One of the elements of commercial photography that I find most fascinating is the use of statistics.  Here is an item for sale, along with a pretty picture.  Now, here’s the same item in a different scenario.  Which one will sell the most, and why?  How do creative considerations translate directly into numbers?  All sorts of industries deal with this same question but it is the most measurable in catalogs because there is only one step from page to purchase: the photograph.

Big Leo’s own Molly Fitzsimons teamed with photographer Alec Hemer to help create the new CB2 catalog.  Their cover is an almost perfect mix of color and shapes, very striking and instantly identifiable as CB2:

So deceiving in its simplicity – from concept to execution to approval, I imagine at least 15 people being directly involved in the cover shot.  Inside, the spreads are meticulously numbered and copy-written in the margins.  The ‘movie sofa’ is not just a sofa.

‘Forget about sitting upright uptight polite.  Deep down lounge in walnut faux velvet invites curling up for a double feature, the bourne trilogy, a week of tivo.’

You might also need some anti-nausea meds to make it through the whole Bourne trilogy, but I can appreciate the idea of taking a normal couch and adding a story to make it seem more appealing.

But what are the elements of the photo above (also styled by Molly) that translate to more units sold?  As a thought experiment, take a look at the ‘movie sofa’ from previous CB2 catalogs and think about which one makes you want it the most.

We’re biased towards Molly’s work, but the shot does have a great feel to it, with the large window reflected in the mirrors, the high ceiling, and the dramatic ray of sunlight draped so peacefully across the couch.  Will it sell more?  I have heard that the sunlight, or ‘the ray’ in art director parlance, will always move more units.  So much so, that if you can’t make ‘the ray’ on a dark day, you will never shoot interiors catalogs.  Also, all 4 couches are at slightly different angles.  The CB2 merchants could cross-reference the sales of all sofas with the ‘couch angle.’  There are an almost limitless number of different ways that the photos could be analyzed – it must be hell on the art director to have those numbers hanging over your head.

In the end, I do think that you can overthink a scenario.  And while statistics are important for the merchants to see what is popular and why (I would hope it has a lot to do with the actual quality of the sofa), it comes down to the photograph, which is the direct interface between the consumer and unit.  The light, composition, and styling all need to be in harmony.  Something that numbers tend to mess up – so there must be a balance.  Part of the reason why catalog photography, in my humble opinion, is such a fine art.  Constraints breed creativity, and nowhere is this more on display than in the pages of CB2.

Here is a very cool interview with the Prop Master for Mad Men, Scott Buckwald.

Collectors Weekly: What are some of the other antique or vintage items that you’ve worked with on Mad Men?

Buckwald: We had a vintage rifle, which was a real gun. And I had to put meters in the taxicabs. How do you find vintage taxicab meters and make them look nice and new? But the show is about advertising, so it was mostly a case of recreating newspapers and magazine layouts more than anything else.

There’s an episode in which the firm was going to be promoting women’s lipstick, so we needed a department store countertop display case. My assistant made a lipstick display case from scratch. He found pictures of it, laid it out, designed it, and made it. It was brilliant. We’ve created little household items, little point-of-purchase trinkets, stuff like that. It was an amazing amount of work. You watch the show and you might not notice it because sometimes the camera doesn’t always capture the little things you do. Hopefully, as a whole, it all kind of adds up. You can’t expect every item that you make to be celebrated.

It’s so true – props are supposed to fade into the background and create a structure that helps set the mood.  Invisible, yet integral.  There are tons of great insights in the interview, be sure to check it out whether you are a fan of the show or just a fan of prop stylists (or, like us, both!).  Maribeth Keane and Jessica Lewis over at Collector’s Weekly asked some great questions.  Check it out.

In an earlier post I compared the Gourmet and Bon Appetit brands based on covers.  It was with exceeding disappointment that we heard of Gourmet’s closing earlier this week.  In the end, it obviously (and unfortunately) came down to financial reasons.  If ad sales are 80% of your revenue, and those sales are down 40 percent, you just lost 1/3 of your budget.  The magazine could not support itself.  Food Bible status, some of the most talented photographers and stylists in the business, all that is beholden to the advertisers plain and simple.

Beholden, that is, unless you use your brand to generate other sources of revenue.  Food Network recently launched a magazine and soon after increased the frequency of issues.  Comparing the editorial content and target audiences of Gourmet and Food Network misses the point entirely.  One is a magazine, the other is a brand that encompasses television, endorsements, and magazines, as well all the advertising that entails.  Each show on the Food Network is a brand within a brand.  And the magazine is not just a magazine, it is complementary to the network itself.  So not only does the FN magazine sell ad pages, it is an ad for the television network and vice versa.

