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Style: July ’09 (Includes the Behind-the-Scenes Process)

I’m asked constantly how I put these style posts together, so today I’m showing you the behind-the-scenes process.

It works the same way whether I’m making a board for an outfit or a room. I may have a good idea of everything in my head first, but usually there’s a lot of looking around at different options before I hit upon exactly the look I want. Once I’ve chosen all of the items I want to use, I put them all together, erasing backgrounds and photo editing where necessary. Here’s a screenshot of all the windows I had open in Photoshop for this month’s post…

And here’s a breakdown of where it all came from (items that made the final cut are highlighted in bold)…

Each of those dresses work for nursing which I know is not something that everyone needs, but it’s a requirement for me these days. Oh, and I’ve included the Ada Pleats shoes before, but with good reason: I absolutely love them. I have a pair in yellow, and they make my $25 Target dress look a whole lot nicer. See, I only recommend items I’ve actually bought (or would buy) for myself… I’m like a consumer advocate that way. ;)

FAQ, Style • 45 Comments • July 6, 2009

FAQ: Product Photography (Part Two)

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In part one, I discussed a few different options for product photography. Here, I’ll focus on taking a good photo against a white background. That’s what I’m (fairly) good at, and I think that’s where most people have trouble.

The Setup

I use a homemade light box, a tripod, four adjustable lamps from IKEA, and daylight bulbs.

Three of the lamps have 100 watt daylight bulbs, which is often enough. If there are harsh shadows, I’ll also turn on the 60 watt lamp to add a little overall illumination. The light box is a clear plastic container with some fabric batting wrapped around it to soften the light. The white background inside is just a piece of poster board.

Getting the Picture

As I mentioned in part one, I am not an expert photographer by any means. I am however, quite good at Photoshop.
Continue Reading…

FAQ, Pink Loves Brown • 44 Comments • October 16, 2008

FAQ: Product Photography (Part One)

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A lot of people have asked me if I have any tips for taking product photos. I’m not an expert photographer by any means, but I’m happy to share what I know.

If you have a shop, it’s important to have the best images you can. I tend to use a lot of digital representation because it works well for my product – I design everything on my computer so I already have all of the images available. I also like everything to be uniform and exactly spaced, but I’m a bit persnickety like that.

As convenient as digital images are, one can’t underestimate the power of a good photo. I tend to shoot products against a pure white background (to use on my home page, in blog posts, and in newsletters), but I’ve seen several other techniques used to good advantage.

What kind of background should you use?

It’s all personal preference. Think about your brand and the image you want to convey, think about how the images will be placed on your site, and keep bloggers and the press in mind…

I like white backgrounds because I like the way the photos look neat and borderless against a white page. When Modish had a shop, all of the products were shot against different fabric backgrounds. Erica Weiner photographs all of her jewelery against a black background and adds a vintagey frame, and it works really well for her brand. Think about what’s going to work for you, and then be consistent in implementing your ideas.

Hopefully your shop will attract the attention of the press, so you may want to keep that in mind as well. Magazines often ask for images to use, and they almost always prefer a white background. Bloggers like me often put together style boards, and photos with white backgrounds are easier to work with so that’s another good reason to use them. However, “lifestyle” photos (using pretty backdrops and props or models) can be very pretty, and there are a lot of people that prefer them. Three Potato Four has excellent examples (their photos are always well-styled).

So how do I take a good photo?

I’m going to focus on photos with a pure white background because I think that’s what people have the most trouble with. That’s coming in part two…

FAQ, Pink Loves Brown • 21 Comments • October 15, 2008

FAQ: How Did You Start Pink Loves Brown?

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I get a lot of letters and emails from people, and I’m often asked the same questions. One question in particular seems to come up all the time…

“How did you start your business?”

I’ve been planning to write a series of business posts, so we will begin at the beginning.

I worked at Barbara’s Bookstore in Oak Park for six years, starting in 1998. Barbara’s was like the Empire Records of bookstores. Working there was fun, and everyone was amazing – we’ve all stayed friends and we still see each other all the time. I even married a fellow bookseller (Brandon started working there in 1999)!

Brandon found another job shortly before we were married in May of 2004. After he quit, I decided that it was time for me to leave as well and I gave notice in August. Without another job lined up. That was incredibly stupid of me. I went on a lot of interviews and I was almost hired several times, but nothing was working out. I took a retail job at west elm to make money until I could find a “real” (office) job.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law Portia and I had often talked about starting a business together. She loved the cards and invitations that I was always making for myself and others. I was going to be the creative one coming up with designs and she would handle the business and PR aspects. It was always more talk than action though (on both our parts), and nothing ever came of it.

A birthday invitation I made for Portia’s son James (my nephew)

In January 2005, a friend of Portia’s needed an invitation designed for her son’s communion. I tried to approach the whole thing in a professional, business-like manner, and I decided that I needed a business name. I hadn’t really planned on starting a business, and I certainly didn’t have any ambitious plans at that point. I just didn’t want to seem like I was the wife of a brother of a friend who was good at making cards and invitations. Even though that’s exactly what I was.

My first thought for a name was “Pink and Brown”. They’re my favorite colors, and I wanted a name that didn’t necessarily reflect what I was making. I wasn’t sure where this business would go, but I knew I didn’t want to limit myself by adding “Paper”, “Stationery”, or the ubiquitous “Designs” to the name. The website for pinkandbrown.com was taken (by what appears to be a rather nice furniture store in Montreal), so I decided against using it. I tried thinking of other names, but I didn’t like anything else.

I started thinking about “Lovely” (obviously I like that word), which then led to “Love”. I was going to offer custom wedding invitations, so I thought “[blank] Loves [blank]” would be a cute idea. Combined with my original idea, I came up with “Pink Loves Brown”.

I bought my domain name in February 2005, and I filed my DBA as a sole proprietor. I was officially open for business.