Consistent photography is crucial to bringing the Emory experience to life. It is an important element in humanizing our brand and underscoring our location and diversity.
Best Practices
Our photography helps us tell our unique story. Each image should be more than just a photograph. It should help create a connection, conveying who we are, what we do, and what we stand for.
Our photography is characterized by these key style principles:
Natural light
We use natural lighting as much as possible to light and capture our subjects.
Authenticity
While we strive to keep our images free of clutter, we should avoid overly manicured images. Our images should also be authentic to the spaces we occupy as humans. We avoid harsh angles and viewpoints that don’t feel human.
The warmth of film
Film grain texture and the subtle warmth of film add a distinctly human element to our photography. While imagery should feel like it was intentionally shot on film, it should never appear overly treated or filtered.
Welcoming
It is important to avoid putting subjects into stereotypical roles and instead highlight truthful representations of our campus and communities to tell the story beyond statistics. To do this, we use genuine, unposed images of campus life, including visual cues for aspects like sexual orientation, religion, and disabilities in relevant contexts.
Photography Guidelines
Follow these steps for shooting and creating the various types of images that bring Emory's campus and community to life for our audiences.
Brightness and Contrast
Our photography has a textured, warm, lush tone that balances our system’s crisp, clean aesthetic. Neutral tones provide a canvas for our subject matter to stand out through specific moments and hints of vivid color. Images are generally lower in contrast to mimic film photography.
General Misuse
Do not use graphics or patterns over imagery.
Do not add heavy vignettes to images.
Do use imagery with artificial elements or compositing.
Questions?
Contact the Communications and Marketing brand team.
emory.branding@emory.edu