Boring Brand Images? Don’t Neglect Body Language!

One of the reasons I hate over-reliance on headshots is they're just that - a photograph of just your head (and maybe a bit of your shoulders.) That's great for those tiny social media icons where every pixel counts. But they miss all the dimensions of expression found in your body! That subtle twist of your torso, or the commanding set of your shoulders, or that jaunty hip kicked out that semaphores a highly specific attitude. Not to mention the the myriad of incredibly nuanced meanings your arms and hands are capable of communicating. Headshots leave all that out!

Here are two croppings of a photo of Ken, a personal trainer, to go on a team page. The image on the left is a typical headshot cropping, and certainly conveys a degree of Ken's friendliness. Now look at the full image that includes most of his body. There is an ease and confidence about Ken here that the mere headshot doesn't convey. The expanded photo also gives us a sense of Ken's physique (important for a personal trainer) and the context that he's in a gym. Rather than an abstract floating head, the second photo gives us the sense that Ken is welcoming usi into his gym. There's a richer sense of connection with him.