not you are communicating solely through an image, be it to journalists, for a brochure or website or the vetting panel for an exhibition,” says Martin.
Building on the success of their desktop fan, Propello, the pair are preparing to launch Venti, a larger retro-styled chrome fan with variable speeds that can stand on the floor or be mounted on the wall or ceiling. They need a model for the shoot, but as Kate Moss was just too busy, Hidden Art’s own graphic designer Emanuela Ferrero steps in to lend her legs.
The picture is to be set on location, in a trendy modern apartment in keeping with the product, next to a pair of legs and a gently billowing skirt. Photographer Carolyn Barber positions the fan, lighting it to her satisfaction, every angle carefully considered.
Before bringing in leg model Emanuela, she debates the colour and texture of the skirt Emanuela should wear.
“It’s important not to draw the viewer’s eye away from the fan with too much motion or strong colour in the skirt,” says Carolyn. Eventually after a few test shots, everyone agrees on a white pleated skirt with Emanuela on tiptoes to imply movement.
The fan is switched on and Carolyn starts snapping. Despite Emanuela’s complaints of cramp in her calves from being on tiptoes and succumbing to shivers from the wind blowing from the fan, Dan and Martin want to adjust the lighting and get some more shots.
After two hours, the brief is fulfilled and the job is done.
Black+Blum’s Venti fan will be available to buy this summer from the Hidden Art E-Shop,
www.hiddenartshop.com
Yasmine Chinwala, March 2006
