Photographic style is a top priority at St. Isidore and a key part of our brand. By following specific guidelines, we ensure that St. Isidore continues to have a distinctive yet recognizable visual style. Photography and graphics are used across our complete range of communications and help give messages more meaning and appeal while maintaining St. Isidore’s aesthetic as bold and modern. This is how we want to be perceived.
Any image used in communication (website, social media, print) must be original or licensed. Images from a Google image search should never be used. A list of resources is provided at the end of this section.
There are three main principles of our photographic style:
Capturing Real Life
- Ensure images are natural, inspiring, and spontaneous, not contrived and not staged.
- Avoid using photos of people staring at the camera.
- Use engaging images of people enjoying themselves.
- Keep photos as natural as possible
Controlling Tone
- To give photos a more modern high quality look, use high-exposure images with a large depth of field, creating out of focus foregrounds and backgrounds if possible.
- One way to achieve a strong look is to use single-focus compositions that hold the foreground or subject in sharp focus while allowing the background to go soft or out of focus.
- Use it to focus audience attention to the key feature(s). Controlling tone is a way of drawing the viewer into a particular area of the image and providing focus.
Avoid Clutter
- Ensure there is one clear focal point and don’t complicate the image with unnecessary detail
- A subject should not fill up the entire Frame.
- When using landscapes, photos should be uncluttered and spacious.
- Use depth of field to help avoid clutter.
Other Notes
- All imagery should be as high resolution as possible. For print, a minimum resolution of 300ppi (e.g. an image with a resolution of 900px x 600px can be printed up to 3” x 2” in size). For web, images should be at least 1200px wide.
- Clipart is not permitted.
- All images must be licensed for use in print or online publishing. If you are not sure about your image, send it and the creative team will let you know if it’s usable.
- Photography should be full-bleed extending to the edge of the frame. Borders should not be used.
- Avoid using text in images. Not only does this clutter the image, but the text is not searchable and will lessen the likelihood of users discovering your content. Most importantly, text in images is not accessible. This means that those with disabilities (such as blindness) cannot navigate the information because it cannot be read with a screen reader.
Stock Photography Sites
If you wish to choose your own artwork that meets the above requirements, here is a list of free sources:
Additionally, you may look for an image from one of our paid resources. If you wish to use artwork from one of these sources, please include a link to the image with your submission.