Which brings me to the Op-Ed in yesterday’s NYT, written by Christopher Kimball, the publisher of Cook’s Illustrated.  He states:

“To survive, those of us who believe that inexperience rarely leads to wisdom need to swim against the tide, better define our brands, prove our worth, ask to be paid for what we do, and refuse to climb aboard this ship of fools, the one where everyone has an equal voice.”

Ok, aside from being blatantly elitist, this statement is ridiculous.  Gourmet did not fold because the unwashed internet denizens dragged her down to the depths of the marinara trench where she was crushed under the weight of canned tomato sauce and EVOO.  Gourmet’s brand was refined and extremely valuable, except that it was only being used on the magazine.  They were all-in on the ad revenue.  Kimball even states as much:

“We abandoned advertising in 1993 for a 100-percent subscriber-financed model, including a thriving paid Web site.”

Congrats, you’re still in business.  Then again, its not like you’re spending any money to make pretty pictures.

By comparison, here is a list of the things that Martha Stewart has branded:

Martha Stewart Collection Only at Macy’s | Martha Stewart for 1-800-Flowers.com | Martha Stewart Crafts | Martha Stewart for Grandin Road
Martha Stewart Floor Designs with FLOR | Martha Stewart Everyday at Kmart | Martha Stewart Furniture with Bernhardt | Martha Stewart Colors at Lowe’s | Martha Stewart KBHomes | Martha Stewart Kodak Gallery | Martha Stewart Lighting | Martha Stewart Rugs | Martha Stewart for Shutterfly

None of those endorsements in any way reflects the quality of the editorial content at that magazine.  In fact, I would say that it increases the pressure on the editorial team to produce the best and most relevant content.  Rachael Ray has similar endorsement deals as well as a television show.  Each property increases the overall reach and visibility of the brand (i.e. more than the sum of its parts), which is always a leading indicator of the amount advertisers will follow in turn.

But, you say, Gourmet was never about buying the newest kitchen gadget.  It was about the lifestyle, the attitude.  The photos were rarefied and sumptuous.  Yes, yes, and yes.  But in a world where advertisers demand the maximum number of clicks and the quantitative data to back them up, you need to work across multiple mediums.  You need to take the brand and squeeze out every last penny you can.  A magazine in and of itself is not enough, and won’t be subsidized unless there is a good reason.

I loved Gourmet, and would loved to have seen Gourmet TV, or a Gourmet-brand seal of approval, or a festival, or a line of cookbooks (that wasn’t just reprinting magazine content).  Anything to expand that aesthetic of authenticity, quality, and style.  Anything to keep the dream alive.  The thing is, the Gourmet brand still has such an impact, an entire reservoir of creative capital.  It will not just go away when they stop printing paper.  It will be there, still floating in the ether, a high watermark and cautionary tale.  Live or die by the brand.

The Amateur Gourmet has an amazing post about dinner at El Bulli (the “best restaurant in the world“) complete with photos and video.

Its a great read and fun to follow along with all the courses.  Interesting fact: Wikipedia states that the restaurant has operated at a loss since 2000, but makes its money from books and lectures by Ferran Adrià.  42 chefs on the payroll would break any bank.

I’m a little disappointed that the food photos doesn’t do the restaurant justice, but that’s just a minor gripe for an otherwise fascinating look into a restaurant that gets 2 million requests for only 8,000 diners per season.

Check it out here.

Just got back from a week in St. Augustine.

Coquina-shell beaches, fried gator tail, and key lime pie.

We went out to eat at Cap’s on the Water.  Sitting outside under the Spanish moss while the sun went down.

The gator tail does not in fact taste like chicken.  It tastes like Florida, deep-fried and humid.

Darkness settled in and we just sat back and watched the lights shimmer across the intracoastal waterway, rusted fans softly humming from the trees.

The beach along A1A south from Ponte Vedra is deserted because of the state park – we would find huge conch shells on the beach hours after high tide, still sitting there unpicked.  Its always hard to return to New York but I know we’ll be back next year.

One of the most important tools in a stylist’s kit is the color chip book – a virtual swiss army knife with 1000+ variations.  Whether its the Benjamin Moore iPhone app or the Pantone Solid Chips three book set, the perfect color is out there waiting to be found – if you know what you’re looking for.

Taking it a step further, Kuler by Adobe is an online community where anyone can create entire color schemes that are then rated by users and tagged with certain keywords meant to capture the feeling of the scheme.

I love that there is no real way to objectively judge color schemes – it is entirely based on feeling and intuition.

Most of our stylist’s assignments come with a pre-defined scheme from the art director.  I haven’t heard of any ADs using this site, but maybe its just their dirty little secret.

Anyways, check it out – Kuler is a great source of inspiration, and there is something so soothing about flipping through colors.  We’ll post a Big Leo scheme soon!