It doesn’t need to shout to hold your attention. The power of Americana often comes from its restraint—the stillness of a sunburned landscape, the worn leather of a saddle, the dust caught in late-afternoon light, the steady posture of someone shaped by work, weather, and place.

These images carry a story before a single word is added.

That’s what makes Americana one of the most story-forward imagery trends defining design right now. It gives creatives a visual language rooted in character, history, and lived experience—one that feels culturally resonant without feeling overly polished or manufactured.

RELATED READS: Candid Imagery in Design: Capturing Authenticity in a Polished World

Why Americana Is Resonating Now

Audiences are tired of visuals that feel frictionless, filtered, and interchangeable. They’re drawn to work that feels specific. Human. Lived-in. Americana answers that need with a visual world full of texture, imperfection, and emotional weight.

From cowboys and ranchers to everyday people in small rural towns, from wide-open roads to weathered storefronts, this style captures a part of American culture that feels tactile and grounded.

It has a sense of place. It has character. Most importantly, it has a point of view.

But the strongest use of Americana imagery isn’t about romanticizing the West. It’s not about turning rural life into a polished fantasy or leaning on the expected clichés. The real opportunity is in showing it honestly—the grit, the stillness, the beauty, the labor, the contradictions, and the people.

Authenticity Is the Real Power

The best Americana imagery feels observed, a snapshot of a lived-in moment.

A quiet portrait can feel just as powerful as a horse galloping at full speed. A faded sign on the side of a building can tell as much of a story as a sweeping landscape. A pair of worn boots, a dusty truck, or a sunlit kitchen can hold narrative weight because these details feel earned.

That honesty is what gives the imagery its power. It doesn’t ask the audience to buy into a fantasy. It invites them into a real environment shaped by time, work, and culture.

For designers, that authenticity is gold. It builds an immediate emotional connection and gives the work a visual foundation with real character. Against the polish of hyper-clean campaigns and generic lifestyle imagery, Americana offers something harder to fake: a world that feels genuinely lived in.

RELATED READS: Flash On: The Raw, Authentic Visual Style That’s Reshaping Photography

A Tasteful Approach to Visual Storytelling

Using Americana imagery well requires taste. The difference between a campaign that feels iconic and one that feels costume-y comes down to curation.

A cowboy hat in the frame won’t carry the concept on its own. The image needs restraint, intention, and a strong editorial eye. The right photo should feel like it belongs to a larger story. It should make the viewer curious about what happened before and after the frame.

Americana becomes most powerful when it works as a storytelling device. The imagery brings a sense of place, while the curation gives it meaning.

The ongoing success of Western dramas and films rooted in this culture shows that audiences are drawn to this visual language. For brands and designers, the opportunity is to understand why it’s working, then push it into new visual territory.

That’s the tastemaker move: recognize the cultural pull, then interpret it with enough restraint and originality that it feels fresh.

RELATED READS: The Design Trend Report | 2026

Texture Creates a Distinct Visual Identity

Americana imagery brings colors, surfaces, and character that are difficult to replicate in urban environments or overly polished campaigns.

Dusty neutrals, sun-washed reds, faded blues, denim, wood grain, open skies, leather, metal, and natural imperfections can instantly give a campaign a sense of place. These textures create a sensory quality that makes the work feel more grounded and memorable.

This kind of imagery adds friction in the best way. It gives the eye something to hold onto. It makes the work feel less manufactured and more emotionally present.

Don’t Let the Design Become Too Obvious

Just because the imagery evokes a Western aesthetic doesn’t mean the design has to follow suit.

Some of the strongest creative opportunities come from contrast. Brutalist layouts, rigid grids, oversized typography, and minimal color systems can create a striking tension against texture-packed Americana visuals. The imagery brings warmth. The design brings structure. Together, they create an identity that feels honest.

RELATED READS: The Case for Bolder Color in 2026: Why Cloud Dancer Misses the Mark

A campaign doesn’t have to dress itself in vintage type, rope textures, and sepia tones to communicate the West. It can be modern. It can be bold. It can be restrained. Americana gives designers the emotional foundation, while the design system can push the work somewhere more contemporary.

That contrast is where the magic is.

Why This Trend Has Staying Power

Ultimately, people connect with stories. And when an image can communicate history, place, emotion, and character in an instant, it gives your design a head start.

Americana imagery crafts a sense of place and perception, giving the audience something to feel before they even know exactly what they’re looking at.

That’s why this trend has staying power. It’s a way to bring authenticity, narrative weight, and human texture into work that needs to resonate.

The best use of Americana feels intentional. Specific. Real. It shows the West with enough honesty to respect the culture and enough taste to move the aesthetic forward.

Because when imagery feels real, people lean in. And when it’s curated with a true point of view, they remember it.

Download the 45-Page Stills Trend Report

Explore Americana on Stills

The post Trending Imagery: Americana appeared first on Stills Blog.

While it’s calming to consider, it doesn’t align with where design culture is actually headed.

Whether it’s a major campaign, runway color stories, or visual research from this year’s Design Trend Report, every signal points toward the opposite.

After several years of uniform palettes and soft neutrals, people are craving saturation, richness, and visual presence.

Color in 2026 is emotional, confident, and carries a point of view.

Cloud Dancer may soothe the collective nervous system, but the market is responding to colors that provoke curiosity and demand attention. Audiences want more than a slightly calming presence.

Give them something with taste, personality, and a little momentum. 

