What IBM does
IBM's Design Language says most of its photography is lifestyle, cinematic and colorful, editorial like documentary filmmaking or journalism, so images feel like frames from a film. Perspective is eye level or, less often, aerial; nothing in between. Compositions use the 2x Grid, dividing the frame in halves to create zones and clear focal points, and crops use 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 2:1 or 1:1. Lighting is natural or simulates it, avoiding overly warm, glowing or golden hour photos and color washes and grading; everything is in sharp focus; and images avoid color or image overlays and anything added in Photoshop. Alongside reportage it names portraiture (Professionals are to IBM what athletes are to Nike) and still life for products.
IBM's system, as published
- Photo Types
- reportage (working world), portraiture, still life
- Perspective
- eye level, or aerial less often
- Grid
- 2x Grid: divisions of two, horizontal or vertical
- Aspect Ratios
- 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 2:1, 1:1
- Lighting
- natural or simulated natural; no overly warm or golden hour
- Focus
- everything in sharp focus
- Never
- color washes, grading, color or image overlays, added glare
Why it works
Refusing filters, overlays and soft focus makes photos read as fact, and cropping every image to a few ratios that split into halves gives a mixed set the rhythm of one system.
Best for
Enterprise, B2B, consulting, engineering, healthcare, finance, public sector and any fact-led brand that wants photos to read as evidence; reports, case studies, proposals, annual reviews
What breaks it
- Filters, color washes, duotones or tinted overlays
- Stock clichés that loosely stand for a concept (handshakes, lightbulbs)
- Shallow depth of field or dramatic tilted angles
- Mixing arbitrary crop ratios in one layout
Steal it for your brand
The same system, written in your colors, type and shapes. Nothing of IBM's look comes with it.
The recipe
- Choose photos of real work in real places, shot at eye level (or straight overhead), in natural light, with everything in focus; reject soft focus, odd angles and warm glowing light.
- Do not grade, tint, wash or overlay the photo; only neutralize white balance and sharpen lightly.
- Crop every image to one of the recipe's aspect ratios, using the hero ratio for the lead image.
- Divide the crop into halves (vertically or horizontally) and place the subject's focal point on one half or the dividing line, never floating in an empty center.
- Keep corners nearly square at a quarter of
style.radius; if the layout uses rules, separate photo and caption with astyle.border widthrule inpalette.border. - Caption below in the body face at
palette.ink muted; type never goes on the image.
What you'll need
- The customer's own photos of their people, clients and work (reportage, portraits, or product still life)
Recipe as JSON
{
"recipe": {
"mode": "ungraded",
"grade": "none",
"overlay": "none",
"sharpen": 0.2,
"white_balance": "neutral-daylight",
"aspect_ratios": [
1.7778,
1.3333,
1.5,
2,
1
],
"hero_aspect_ratio": {
"by": "style.density",
"map": {
"airy": 2,
"balanced": 1.7778,
"dense": 1.5
},
"default": 1.7778
},
"focal_grid": "halves",
"radius_px": "{style.radius} * 0.25",
"caption_color": "{palette.ink_muted}",
"rule_width_px": "{style.border_width}",
"rule_color": "{palette.border}"
},
"fallbacks": {
"palette.border": "{palette.ink_muted}",
"palette.ink_muted": "{palette.ink}",
"style.border_width": 1,
"style.radius": 0
},
"steps": [
"Choose photos of real work in real places, shot at eye level (or straight overhead), in natural light, with everything in focus; reject soft focus, odd angles and warm glowing light.",
"Do not grade, tint, wash or overlay the photo; only neutralize white balance and sharpen lightly.",
"Crop every image to one of the recipe's aspect ratios, using the hero ratio for the lead image.",
"Divide the crop into halves (vertically or horizontally) and place the subject's focal point on one half or the dividing line, never floating in an empty center.",
"Keep corners nearly square at a quarter of {style.radius}; if the layout uses rules, separate photo and caption with a {style.border_width} rule in {palette.border}.",
"Caption below in the body face at {palette.ink_muted}; type never goes on the image."
]
}The lesson
Leave photos ungraded and free of overlays, and crop them to a few set ratios so a mixed set reads as evidence, not decoration.
The move
Four documentary photos sit on a pale gray page in a loose grid: a man at a cluttered electronics bench, a football player in a number 38 jersey seen from behind, a person standing at a gap between stacked hay bales, and a straw-hatted worker photographed from above on spread grain.
Why it works
- Our readEach photo catches people in the middle of real work or play, so the set reads as reporting instead of staged stock.
- Our readSubjects are small or turned away in places, which makes the work and setting the focus, not the face.
- Vendor claimIBM's design language asks for eye-level or aerial views, natural light, sharp focus, and crops of 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 2:1 or 1:1, without washes or overlays. (source)
What not to copy
Don't copy the subjects, which are IBM's reportage. Keep the discipline: real people at work, shot level or from above, no filters or overlays, and every image cut to a short list of ratios.
