31 Resources for Visual Inspiration
A lot of creative types claim they don’t enjoy planning, but gathering inspiration is one of the best parts of the pre-production process, I promise.
When I’m producing photo shoots, putting together the creative direction is not only fun, but useful: it helps me hone in on a vision, acts as a trigger for new ideas, and provides examples of lighting and composition, which make it much easier to communicate with the client and crew. Thank goodness the Internet gods have made all of this visual inspiration so easy to find!
These are some of my favorite resources:
ARTIST AGENCIES
Artist representative agencies host the best images of their clients’ work, and are great places to see the portfolios of big names and up-and-comers alike.
Work by fashion stylist Claudia Engelmann (my favorite!) and prop stylist Rebecca Donnelly
Halley Resources
Bernstein & Andriulli
Apostrophe
Giant Artists
Art + Commerce
Casey
ArtMix
Visual Artists Agency
Artist & Agency
2b Management
Creative Exchange Agency
CLM
ArtList
EDITORIAL SITES
Editorials featured in the best print and online publications in the world provide endless inspiration directly from the pros. These sites do the hard work of hunting and gathering for you!
Images from Vogue Portugal, Glamour
Fashion Gone Rogue
Visual Optimism
Smile
Fashion Model Directory
Steen Evald
FashionEditorials.com
The Fashionography
INSTAGRAM
My current favorite social network is also one of the best sources of visual inspiration out there. Find one amazing account and let yourself fall down the Instagram rabbit hole, where all the pretty pictures live. I like to screenshot my favorite images and upload them to Pinterest.
Instagrams by streetetiquette, paridust
PariDust
FindingPaola
beyondthemag
roandcostudio
amy_stone
asiyami_gold
masterwilliams
streetetiquette
TheGlamourai
ParknCube
DesignArmy
PINTEREST
Speaking of Pinterest, it’s the easiest way to collect and sort images from all of the sources listed above. It’s also a super convenient way to search for specific looks, artists, and brands, and I especially love it when I’m putting together beauty direction, like when I know I want a burgundy lip but need to show the makeup artist exactly how burgundy it should be.
My “iwokeuplikedis” board is where I collect makeup inspo
What are your favorite sites for visual inspiration? Share in the comments!