RELATED READS: Color Choice is Essential for Good Visual Storytelling—Here’s Why

After a spirited discussion with our in-house creative team, we’ve put together three colors that better represent the year ahead. Not in opposition to Pantone’s selection (in fact, all three pair exceptionally well with it), but as a reminder that the future isn’t monochrome. And color needs to say something.

Rosewood

Red is returning with force, especially in sports marketing, fashion, and identity work. There’s a reason for that. It cuts through and speaks to something primal.

The eye can’t ignore it.

But what’s interesting now isn’t the bright primary red of logos past; it’s the deeper, high-saturation range of colors like rosewood. The darker the value, the more dimensional the story becomes.

These reds create mood, tension, and tonal richness, something ideal for designers who want color to act as narrative, not solely accent. “I want more red. And 2026… that just feels like a red number,” says art director Jason Murray.

Soleil

Orange has long existed at the edges of taste culture: beloved in the ‘70s, resurfacing in the late ’90s/early ’00s, and now fully ready for its cultural comeback.

RELATED READS: The Revival of Vintage in Modern Graphic Design

Soleil is inherently playful, as it leans brighter, but shifts toward warmth and maturity when deepened.

Paired with blue, the contrast is electric. It’s optimistic without being naïve, confident without being loud for the sake of being loud. 

Malachite

Green never leaves the conversation, and this year it gets cooler, sliding closer to blue with malachite.

There’s something regal and composed about this tone, yet fundamentally approachable because of its relationship to the natural world. It simply exists, feels right, and serves as a reminder that taste doesn’t always require novelty; sometimes it’s about returning to something timeless.

“Green is timeless,” says Murray. “We’ve definitely seen an influx. But when trends move on, I don’t think we’ll ever get tired of it.” 

The Bigger Shift

If there’s a common thread connecting these three colors, it’s nature.

After a decade dominated by tech minimalism, hyper-polished white, and millennial gray, the pendulum is moving toward saturation, texture, and sensory richness.

Cloud Dancer has a role to play, but it’s not a protagonist. It’s a supporting color, a stabilizer, the space between ideas.

Whether you co-sign this year’s Pantone pick or not, 2026 isn’t the year for timid palettes and disappearing into the background.

Color needs to commit.

When you select color with intention, you show up with presence and a point of view. So choose something that carries personality, depth, and direction.

The post The Case for Bolder Color in 2026: Why Cloud Dancer Misses the Mark appeared first on Stills Blog.

In their “Beyond Slim” campaign, three photographs from the Stills collection were featured in a national video ad—used to spotlight the power of the phone’s 200MP camera.

The goal?

Highlight the stunning quality of the phone’s 200MP camera. The choice to use still images inside a motion ad sent a clear message: the work had to speak for itself.

This wasn’t a traditional photo placement. These images lived inside motion. They held their own alongside sleek cinematography and cutting-edge tech. Samsung needed visuals that felt elevated, human, and emotionally resonant.

They found them here.

The images from Daniel Brittain, Sophia Sinclair, and Sara and Phil carried emotional weight and visual clarity that aligned perfectly with the campaign’s message.

RELATED READS: Case Study: How &Walsh Used Stills to Launch “Type of Feeling”

The final result was global spot seen by over 30 million people on YouTube alone, placing these images in front of a global audience.

The tagline in the spot confidently stated that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge was “Designed to capture your best.” And with only three images selected for the entire spot, all of which came from Stills, the message was clear:

Stills represents the highest standard, further positioning our photographers and collection of images as the definition of what “best” looks like.

RELATED READS: Award-Winning CD David Stevanov on Building Great Campaigns

Premium Lifestyle Images from Stills

Explore even more of the very best Lifestyle imagery that Stills has to offer.

The post Why Samsung Used Stills to Showcase the Galaxy S25 Edge and New 200MP Camera appeared first on Stills Blog.

But here’s the deal: if your creative brief is off, your project could be, too.

It doesn’t matter how talented your team is; without a clear direction, even the most talented of creatives can end up wandering for 40 years in the wilderness of client work.

The stakes are high, but the good news? Avoiding these transgressions is easier than you think.

Here are seven sins that can land you in creative-brief hell — with tips on how to avoid each of them altogether.

Deadly Sin Number 1: Obscurity

The Pitfall

Imagine giving your team a treasure map without marking where the treasure is — or even what the treasure is.

That’s what a vague creative brief does. It leaves too much open to interpretation, creating a guessing game no one wants to play.

Without clarity, you’re setting your team up for rounds of revisions and misaligned work.

The Fix

Be as specific as possible about what you want and why you want it.

If you’re targeting a specific demographic, identify it. If there’s a tone or emotion you’re aiming for, describe it.

Give examples, mood boards, or even references to other projects that nail the vibe you’re after.

When objectives, audience, and deliverables are clearly outlined, the creatives on your team can focus their creative energy in the right direction instead of decoding cryptic instructions.

RELATED READS: 20 Essential Elements That Make a Great Creative Brief

Deadly Sin Number 2: Gluttony

The Pitfall

On the flip side, sometimes the creative brief tries to tell the entire story of the brand, the market, and the world. It’s got every stat, every piece of background, every possible idea you’ve had in the last year.

So, what the team ends up with is a 20-page document that feels more like a post-grad thesis than a creative brief.

When everything is important, nothing stands out.

The Fix

Treat the creative brief like a great edit: trim the fat and cut ruthlessly.

Ask yourself: Does this detail directly support the project’s objective? If not, let it go.

