The primary objective of COWI’s photos is to communicate COWI’s brand visually.
The unique photo style reflects COWI’s commitment to create coherence in the world – and how COWI has a 360° approach to consultancy and doing business.
Coherence includes the link between people and solution or man/machine.
Hence, COWI’s photos convey how COWI’s employees, customers and/or end users interact and are connected with end products, e.g. a building, a bridge or the environment.
COWI’s photos have several entrances to the COWI story.
The photos must display various angles within a story: an end product, a detail of an end product, a portrait of e.g. a customer, a grand view of a COWI employee within a specific context, a customer or end user in connection with an end product.
A photo shoot
A photo shoot must be arranged so the shoot has multiple variations for various purposes including branding, marketing, sales and editorial.
Man and machine are equally important in COWI’s universe. Machine is created by man, while machine gives man the possibility to evolve.
Photos should convey a ‘larger than life’ feeling equal to the feeling you get when you look at photos from e.g. National Geographic or the BBC.
Environment is cleared of features unimportant to the story.
Categories
- Man
- Machine
- Larger than life
- Close-up
Models
Models are preferably employees, customers or end users.
Employees can act as models in any setting, both within or outside their own area of expertise. Can interact with both customers and end users.
Customers are always used in the context they are related to – project or end product. Can interact with both employees and end users.
End users are always used in the end user context they are related to. Can interact with both employees and customers.
If people outside these categories are used as models they should be real people and not professional models.
All models must sign COWI’s model contract.
Requirements/composition
All photos should be taken so that they can be used for both horizontal and vertical purposes. The composition should be characterised by large, clear spaces and long lines.
When shooting a man/machine photo, two different shoots should be taken – one for editorial purposes and one for branding purposes.
For an editorial shoot, part of the photo should have a clean space which can subsequently to be used for copy and/or headlines.
Natural lightning
Scandinavian desaturated look. Shoot with 50mm lens (close to the person and from tripod).
View is on eye level
Not up-tilted or down-tilted and no use of wide-angle.
Guidelines
- Coherence photographed 360°-all aspects and all angles
- Machine: 25 per cent desaturation
Clean spaces
Long lines
Larger than life and grand views, nature, scenery, architecture etc.
- Man: 20 per cent saturation
Shows excitement and engagement
Interacts with surroundings
Is present
Personality and charisma are captured.
Photo processing
Machine: 25 per cent desaturation
Man: 20 per cent saturation
Colours
‘Scandinavian clean’. Main colours are dusty tones of grey, blue and cream.
Brand colours are highlighted in single objects in an otherwise clean universe with a global colour touch.
B/W is not used.
Photo databases
All photos used in marketing and communication materials can be found in COWI's photo database – Media Library is only accessible by COWI employees. If you are an external designer and need to obtain photos from the database, please contact your COWI contact person who can access the database for you.
