FINDING VISUALS

Throughout my course we have been taught how important it is to use more visuals over words. We have recently been looking at how to create effective but minimal mood boards, with strong imagery to not only show how it will look but how it makes us feel. We have also been set projects to create visual reports and pitch style presentations where we should use images to tell our story and less text. Through all this work I haven't learnt to look for new places and follow more people who give me visual inspiration and effective imagery. So I wanted to talk you through some of my favourites I have been using. Museums and galleries are of course a great way to get visual inspiration but I actually find this really difficult to find the right places to go to or exhibitions to see and much prefer looking online but when we can actually go out again after the pandemic I am really going to try and push myself and expand my visual intake even more.

A website I discovered and have been absolutely loving for my projects is Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/), its a website where photographers and artists upload their work and you can download the images for free. There is an editorial page to explore popular images, or featured categories to get you started and see all of the popular imagery people are created to inspire you without searching for specifics. Or you can search specific words to find images involving the item you searched or you can search for key themes and ideas and it will give you images they think link to those words. It also allows you to click on the creator of the image you like and look at all of their other images, so if you really like their style and photography you can explore other pieces they have uploaded and connect with that artist to keep a running theme and you can follow the artists and keep up to date on their work. They also have many categories such as 'Stock photos' and 'Food images' etc. if you want to explore. The images are all very high quality and easy to download and use in your work.

I actually really don't like using Pinterest, I find it really hard to find more abstract and different imagery as its very literal with the images that come up when you search and doesn't have too much variety and experimental imagery as I am trying to move away from the literal and basic imagery.

But an app I have been loving even more recently is Instagram. I've had the app for a long time and have always loved it of course but it really makes a difference if you find and start following the right people and can be an amazing place to find inspiration and imagery to use. What I have been doing to help with my brand developing idea is whenever I research a brand for my course or see a new, innovative product or advertisement I will follow that brand as Instagram is a great way to see who the brand really are. They give up to date updates, you can see how they really speak, their brand tone of voice and how well they connect with consumers. I like to follow both big and small brands to see the difference between them and what content they are releasing. One of my current favourites is Jacquemus and I love that they don't just post about their products, they feature some amazing imagery that really tells the story of that brand.

As well as brands on Instagram I have been following pages who are designed to share visual inspiration, through both fashion, settings and aesthetics. Some of my favourites are

@nclgallerycreative which is a page which shares art and photography which are very aesthetically pleasing and a bit more abstract. I have found some amazing and unique pieces on this account which are great to use as my visuals in my projects. They are all reposts from artists so its a great way to find those unique artists and their work to be promoted. It's great if you find a piece you really like and then follow that artist to see more imagery that inspires you.

Another amazing aesthetic setting page is @somewheremagazine which they call their 'moodboard' so its perfect to find imagery for my moodboards when I'm creating my brands aesthetic. This page also credits the artists so it's a great way to find new creatives and images to use in my work.

For fashion and influencer inspiration finding I have been loving @lessiswore who repost other's instagram posts. I love how minimal and clean the page is how many different people they feature. I have found some amazing instagramers through this page as well as photo taking inspo, fashion and interior ideas. Its such a great account to follow if your unsure on which influencers content you will like and really get a taste of so many different people and its a great way for smaller accounts to be promoted. Its has been a great place for me to find the style and visuals I want to use in my consumer profiles for brands I am writing about in my projects as you can really find their aesthetic and see what brands they promote and really learn about them and use them as an example consumer.

For art pieces and finding artists I have been loving @popcultureinpictures_ as they showcase many different artists work, all of which are very modern and timely so can work well into my present projects. It's as a great way to find artists I may want to collaborate with my brand or advertisements. They are all very abstract and differ from one another so its a great way to see a range of art when I'm sure on my aesthetic.

I try to follow many inspiring accounts, and what I do to expand my accounts to follow is from these big accounts I follow the artists or influencers who are featured to keep expanding my visual intake of the artists I enjoy and so that I'm always taking in inspiration even when I'm just doing my daily Instagram scroll. What I have found is the best way to take in these images is to save them as I go, even if they don't relate directly to something I am doing at that time and then will go back to them when I am struggling for visuals and I usually always find something to inspire me. I have created folders one for Inspiration one for Fashion and one for my blog post inspirations but I am going to now create more precise categories as I have been saving many posts recently.