A good creative brief highlights what’s essential:

• The project goals
• The key audience insights
• The tone
• The deliverables
• Any mandatory elements
• Timelines, budget, or any other constraints

The rest? Put it in an appendix or leave it out entirely. Your team needs space to breathe and create, not a mountain of data in need of sifting.

Deadly Sin Number 3: Aimlessness

The Pitfall

Without clear objectives, a creative project becomes a ship without a rudder.

Sure, the team might set sail and create something beautiful. But how often does that produce a deliverable worthy of your client’s expectations?

Jury’s still out.

But when it’s time to evaluate success, no one knows what metrics to use, because there weren’t any to start with.

The Fix

Every brief should define what success looks like.

Are you aiming for brand awareness?

Lead generation?

Social engagement?

Spell it out, and make it measurable.

Instead of saying “increase engagement,” say “increase Instagram post saves by 20%.” These markers give your creative team direction and give stakeholders something concrete to evaluate when the project wraps.

Deadly Sin Number 4: Pride

The Pitfall

When we fall in love with our own ideas, we sometimes forget who we’re actually creating for.

A brief that centers only on what you like can miss the mark with the real audience. This leads to beautifully crafted work that lands flat because it doesn’t resonate with the people it’s meant to reach.

The Fix

Make the audience the hero of your brief. Go beyond demographics. Get into psychographics.

What does your audience care about? What are their struggles, their dreams? How do they speak?

Show the creative team what makes this audience tick and give them the tools to connect authentically.

When the team understands the audience deeply, they can craft work that feels personal and hits home.

RELATED READS: Beyond Aesthetics: How Joe Diver Balances Vision with Brand Legacy

Deadly Sin Number 5: Conformity

The Pitfall

Without a clear USP, your brand risks becoming just another voice in a crowded room.

When your creative team doesn’t know what makes your brand or product different, they can’t emphasize that difference in the work.

The result? Generic campaigns that could belong to anyone.

The Fix

Your USP is your spotlight—make sure it’s shining bright in your brief. Clearly articulate what makes your offering different and why that matters to the audience.

Don’t just say, “We have great customer service.” Say, “Our 24/7 live chat resolves 95% of issues within five minutes.”

Specifics help your team weave that unique value into the creative execution.

Deadly Sin Number 6: Ruin

The Pitfall

Leaving out the timeline and budget can make even the most brilliant project unravel.

Without these constraints, teams may propose ideas that are either too ambitious or too minimal for what’s actually possible.

Worse, projects can spiral out of control, running late or blowing past financial limits.

The Fix

Set realistic guardrails. Be upfront about how much time and money the team has to work with.

Creative freedom thrives with clear boundaries—knowing what’s possible helps your team dream up solutions that fit the scope.

And remember to build in review time. Rushing approvals or feedback sessions can derail a project just as quickly as blowing the budget.

Deadly Sin Number 7: Blindness

The Pitfall

You’re in a hurry, the team is excited, and you think, “Let’s just get started.” But skipping the review process means stakeholders aren’t aligned.

Suddenly, halfway through the project, someone important raises a red flag—and now you’re backpedaling.

The Fix

Make the review process non-negotiable. Set up a meeting where all key stakeholders sign off on the brief before any creative work begins.

Use this time to address questions, clarify expectations, and make sure everyone’s vision aligns.

This upfront alignment avoids costly revisions and ensures that everyone’s rowing in the same direction from day one.

Final Thoughts: Your Brief is the Blueprint

From the emotional hook to the final rollout, your creative brief is the project’s foundation, not just a bunch of paperwork.

Done right, it guides your team toward producing work that doesn’t just meet expectations, but blows them away. Don’t think of it as a limitation. It’s your creative runway.

Keep it clear. Keep it focused. And always, always keep your audience at the center.

The post 7 Deadly Sins of Making a Creative Brief (And How to Avoid Them) appeared first on Stills Blog.

These unposed, unfiltered snapshots capture the essence of real life—raw, relatable, and brimming with authenticity. As content creator Victoria Stefania aptly puts it, “We want to see more of the rough, the real, and the approachable.”

This shift toward authenticity is not just a trend. It’s a movement that’s reshaping how we approach imagery in both print and digital design. Candid photos are more than just quick snapshots:

They’re a powerful tool for storytelling, evoking emotion, and connecting with audiences on a deeper level.

RELATED READS: How Photos Can Communicate Your Message

Why Candid Imagery in Design Resonates

Candid imagery thrives on spontaneity. It captures people in their natural state—laughing, thinking, or simply existing—without the self-awareness that comes with posing for a camera. This authenticity resonates with viewers because it reflects their own lives.

They tell stories that feel genuine, creating an emotional connection that staged photos often struggle to achieve. They remind us that beauty lies in imperfection.

For designers, candid imagery offers a unique opportunity to infuse projects with a sense of realism. Whether it’s a print ad, a website banner, or a social post, candid shots can make designs feel more approachable and human.

RELATED READS: The Power of Images: Behind the Scenes of &Walsh’s Iconic Campaigns

Read below out specific examples where brands effectively used candid imagery in design.

Brands Using Candid Imagery in Design

Airbnb: “Live There” Campaign

Airbnb’s “Live There” campaign is a prime example of candid imagery in design. Instead of showcasing perfectly staged hotel-like interiors, the campaign focused on real moments experienced by travelers.

Photos featured families dancing together in a rented living room, friends laughing on a cozy couch, solo travelers basking in the shadows of famous landmarks, and more.

