Product imagery at catalogue scale
A catalogue of thousands of items needs thousands of images, in one visual language, updated whenever the range changes. Photographing that is a budget. Generating it is a process problem.
Consistency beats quality
A slightly imperfect image that matches the other four thousand reads as a catalogue. A beautiful image that matches nothing reads as a mistake. Fix the composition once and reuse it ruthlessly.
Where it fails
- Small items with fine detail — millimetres have to be stated, not implied
- Anything where the customer is buying an exact shade
- Scenes that imply a use the product does not support
Where it wins
Context shots. The image that shows what the thing is for. Those were never photographed anyway, because the budget went to the pack shot.
Working on this in your company?
Tell me what it does and I will tell you which parts can run themselves.