In the world of online shopping, imagery is king.
No surprises here. When selling a product, we ask our customers to make a decision based on images alone. No touching, no feeling, no trying on. The only thing we have is a 2-dimensional photo. So the product has to look incredible.
But looking incredible is only half of it: the imagery has to be informative as well. It has to quickly and clearly deliver all of the important product information and details so that the customer can make an informed decision on whether or not to buy.
How the images are produced is also critical. Capturing beautiful product shots can be very expensive for a company to sustain on a regular basis. All the back and forth trying to coordinate the shoot, deal with the product, the deliveries, talent, retouchers, asset tagging, etc. make it very costly from a time perspective too. Time and money spent like this are investments most companies cannot afford to make.
So for an image to be truly successful, it needs to be both effective – beautiful, impactful, and informative – and it needs to be produced in an efficient manner.
During our 7 years leading the Gilt production studios we pretty much earned a PhD in e-commerce photography. We learned where to push the creative process to find cost-savings without sacrificing quality. We learned how to express a brand’s unique DNA online, which often came up as one of the main reasons brands chose to work with us. And we learned how to use technology, analytics, sell-through and KPIs to strengthen the imagery and ultimately drive sales.
Then we realized how much our unique skills, talents and approach could benefit other brands looking to build their own strong and sustainable creative processes.
Brands have many challenges in today’s commerce landscape. Timelines from product conception through to sales are getting shorter and shorter. The typical 4 ‘seasons’ are being scattered throughout the year. The amount of content needed to connect with the customer is ever-increasing, but resources are not.
We formed The Line Studios to help brands address these challenges. We exist to partner with brands, and help them create the most impactful, effective imagery, using efficient production methods that can help grow their business. We believe that the strongest imagery should be built on knowledge and data, so we are always learning. And we use these learnings to develop the tools and processes that will help our brand partners succeed.