These candid shots helped Airbnb communicate its core message: staying in an Airbnb allows you to live like a local, not a tourist. The authenticity of these images made the campaign relatable and compelling, driving engagement and bookings.

Nike: “Just Do It” Campaign

Nike has masterfully used candid imagery to capture athletes in raw, unposed moments—whether mid-run, sweating on the court, or celebrating a personal victory. These images go beyond showcasing physical prowess; they tell stories of perseverance, resilience, and the human spirit.

By focusing on unfiltered, spontaneous moments, Nike highlights the grit and determination of real people, rather than relying on polished, staged shots.

These candid visuals resonate deeply with audiences because they feel authentic and relatable. They remind viewers that greatness isn’t just about winning—it’s about the hard work, sacrifice, and passion that go into every step of the journey.

By celebrating these real, unscripted moments, Nike not only reinforces its brand identity as a champion of athletic excellence but also connects with its audience on a personal level.

The message is clear: Nike is for everyone who pushes their limits, no matter where they are in their journey.

Apple: “Shot on iPhone” Campaign

Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” campaign is a masterclass in leveraging candid imagery for digital marketing. The campaign features photos taken by everyday iPhone users, showcasing the device’s camera capabilities while celebrating real, unscripted moments.

What makes this campaign so effective is its ability to blend cutting-edge technology with the simplicity and beauty of everyday life.

By empowering users to capture and share their own candid moments, Apple transforms its customers into storytellers, creating a sense of community and shared experience.

The candid imagery not only helps Apple highlight the technical prowess of its product but also taps into the emotional power of everyday moments.

The campaign demonstrates that the iPhone isn’t just a tool for capturing high-quality images; it’s a device that enables people to document their lives in a way that feels genuine and meaningful. The photos are often accompanied by minimal text, letting the visuals speak for themselves.

This approach reinforces the idea that the best moments in life are often unplanned and unposed.

Levi’s: “Live in Levi’s” Campaign

Levi’s campaign featuring candid shots of people wearing their jeans in everyday situations brilliantly captures the essence of the brand’s identity: timeless, versatile, and deeply rooted in real life.

By showcasing individuals in unposed, natural settings, Levi’s emphasizes that their jeans aren’t just clothing; they’re a part of people’s lives, adapting to their movements, activities, and personalities.

These candid images go beyond traditional advertising by telling relatable stories. They show Levi’s jeans as more than just fabric—they’re a companion for life’s adventures, big and small.

The campaign’s focus on real people in real situations makes it feel inclusive and approachable, breaking away from the polished, overly stylized imagery often seen in fashion marketing. Instead, Levi’s celebrates individuality and the everyday moments that make life meaningful.

The Future of Candid Imagery in Design

As audiences continue to crave authenticity, candid imagery will remain a vital tool in the designer’s toolkit. Its ability to capture real, unfiltered moments makes it uniquely suited to connect with viewers on an emotional level.

Whether it’s a print ad, a digital campaign, or a social media post, candid photos have the power to transform designs from polished and impersonal to raw and relatable.

And in a world that often feels overly polished, candid imagery reminds us of the beauty in imperfection. It’s a celebration of the messy, the real, and the human—and that’s something worth capturing.

Explore Candid Imagery on Stills

The post Candid Imagery in Design: Capturing Authenticity in a Polished World appeared first on Stills Blog.

Read her interview to learn more about her design process, where she finds inspiration, and her go-to strategy for overcoming creative burnout.

Stills: What is your design process like? How has it changed as you’ve evolved in your career?

Amy Pearson: My process has expanded and evolved hugely over the years and continues to do so with every project, but no two will ever be exactly the same.

For SUN MOTHER, it always begins with deep strategy work, which is the bedrock of most successful client projects. Strategy work allows you to narrow in on your vision, the client’s vision, and what the audience needs without being distracted by the million new thoughts and ideas we creatives can get during a project.

I also start by sketching before I get to the screen. Even if I think I know what I want to do, sketching it out helps me process options before I get stuck in the Illustrator vortex.

RELATED READS: Designer Q&A: Samantha Glassman’s Creative Process

Where do you look for inspiration?

Amy Pearson: I’ll admit I do the standard internet scroll—usually Behance, Type Wolf, and Onepagelove.

I also spend a lot of time sourcing inspiration from outside the screen. I love retro matchboxes, posters, and album art, and I’m a huge type nerd. I’m always looking for or noticing type. I like taking photos of packaging at the supermarket, finding old book covers and records at op shops, and noticing design work in movies.

I live in the bush, so I’m always looking at the color combos that nature offers. We have the most beautiful birds visiting us daily: blue fairy wrens, rosellas, black cockatoos, galahs, kookaburras, and king parrots. You don’t get that on Pinterest.

How do you get your head back in the game when feeling burnt out?

Amy Pearson: I’ve experienced severe burnout in my time, and as the owner of a home design studio, who also happens to be a mum of two, it’s the absolute worst. So now I have a few things in place to prevent this from happening. 

Firstly, I take on fewer projects. A higher price point means you can take on fewer clients and spend more time getting deep into one project at a time, which also means the best outcome for your clients. 

I also allow myself a lot of space for dreaming and curiosity. Curiosity and play are huge values of SUN MOTHER, and without the time to let your brain wander, process, and explore ideas, it’s really difficult to do good work, and you end up burning out. Creativity is not infinite, believe it or not; sometimes you hit a wall.

If you’re already burnt out, you need time and space away. You need to accept that the work won’t be good if you keep pushing on. Let yourself detach for a while; return to it when you’re refreshed. 

