Packaging

When utilized correctly, product photography can be a great tool to help a brand stand out on shelf. It can effectively lead to consumers developing an emotional connection with the brand, as well as relay important information more quickly and efficiently than copy. Here are some noticeable trends within product photography that are really catching on.

Big Imagery Fit For the Dinner Table

Increasingly, brands are using photography as an opportunity to showcase how a product might be used. A great example of this can be seen with the packaging for Hello Fresh’s new retail product line. Hello Fresh is known for serving up easy-to-use delivery meal kits, and recently wanted to expand their reach by creating pre-packaged kits that can be found within supermarkets. In order to differentiate themselves, their packaging takes a bold approach and incorporates vibrant photography depicting the potential delicious end result that the kit aims to provide. The imagery roughly takes up two-thirds of the overall package, which results in a big image that draws the viewer in and entices them to join the dinner table.

Meat-free brand Quorn also incorporates this trend within their packaging, as they chose to include a mouthwatering visual of a ready-to-eat meal that takes up the top third of the package. This allows the consumer to easily imagine themselves enjoying the meal.

Cut-Outs With an Artistic Appeal

For those brands looking to stand out in an atypical way, another popular trend is to incorporate photography in an artistic manner. This can be achieved by utilizing cutout imagery along with other graphics or patterns.  

La Terra Fina is a brand that specializes in producing dips and spreads. They recently underwent a brand refresh, which included updating their packaging in order to give it a modern look. The end result is a dynamic solution that incorporates the photography of ingredients along with colorful brush stroke textures.

Irish bread brand McCambridge’s also plays with this idea with the redesign of their packaging by including photographed imagery of baked loaves of bread and pairing the visuals with illustrated graphics of mittens and tins, which ultimately provides a nice mixed-media approach to the overall look.

Ingredient Roll-Call

Another prominent trend in product photography is one that goes hand-in-hand with the growing demand for brand transparency. This involves incorporating visually-appealing images that call out the ingredients within a specific product. An example of this can be seen with Campbell’s and their Well Yes! Soup range, which is a healthier alternative to their main soup line. The packaging for the cans highlight bold groups of veggies and other ingredients that take out the mystery of figuring out what’s inside the soup.

Bright Foods is a new brand that is serving up tasty organic whole food bars that are made from only the freshest ingredients. Their packaging incorporates a bright color scheme along with rich photography that highlights all the specific ingredients that comprise each of their bars.

With the use of product photography growing overall, it will be exciting to see where and how brands intend to utilize these effective visuals in new and interesting ways.