Alright, let’s get this stupid joke out of the way: who better to create imagery for a law firm than someone whose last name is actually Law?
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
Yep. Boo is right. Now that that’s taken care of, let’s move on. Vancouver-based Albert Law stayed local for a recent shoot, during which he collaborated with partners and employees at law firm Digby Leigh & Co. Albert landed this assignment through Will Creative, a longtime client with whom the photographer works consistently.
In 2019, Will and I collaborated on four projects with clients of various sizes and budgets. Projects ranged from a small two-person start-up to a large 100-plus-employee research company.
The Digby assignment sits somewhere in the middle of that spectrum: it’s a small but tight-knit company that’s seeking to get ahead of its competitors by appealing to young professionals in a variety of manners.
Most firms that I’ve seen in Vancouver don’t have a strong brand or good user experience on their website. Digby Leigh worked with Will to set themselves apart by creating an identity that is professional, fresh, and relatable to the next generation of business owners.
I’m usually hired for my lifestyle work and my ability to make images that look “in the moment” and natural, which is always more relatable to the audience.
That audience most likely includes fresh-faced law school grads who take everything into account when they apply to firms. In order to attract top talent these days, places like Digby need to be cognizant of the fact that it’s not just salary, benefits, and growth potential that matter to prospective employees — things like office environment and work/life balance are crucial factors as well. With this in mind, Will Creative put together a pitch for Albert that both gave the photographer a great starting point and allowed him to seek out imagery he thought would befit the branding overhaul.
Their pitch was to create images that show the personality of the company: professional, but also playful and fun to work at.
About 75% were specific shots and ideas that the agency wanted to try. I had a rough shot list to work with, but if I saw a moment worth photographing that wasn’t scripted, they were totally okay with that.
For example, the yoga mat photo was impromptu — the shot list called for office details and this was one of them.
Will wasn’t Albert’s only guide for this assignment; the Canadian also worked closely with one of the firm’s partners, who himself had a good sense of the kind of imagery he felt was important for this project. Good thing too, because Albert had a lot to cover in a rather short amount of time.
The whole shoot was very fast paced across one and a half days. Digby, our client and one of the partners at the firm, was with us the whole time to help keep us organized and contributed ideas for photos, which was very helpful.
The happy hour photos were specifically on the shot list, as the client felt it was important to show the personality of the firm.
Even though Albert had to move quickly to get his work done, everything was shot in the firm’s office — including the happy hour images, which were some of his favorite photos.
The office was the only location we shot in. We had about 6-7 employees model for the lifestyle images and they were all comfortable in front of the camera, which worked out great.
Many of the photos are used on their website on the ‘About’ and ‘Careers’ pages.
While a fair number of the deliverables were shot without people that Will Creative wanted in order to “show design choices and the personality of the space,” the most important imagery featured real employees actually going about their day. That added layer of authenticity is at the heart of what Digby Leigh & Co. wanted from the rebrand and is exactly what Albert brought their way.
Photography is an important part of any brand refresh, and we wanted to create something true to the brand by prominently featuring the actual employees and office instead of using stock photos.
Check out more of Albert’s work on his website.
Credits:
Agency: Will Creative
Art Direction: Brioni Crane
Further Reading:
Read more about Albert Law on our Published Blog.
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