RELATED READS: Hayden Everitt on Creativity, Burnout, and Building a Unique Design Identity

What is your “secret weapon” when creating? How did you develop this skill?

Amy Pearson: My big vision ability and constant ideas. It can be a negative thing sometimes—when you’re getting a million exciting ideas at once. It can be tricky to pin down a single idea without getting distracted. But this is where strategy comes in.

I now pair my quickfire brain with strategy and structure, which allows me to hone in on my ideas clearly. My process of using the single-concept method has proven time and time again that it works.

RELATED READS: Dani Hunt on Cracking the Code to Commercial Success

What are some hurdles you had to overcome?

Amy Pearson: Charging too low, especially in the beginning. Learning how to manage client projects in the early days was tricky. Both things make for a pretty difficult business, and it’s tough when your kids also need you. It can feel like you’re being pulled in 20 directions at once, with everyone needing something from you.

But eventually, this calms down. You raise your prices, learn to manage people, and figure out how to magnetize your ideal clients. It’s all part of figuring out business and life!

What do you like about Stills? How is it a good resource for designers?

Amy Pearson: The quality of the images is unmatched. Fun fact: I’m actually a photographer, too. This was my career until I opened SUN MOTHER and returned to design.

So if anyone will appreciate stunning imagery for design work, it’s absolutely me, and Stills has nailed it!

The post Amy Pearson on Vision, Strategy, and Charging Your Worth appeared first on Stills Blog.

In their latest holiday campaign, Moment partnered with Stills to bring their creative vision to life. This collaboration not only streamlined the licensing process across multiple touchpoints but also helped Moment craft a cohesive and inspiring narrative that resonated with their audience.

We spoke with Alec Ploof, Head of Growth at Moment, about how Moment leveraged Stills’ imagery to elevate their holiday campaign and connect with their community of creatives.

STILLS: As a brand that specializes in gear for photography and videography, visuals are obviously a big deal. Can you share why choosing the right imagery is so important for Moment?

The Moment team is comprised of creatives ourselves, but we’ve also been incredibly fortunate to work with some of the most talented photographers in the world.

So, when it comes time for our big holiday campaign at the end of every year, picking the right imagery is important not only for our own creative spirits but also for setting the right tone when we invite everyone back to shop with us for themselves or their loved ones.

So when it came to finding images to feature, Stills’ collection was an easy choice. We’ve always been big fans of how Stills has curated the perfect list of photographers and styles to align for any brand, but especially our focus on going more places and capturing more Moments.

Going with Stills made the licensing across all our touchpoints — web, social, email, and ads — very easy.

Can you share a bit about your creative team and how they collaborate to bring campaigns like this to life?

While we reach millions of creatives, our internal marketing team is actually fewer than 10.

This year we rounded up the products in our store to fit some themes of places you could go with the gear and needed imagery to fit that. That’s where Stills and our designers came in.

In less than an hour, we had a whole board of images that fit all the places we wanted to go. We were than able to start building around the assets immediately.

RELATED READS: Leta Sobierajski on Creative Influence and Collaboration

How do you generate ideas that differentiate your holiday campaign from competitors?

Being creators ourselves has always helped the Moment team stand out from the competition. We collaborate and make stuff just as if we were any other creator with a Shopify store would and I think that goes far.

When it comes to actual brainstorming techniques, mashups have always been our go-to method for generating fresh ideas. We’ll take two random items, brands, or places and mash them together to create something new.

RELATED READS: Wieden+Kennedy CD Nik Reed on the Chemistry of Creativity

This year, we did mashups across all of our gift guides. That helped us land on more curated and unique creatives such as “New Zealand Trail Photography” or “Filming in Norway.”

For your holiday campaign, you used Stills imagery across web, social, email, and ads. What made you choose Stills for such a key moment in your marketing?

Beyond having the best curation of photographers out there, Stills was an easy choice. It made the licensing across all our touchpoints (web, social, email, ads) very easy.

We’ve always been a big fan of how Stills has curated the perfect list of photographers and styles to align for any brand, but especially our focus on going more places and capturing more Moments.

How did you choose the specific images for your holiday campaign? What was your process for narrowing it down?

We started on Stills by searching for keywords related to our campaign. We searched for things like road trips, airplanes, and film photography.

We quickly found artists whose work we loved and browsed their images until we found the ones we needed.

For this campaign, we knew we’d need about 25 images across all our touchpoints, and that ended up being more than plenty.

Did you notice any changes in performance or engagement when you used Stills images compared to other visuals?

Thanks to Stills, our gift guide landing page looked and performed better than ever for our big holiday campaign. We really wanted to give our customers the best-looking online store they could browse, and we felt that Stills was able to help us provide that.

Having the right images made the site feel coherent. It got more customers into our gift guides/sale collections than ever before. Over 10,000 events/actions were recorded across all our gift guide pages, which is up about 20% year over year.

RELATED READS: Dani Hunt on Cracking the Code to Commercial Success

Looking back, if you hadn’t used Stills for your holiday campaign, what do you think might have been missing?

This year, we had quite a few new product releases before the holiday that kept us really busy. So if we hadn’t used Stills, it’s very likely our internal team would only have had the time to get us 1/10th of what we got from Stills — for potentially more of a cost.

The post How Moment Used Stills to Increase Traffic by 20% YoY During Their Holiday Campaign appeared first on Stills Blog.

Stills: What defining moment in your career solidified your path in branding and design?

