One of the first elements you notice upon visiting a new Instagram account is its overall visual look. A page full of pastel desserts, floral dresses, and lighthearted-looking fonts is going to make a different impression from one with a consistent theme of brooding forests, darker filters, and cryptic quotes.
Your visual theme is an important part of your brand that immediately sets much of your vibe. If your brand is vibrant and happy, consider bright colors, colorful graphics, and shooting your #ootd during the daytime. If you’re looking to set a more contemplative, delicate vibe, then an airy, pastel, or muted color palette would represent that well.
See how the aesthetics of the accounts above all evoke a different vibe? One draws a more neutral aesthetic, and the other has a vibrant, feminine and dreamy feel.
A great first step is to think about what mood you want to set immediately. What emotions do you want to convey? And usage of color and tone is a great way to set that mood.
Beyond hues, your page’s visual saturation and lightness are also important to your aesthetic. A more demure look usually uses less saturated colors, whereas a more outgoing look usually amps up the saturation and contrast.
Editing and filters can give you a boost.
Not every object in your photos can realistically be a part of your typical color palette. Filters will help you keep up a cohesive mood and color scheme. There are a wide variety of filters out there that can make any photo look more sunlight, melancholy, rustic, or straight out of the 1800s.
Fortunately, you’re not just limited to Instagram’s filters. If you really want to create your own custom filters from scratch, try Adobe Photoshop. For a variety of presets, check out Adobe Lightroom, a software specifically made for editing professional photography. It’s also got a mobile app so you can take it on the go.
Here’s a list of free photo editing apps that’ll help you refine your photos and make them look even more professional. You’ll be able to apply filters, remove red eyes, and make color corrections on easy-to-use interfaces. Just don’t edit your photos to the point where they no longer look realistic --people can tell!
Your filters should be consistent throughout your page. Save a few preset filters that all reflect your aesthetic. Not all your filters will fit every photo -- some will require more customization than others.
Original
High Contrast
Moody
Pastel
Cool Tone
Warm Tone
Your aesthetic should authentically represent you.
Take a look at the overall aesthetic of different influencers and brands. Which ones resonate with you most? What look represents you? Hop on Pinterest and make a few mood boards with content, missions, and values similar to yours.
Of course, you should choose a mood that aligns with your real-life personality. This is especially important if you plan on frequently responding to comments, posting videos of yourself, or posting written content -- anything that shows how you speak. To help translate your personality into more tangible visuals, think of your fashion sense. What colors and patterns do you typically wear? When you purchase items and are faced with color choices, what colors do you usually choose?
Think about how your vibe will interact with the content you post. If you’re a fashion influencer who typically wears bright clothing, your vibe should complement this rather than subdue it. If you’re a food influencer who uses colorful ingredients, your aesthetic should make your food look more appetizing. You should know that taking your audience’s needs into consideration are vital in everything you post (which we’ve discussed in our last blog post), so choose an aesthetic they’re likely to favor.
Is this aesthetic consistently feasible?
How often will you have the means to take photos that include the necessary elements to fit in with that aesthetic? For example, if you live in the middle of a cosmopolitan city but want a rustic look full of barnyards and the wilderness, this may be more difficult for you to attain unless you’re willing to consistently drive several miles out of town. If you live in a country where the sun hardly shines, a bright and sunny aesthetic isn’t going to be easy unless you’ve got the means to travel to frequently sunnier destinations.
Don’t forget that it’s important to post often to gain traction. Remember, for your entire page to have a visual theme, most of your posts need to stick to certain style guides. Choose an aesthetic that won’t break the bank and rack up car mileage to keep up.
Once you’ve defined an aesthetic that makes sense for you, your editing process will become much more straightforward. An overall aesthetic will further distinguish your brand and leave a visual mental and emotional imprint whenever your name comes up.
In summary, the important factors to consider when building your aesthetic is defining what impression you’d like to immediately exude, what truly represents your brand, what reflects the mood you’re trying to set, and what is pragmatically feasible to maintain. Draw inspiration from the brands you’d like to collaborate with as well as other influencers and brands whose aesthetics you admire.
If you need any help with photography or branding, we offer full-service social media management services, including professional photography, guaranteed to reflect your unique identity and help you stand out from the crowd. Feel free to contact us at info@irosesocial.com! Let’s talk about those first impressions.
