Introduction

Amanda Lilholt Hurup (ALH) has been labeled as one of Denmark’s up and coming furniture designers. There is an increase in demand, plenty of work and an ever increasing to-do list as an entrepreneur. There just isn’t enough hours in the day and Amanda really needed a series of images displaying her work in a clear and professional manner now things were going her way. It was no longer enough using her smartphone for the job.

Getting all the furniture produced, packed and sent to a photo shoot location in time, just wasn’t possible. The traditional process of a photo shoot is time consuming, expensive and very inflexible. By opting to try out the “3D route”, deliverables was on time, looked great and came with a few bonuses only 3D can provide.

What was done and why

An important tool for her business is using social media to share images and moments of her day as a designer. This clearly communicate her passion and skill for design and her craft and it gives her followers a peek into her everyday life and her personality. This works extremely well and she gets great response from it.

However great she does on Instagram, the furniture section on her homepage  (as I write this) is a completely different story. Most of the images are quick snapshots with the cellphone, taken in an environment with poor lighting. Pictures on social media works great, but only because they are accompanied by a written story and they allow for interaction.

Amanda was in need of better images for her homepage, but most of her furniture is produced by order. There are no easily accessible physical inventory with stored pieces to send to a photo session.

A Traditional Photo Shoot Is a Long, Tedious and Expensive Process

Finding a suitable location, booking and styling it, transporting and assembling the furniture and then have a photographer do what he does. That is a lot of hours spent on planning and execution – Amanda did not have any spare time on her hands to do all of this and even if she had, would it be the best thing for her business to use her valuable time on?

Amanda and I discussed which pieces of furniture we should focus on and how they should be represented visually.

The current images varied a lot in quality, setup and context. Every furniture piece needed to be pictured from at least three angles, be in the same context and have the same expression. It had to be easy for the potential buyer to understand the design, function and Amanda’s intentions with every piece.

One of the specific requests from Amanda, was for her followers to be able to see her latest design (a bamboo side board) in a proper context. We agreed on showcasing it in a modern living room so she also could use it for promotion purposes.

(Completed 3D visualizations)

Conclusion

These projects isn’t just about delivering a bunch of files. By focusing on why Amanda wanted new product shots of her furniture, we discovered the core issues and were also able to plan ahead regarding her brand, homepage and future projects.

The new images contributes to a more professional look on her product page and the images are perfect for promoting the individual pieces on social media to generate more sales.

Having her photo shoot done in 3D went great and as an added bonus,  investing in a 3D photo shoot allowed us to bring her own design in to interior projects for her clients later on.