Kirsten Holland: It’s hard to pinpoint one defining moment, but moving to New York after design school and starting to do real client work—as opposed to student work—was impactful in solidifying my path.

At the time, I felt burnt out, uninspired, and unsure about my future. I knew I liked design, but didn’t know what I wanted to pursue.

Working in the field allowed me to meet some of my role models and see what a career in branding and design might look like.

When I was a student, it was hard to think about a career concretely, but starting to do professional projects and enjoying that work made me realize I was on the right path.

How do you balance design, branding, and editorial design?

A lot of my work incorporates all three.

Some projects have been branding-focused, some editorial-focused, and some UX-focused, but I feel like my skills for one “type” of design go hand in hand with the skills I have for another.

LearningWell—an online magazine about mental health in higher education—is a good example of a project I worked on with Decimal that required me to consider branding and editorial design equally. I was responsible for both the visual identity and the web design.

When I considered the visual identity, I considered how that would relate to the editorial content of the website and vice versa. 

How do you bring storytelling into branding and editorial design to create resonating experiences?

When I start a project, I try to define its goal and its story.

Storytelling starts at the project’s beginning and drives a brand’s narrative.

Good design should effectively communicate a story, even if the work is less narrative-based.

I usually work closely with clients in the project’s beginning phases to discover what story they want to tell, which informs the work I decide to do.

How has your design process changed as you’ve evolved in your career? 

My general process has stayed fairly similar. I usually start by gathering a range of references and ideas, iterating on those initial ideas, and refining them.

As I’ve evolved, the main thing that’s changed is that the beginning part of the project has gotten easier.

I feel less and less paralyzed when starting a new project, and my prior experiences have given me more of a jumping-off point.

RELATED READS: Dan George Hill on Disrupting Your Own Creative Process

Is there a particular project that has significantly impacted your career?

A recent project I’m really excited about is the new website for Coming Soon. It’s an NY-based homeware and furniture store that has really vibrant colors and designs.

It is one of the first e-commerce sites I’ve worked on, and I learned a lot.

It feels like an important project to my career because it allowed me to have a lot of fun.

Coming Soon’s products are playful, and the store owners encouraged us to explore design directions that embodied that whimsical spirit.

The project taught me a lot about experimenting and enjoying the design process.

How does Decimal Studios’ design philosophy match up with your approach to creating impactful designs?

At Decimal, we use design and technology to create beautiful, well-considered digital products and brands.

Our work is thoughtful, with attention to detail.

Since most of Decimal’s work is centered around digital products, it’s also important that what we design is a good user experience in addition to looking pretty.

Function is just as important as form because a product that does not work cannot make an impact, no matter how beautiful.

That design philosophy matches up with how I feel about my approach.

RELATED READS: Leta Sobierajski on Creative Influence and Collaboration

What design trends are currently inspiring you?

I try to avoid designing things that feel trendy, but I’ve been enjoying playing with brighter colors recently.

Neon colors, especially lime green, are having their moment this year after Brat Summer, and I’m here for it.

I’ve also loved some retro-inspired trends lately, especially with typography.

It’s fun seeing references to older typefaces and trends, especially those from the 1990s and 2000s.

I’ve always enjoyed nostalgia and love going down rabbit holes of weird vintage references on the Internet Archive and public domain image collections.

We can use a lot from the past to speak about the present.

What are your go-to strategies for tackling deadlines when you’re stuck in a creative rut?

When I’m stuck in a creative rut, I like to take a step back from designing.

It’s easy to get in my head when I feel stuck on something, which isn’t always the most productive. Looking at different real-life and online references can also help spark new ideas.

The existence of a deadline itself is also helpful for getting out of a rut.

Whether I want to or not, if something has to be done by a certain time, it will get done by that time. That pressure usually motivates me to push past any mental block and start designing.

Once I get the ball rolling, developing new ideas is easier, even if my first few ideas are bad.

RELATED READS: Melina K on Finding Your Creative Flow

What advice do you have for designers pursuing a multidisciplinary career?

Pursuing a multidisciplinary career shouldn’t be forced but rather something that happens naturally when you pursue your interests.

If you make time to work on projects that you enjoy, the rest will follow. My best work has always been work that I felt excited about. 

It’s also helpful to have lower-stakes creative outlets outside of your career. When I have the time, I like to draw and paint purely for fun.

While that isn’t directly part of my design work, what I learn about composition, color, and observation can and does inform my design choices.

How do you stay inspired and continually bring fresh ideas when working with your clients?

It’s not always easy, but spending time away from the screen helps me stay inspired.

I love going to museums and galleries, traveling, and even just walking around the city for inspiration. I try to stay curious—I want to be a lifelong learner. There are always new things I can see and do.

RELATED READS: Serena Tyrrell on Crafting Brand Identity

What do you like about Stills? Why would you recommend it as a resource for brands and designers?

Stills is great because it is a well-curated collection of high-quality photos.

They don’t feel like generic stock images and have a lot of personality.

What I like about using Stills is how easy it is to use and navigate. It’s intuitive to narrow down options and find what you need quickly, especially when you have something specific in mind.

I especially love using the color picker filter to find images with similar color schemes. It’s so helpful when you want to stick to a certain color palette for a brand.

The post Kirsten Holland on How to Elevate Brand Stories Through Thoughtful and Impactful UX appeared first on Stills Blog.

Stills: Tell us about your journey as a creative director and how you found your way to New York.

