What inspires you? Textures? Colours? People? Places? List as many as you can think of:

• Natural fabrics, I’ve got a lot of linens in my wardrobe.

• Neutral colours, I don’t have a lot of patterns, the only pattern I own is of tiny flowers on a dark synthetic fabric that was purchased from a second-hand store.

• Making functional things -

• Buying consumables rather than things for people.

• Fun-loving, carefree kids

• The natural environment: hiking, natural beauty, the sky.

• The built environment: old buildings, rustic cottages, the modern mixed with natural elements in architecture.

What are you most passionate about? List as many as you can think of:

• Sustainability / Low-waste

• Experiences rather than consumerism

• Making things

When did they inspire you? Attach it to a particular time in your life, an experience to make it more real.

• I was inspired by the natural environment when hiking the Overland Track in Tasmania. My body ached but the experience and the views were incredible. I also loved arriving at the newly opened huts that were built out of timber, with large windows. The layouts were simplified and functional.

Does your upbringing have any impact on your art? If so, how?

• My dad was a builder, who would do everything himself. We’d camp in national parks so the amenities were minimal. This contradicted the experience I had with my mum, which reflected indulging in going to nice places, not spending up big but stopping here and there for a coffee

Where did you grow up?

Who are you influenced by?

What did you study in school?

What are the top three most impactful experiences you’ve had in your life?

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2.

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What is your favourite place that you have travelled to? Why?

Why do I do what I do?

What motivates me?

What is my why?

Why is it important?

Why did I start my business?

How did I want to feel?

When you’re ready, find a quiet place and write out your story. Don’t worry about whether it makes sense or not. Just let the inspiration flow, write it all out, and put it aside for a few days before going back to reread it and edit.

Go back to your story and try to find clues to how you can channel your story into an aesthetic that speaks to you.

What is the mood of your story? How do you feel? How do you want others to feel when they hear your story? How does your message make you feel?

Write down three adjectives that best describe the mood of your brand aesthetic. Use the corresponding adjective list to get you thinking about the mood. Don’t feel like you have to use one of these adjectives but it’s there to help you get started if you’re feeling stuck with finding the right word to describe how you feel.

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2.

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What do you see in your story? Write down everything that you see, everything that you come across, and everything that surrounds you in your story. These could be colours, textures, the environment, feelings or actual things.

Close your eyes and describe what it would be like to walk up to your ideal client’s house. What’s the style of architecture of the house? Is it modern, European, or Rustic? Is it colourful or muted? What is the house constructed of - sandstone, brick? When do they like that? When she greets you at the door, what is she wearing? Does she offer you a coffee, tea or perhaps a cocktail or beer? Is their house lived in or clinically tidy? Are the walls bare or do they have artwork hanging? Or perhaps she hangs a lot of photos on the wall. What are the photos of? Her family, her children? What colours do you see around you? What textures do you see around you? Does she have plants or perhaps flowers? Does she have an outdoor space? Is it a patio or a garden? Does she have furniture outdoors?

It is important to have a clear understanding of who the ideal client is for you. Depending on what you value most, your ideal client will look different. To explore this idea further, create a list of attributes your ideal client possesses. Be your ideal client for a minute, this is about feeling and emotion. Step into her skin. SPEAK TO HER PAIN POINTS. Look at life through her eyes. What primary emotion, or set of emotions, does she feel the exact moment she’s about to buy your product or service? What is she saying to herself in her head? What story is she telling herself? You are going to resist this exercise and think that it is silly or not really understand why I’m having you do it. But it is key to how you are going to present yourself online visually as well as in the message you send out.

To get you started, here are a few questions to consider as you define your potential ideal client:

• Describe your business or offering. What does it do? What does it sell?

• What problem or conflict does it solve for the customer?

• Who is your target market? Who are the people you want to work with and serve? Try to narrow it down as much as you can.

• What are three words that describe your IDEAL customer/client?

  • 1:

  • 2:

  • 3:

Finish this sentence.

• My client is

• My client is

• My client is

• My client is

What is composition? 

What are the three keys to mastering composition so you can create more impactful images?

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Why is it important to have a strong focal point in the composition of your image? 

What is the ‘Rule of Three’?

What is negative space and why is it important?

I want you to take a look at the images of three other people you love and consider how they incorporate these three principles into their styling. What do you love about the image? What don’t you love about the image? Consider how your eye travels in the image. Is it comfortable to your eye? Do they follow the rule of three? What about negative space? Do they incorporate that? It’s so important to take the time to analyse those people whose images you love as that’s the only way you will start seeing patterns in styling and seeing what works and what doesn’t work. You’ll then be able to understand your own style and aesthetic more as well as style with added confidence and not only will you know when something just doesn’t look right, you’ll know why it doesn’t look right and how to rectify it.

What do you style on a regular basis? Products? Your process?

What are your brand colours? If you sell products, what colours feature in your products and branding usually?

Does your work or expertise require tools? What tools do you need or use to create your products or provide your service?

Do you already have some props?

What props do you already have in your styling kit?

Which props have you not used and which ones do you find yourself using again and again?

What props would be useful to help style your products and work?

What colours work for your aesthetic?

When you’ve taken inventory of your styling kit or considered what would be useful for you when styling your work, product and process, write out your prop wish list. Don’t worry about the number of items you have on it. Just let the ideas flow.

Once you have a better idea of what items would be useful for you to have, start researching, start a Pinterest board and see where those people that you love are buying their props from or check out ceramic stores or antique fairs or markets and keep a look out for items that would be perfect for your needs.

1. Style the still life details to your tablescape, to your studio, to your work in whatever way that speaks to you. Consider how each detail relates back to the story of your shoot. 

2. Pick up an item from your styled set up and put it back down. Practice this a few times, looking through your camera (whether it’s your phone camera or your photographer’s camera) so you can find the shot you want to capture. 

3. Pick up one of your tools (e.g. a pen, scissors, brush, clippers or other tool) and use it as you would normally and use your camera (whether it’s your phone camera or your photographer’s camera) to help you find the shot you want to capture. 

4. If on a photoshoot, have a member of your team repeat the movements while you with your phone and photographer with their camera, captures the action and look through the viewfinder so you can make sure you get the shot you want to capture. 

5. Examine your work or products with your hands and have your photographer capture this with a focus on your hands and how it interacts with your work or product. 

6. Walk briskly into the frame from one side, and continue all the way through to the other side. Walk behind your styled scene (for example you’ve styled a desk workspace) or you can walk while holding your product or inspirations. 

7. Consider how you typically use your product or how you want your work to be viewed by the audience and interact with it in that same way. Have your photographer capture this as you do this. 

Close your eyes and focus your attention to describe what your shoot would look like. 

What is the story you’re trying to tell? 

What’s the setting like? 

Is there any furniture? Is there a table? Is the table bare or are there items placed on top? If so, what are they?

Are the walls bare or do they have something hanging? 

Start building your image bank by capturing these 4 key shots using your phone camera on your photo shoot.

1. The behind-the-scenes mess. 

2. The completed scene. 

3. Close-up shots. 

4. Hands shots.