The Flat-Lay Phenomenon

“Flat-Lay is the New Black” – Every blogger, ever.

But What is a ‘Flat-Lay’?

For those of you new to the fashion blogging and Instagramming world, a flat-lay image is a style of photography. It is where you find a nice, flat surface and you lay several items on the surface in an ‘artistic’ manner and then shoot from above. Often, the images appear to be styled with flowers or cups of coffee, but I am told that this is not a necessity.

Flat-lay photography is actually trickier than it sounds – not only do you have to get the colour balance between the surface and the items right, but you also have to ensure that the lighting is perfect and that you don’t accidentally snap your own shadow in the pic.

Should You Jump On The Flay-Lay Trend?

Totally depends on your product and brand. Some products just aren’t suited to the flat-lay style. Or maybe your products look fine in flat-lay but the audience of people who are looking at/for flat-lay aren’t your target market. Flat-lay is used a lot for beauty products, fashion brands and anything targeted towards females or millennials. If your brand is targeting male baby-boomers than you can probably give flat-lay a miss.

If your brand or product is suitable for flat-lay then I say jump on it! My general opinion is that you should always go where the eyeballs are and be a part of the conversations that your audience are having – so if your customers are loving flat-lay atm then you should be too!

How Do You Do This Whole Flat-Lay Thing?

In theory, flay-lay is simple. Find a nice, clean surface that contrasts nicely with the colours of your products (if you have bright, colourful products then try placing them on a white, marble or beige surface, and if you have white, marble or beige products, try putting them on a coloured or textured surface). The adjust the lighting – I’ve seen blogs that advise only using natural lighting and I’ve seen other bloggers who swear by using professional over-head lighting. I think it will be a bit of trial-and-error for most people, but I’d suggest starting out with testing natural sources of lighting first because natural = free.

You then position yourself overhead so that you can get a nice clear shot of your flat-lay without any shadow from yourself, your lighting apparatus or any other unwanted elements. And then snap away.

Hey Hey Hey!

You should totes tag me in any of your flat-lay pics, I’d love to see how you go – #BeKonstructive or @BeKonstructive_Marketing. Or, if taking your own flat-lays and managing your Insta and FB feeds is all too time-consuming, then give me a call on 0413 844 190 to enquire about BeKonstructive’s Social Medial Management Services!