David Stevanov: I started my creative journey in Singapore, my second home. I finished college shortly after the 2008 financial crisis hit, but companies weren’t hiring.

I wanted to join Ogilvy Singapore, so I interned, hoping that I could be converted to full-time when they resumed hiring.

After a few months, I realized I couldn’t survive with an intern’s pay, but I didn’t want to let go of this opportunity.

A branding design company on another floor was looking for a junior designer.

I thought this could be a win-win solution because I could learn the craft of branding design while being close enough to check in on Ogilvy and pay the bills.

The opportunity at Ogilvy finally came 10 months later, and I’ve been in the adland since.

In 2017, it was the right time to move on to another country and a bigger market.

It became more urgent, as my wife became pregnant with our first child.

Now or never, I thought.

Luckily, the stars were aligned, and I had a great opportunity in Chicago.

We loved our time there and met so many wonderful people, most of whom I still keep in touch with today.

However, saying no to New York City was impossible when an opportunity came knocking in 2019.

We moved again and have been calling New York home since then because my wife made it clear that this would be the last move for at least a few years.

RELATED READS: Designer Q&A: Ethan Tran on Finding Your Path

You’ve worked with iconic brands like Samsung and McDonald’s. What unique challenges do you face when creating campaigns for such well-established companies?

The main challenges of working with iconic brands usually involve balancing the brand’s expectations and its audience.

I must be mindful and respectful when the brand has years or decades of history. I can’t just make some changes just because they’re trendy.

At the same time, the brand needs to evolve and be perceived as modern. So we have to figure out how to move the brand forward without taking away its soul.

Another challenge is because of their sheer scale: iconic brands command a vast and diverse audience.

Each member of their audience has varying levels of emotional attachment towards these brands.

The question is how can you come up with a big, all-encompassing campaign idea and yet still be engaging to each of their target audience. 

RELATED READS: Beyond Aesthetics: How Joe Diver Balances Vision with Brand Legacy

You achieved significant recognition early in your career, including the D&AD Yellow Pencil. What contributed to your rapid success?

At that time, Ogilvy Singapore had one of, if not the best, creative department in the region.

You could find some of the most accomplished creatives, so the standard was extremely high.

At that time, the Chief Creative Officer for Asia Pacific, Eugene Cheong, built a special place where creativity was encouraged and championed.

I was so fortunate to be surrounded by many great creatives I could learn from daily, but I had still to put in the work and the hours to keep up with everyone else.

I never dreamed one of my projects would pick up international acclaim, especially the D&AD Yellow Pencil. We’re talking about the D&AD Yellow Pencil.

I told some friends I could die happy if I won just one D&AD Yellow Pencil in my career.

Right after winning all these accolades, I learned one of the most important lessons in my career.

One of my mentors told me that all these accolades were great but consistency was more important in producing great work year after year because you wouldn’t want to be seen as a one-hit wonder.

This helped to keep me grounded, stay consistent, and never let any success get to my head.  

What have you learned from working with such a diverse range of clients, and how has that experience shaped your perspective as a creative director?

The diverse range of clients always helps bring in new perspectives and challenges.

In the long run, the diversity helped me widen my horizons and help me as a creative.

It’s also interesting that, after a while, some of the learnings I gathered from working on one brand would help me when working on another, completely unrelated brand. 

What are the essential elements for creating impactful and memorable campaigns?

A great campaign usually has these three combos:

Relevant human insight, a simple idea with tension, and a surprising and unexpected execution.

These three elements are interconnected, with human insight being the foundation.

Of course, this oversimplifies what makes an impactful and memorable campaign because each element will have some derivatives.

But if you hit all three, you’ll have a winner.

“A great campaign usually has these three combos: Relevant human insight, a simple idea with tension, and a surprising and unexpected execution.”

David Stevanov

Who are the biggest influences on your work in the creative industry?

In college, I always flipped through those award show annuals. The beautiful art direction and clever copywriting displayed through the pages mesmerized me.

I was lucky to spend my formative years learning firsthand from the masters of their crafts in art direction and copywriting.

There was this legendary creative director/art director named Eric Yeo. He was responsible for producing some of the most beautifully art-directed advertisements in the region, and I was lucky to have him as a mentor.

I remember I used to do 40-50 different layouts, and if I could get an “okay” from him for one layout, I’d be happy.

He would then demonstrate how to elevate these “okay” layouts to a few amazing ones within minutes.

The other person I’m lucky to call a mentor is Eugene Cheong, a legendary copywriter. He is one of the copywriters featured in D&AD’s The Copy Book.

I’m a visual person, but I was always amazed by great copy and how a string of words could move someone in a way that visuals could never do.

I could never write to save my life, but Eugene taught me about great copywriting.

Over the years, I learned about creative leadership from him.

RELATED READS: Gabby Lord on Fostering Creative Culture

How do you approach creative blocks or moments when inspiration feels elusive? 

Whenever I have any creative block, I read more.

I usually encounter creative blocks when I don’t have much information. So I’ll go back to the brief and re-read everything from the beginning, highlighting keywords and writing down thoughts or questions from the brief.

Most of the time, I discover some new things that I might have missed or didn’t previously pay too much attention to.

It may raise more questions because it opens new doors that may lead to a creative solution.

Then, I do a deep dive into the topic or issue at hand, trying to feed as much information as possible to the brain.

After that, I take a break and let my subconscious mind synthesize all of these. And hopefully, it sparks something. 

RELATED READS: Hayden Everitt on Creativity, Burnout, and Building a Unique Design Identity

How do you ensure that your creative concepts stay aligned with the strategic goals of a project or brand?

Collaboration is key, especially among the core team members.

I like having regular, informal check-ins with my team. I wouldn’t even call it a check-in because I walk over to them and ask what they think of our rough ideas.

This is helpful in more ways than one.

Not only can we ensure the creative ideas are on the right track, but they can also contribute to the ideation process so the ideas become richer and better.

RELATED READS: Leta Sobierajski on Creative Influence and Collaboration

What do you like about Stills? Why would you recommend it as a resource for brands/designers?

When working with other art directors and designers, I always emphasize visuals that elevate the page they’re on.

I can always go on Stills to find those images.

And with AI being all the rage, it’s even more important to recommend images that feel human to brands.

It’s something that you can find on every single image on Stills.

Explore a curated Board of David Stevanov’s favorite imagery—all available to license on Stills.

The post Award-Winning CD David Stevanov on Building Great Campaigns appeared first on Stills Blog.

Stills: What inspired the name “Type of Feeling?” And how does it reflect your typography approach?

Jessica Walsh: Type of Feeling communicates exactly what we set out to do: create typefaces inspired by different types of feelings or emotions.

Our team explored expressive feelings that take you to a different place.

Take Jubel, for example; it expresses joy and celebration.

The thick strokes and lively curves exude excitement, and the “e” almost smiles at you, reflecting the jubilant mood and celebrative feeling of the word. 

Walk us through how you conceptualized all the new typefaces from Type of Feeling. What did the initial design stages look like?

It was different for each typeface. Some started with emotion, and then we designed and built the typeface around that.

For others, we started with a type-design style we really wanted to see in the world.

We then named it based on the emotion we felt it best represented.

Our “musts” for every typeface were distinction, timelessness, and emotion. 

“Typography, colors, iconography, photography: These are all elements that can work together to bring a brand’s strategy and key attributes to life.” –Jessica Walsh

How do you envision your typefaces being used by designers to evoke specific emotions or moods?

We spent a lot of time imagining the worlds around each typeface and how they came to life.

Onsra, for example, is the bittersweet feeling of longing for someone or something you know cannot return.

We tried to give these feelings an identity by building them directly into different typeface elements.

The balance of normal-width and double-wide letters, together with the exaggerated tail of the Q, all capture this sense of reaching and breathing slowly in and out.

We aimed to inspire designers to look at the typeface for their own projects.

And the fun part is seeing all the ways people use the type we never even imagined. 

How does your team balance aesthetics and functionality in type design?

Good design is functional, but it is all within reason. Like my creative work, I believe rules can be broken when they serve a clear purpose.

In fact, we’re about to release a typeface in the coming weeks with a special character set that’s really fun and breaks basic typography rules.

In its regular state, it can serve the function of a normal serif. It’s through playing with range like this in our typeface styles that we balance aesthetics and function. 

How did the team approach selecting the right images for the Type of Feeling website, digital content, and marketing plans?

We aimed to reinforce each feeling idea through the mockups we showed each typeface.

Ssonder, for example, is drawn from the feeling and realization that each person you see, each person you pass, and each person that exists has their own complex and distinct life. It’s like a gossamer web of experiences and memories.

So for this collection of website and digital images, we showcased the typeface on candles, matches, and books to help establish this realization’s unique feeling and complexity.

Each typeface has its own world of unique characters, ligatures, mockups, and photography that tell the typeface’s story.

What role does typography play in establishing a brand’s visual identity?

When working with brands to develop their visual identity, it’s crucial to understand what we want people to feel when they come in contact with the brand. And we believe a brand’s typeface is a tool for communicating those attributes.

Our work with Plenty is an excellent example of this.

So many brands in the produce space make their greens and produce look just edible with fairly neutral palettes and indistinct branding elements.

The question we asked ourselves is: why shouldn’t greens and produce look as delicious as hamburgers and fries?

So we set out to create custom typography for Plenty that made you desire to eat produce.

Our working name for the font file was “Tasty Type” because the brief to the team was a typeface you actually wanted to eat.

Instead of the type indicating “healthy,” we said, “What about feeling ‘hungry’?”

This type became the central element of the branding and allowed Plenty to stand off the shelf from other greens and produce brands.

“Find what you can bring to the table in type or photo that no one else can.” –Jessica Walsh

How can typography and photography create a brand or enhance a design?

Typography, colors, iconography, photography—these are all elements within a brand that can work together to bring a brand’s strategy and key attributes to life.

Sometimes, photography can hit on an attribute in a stronger way than type can and vice versa.

We look at them as tools and lean on them in different ways to bring a brand’s attributes to life within a brand system. 

What advice would you give designers on integrating typography and photography in branding?

My advice is the same for anyone joining the creative industry:

Passion, curiosity, and persistence are the most important ingredients.

You must experiment, try things, and create a lot of bad work before you make something good.

Creativity is not always easy, and it’s not all fun and games. Don’t let hard times or negative thoughts kill your passion or hunger. Use them as fuel.

So take the time to research, understand the landscape of what’s out there, and find what you can bring to the table in type or photo that no one else can. 

Read more about &Walsh’s new foundry at Type of Feeling.

Looking for more expert insight from &Walsh? Read Jessica Walsh’s go-to process for seamless photo shoots and explore the agency’s exclusive collection of imagery available for licensing on Stills.

The post Case Study: How &Walsh Used Stills to Launch “Type of Feeling” appeared first on Stills Blog.