Documenting a Changing Brand with Consistent Photography
Supporting Ascension’s connected brand identity through image continuity
Whether it’s outdated photos or a new rebranding campaign, sooner or later it will be time to update the images you use in your marketing efforts.
Current, on-brand assets are essential in our highly visual world. If you’ve ever been forced to use bad or obsolete images in new brochures or handouts, or in Google Maps and social media, you quickly recognize how vital it is to have the right photographic representation of your brand. And if your online images prevent prospective customers from finding—or even wanting to find you—well, that’s a next-level problem you should try to fix ASAP.
Ascension, one of the largest private healthcare systems in the United States, launched a national brand rollout that includes photographing all its locations.
“A vital component of executing Ascension’s national brand rollout has been capturing updated facility imagery,” said Jenny Vanden Heuvel, Senior Specialist of Creative Services for Ascension’s Marketing and Communications. “Updating location photos across our online presence has been important, not only to grow new brand awareness, but also to ensure successful patient navigation.”
And that’s where I came in. Well…drove in?!
12 Hours and Five States Away… Traveling for Architecture Photography
After Ascension rebranded its Tulsa, Oklahoma market, I took my photo gear for a road trip to document the exteriors of 48 hospitals and clinics. The primary goal of this large-scale project was two-fold:
Highlight the patient-facing facilities.
Help future patients locate wayfinding signage resulting from the recent rebrand.
From huge hospitals with elaborate facades in the city hubs, to street-facing clinics in the smaller towns, each building was unique in its own right.
Signage, Statues & Sculptures
I wanted to not only capture the local essence of each facility, but also—and more importantly—focus on the newly updated signage to help patients get to where they need to go.
My job here was to make the buildings look good, and also help patients find their way. That required me to include Ascension signage, as well as show nearby landmarks, unique parts of the buildings and their surroundings… all while keeping the images aesthetically pleasing.
Efficiency is Key
A highlight of this project for me was being able to deliver the entire photo set ahead of schedule. I was able to shave off multiple days from the original timeline. We had blue skies and great weather, which helped a bunch (look at that lens flare!), and I was able to make quick work of the smaller clinics.
Some of the six hospital visits took around two hours, but some of the clinics took as little as 15-20 minutes. Big bonus for me: I got to see what the Tulsa area looks like from above and soak it all in.
Finishing Touches
Another unique aspect of this project was that, while I was responsible for the bigger picture (literally), the Ascension team took up the end-stage detail editing: Removal of any distractions, cleaning up parking lots and grass, etc.
“Graham has been an invaluable partner through this process,” said Jenny. “His attention to detail in sites both big and small has proven his commitment to our business objectives.
“Since our organization is so large, it is not possible to send an internal associate to be on site for each shoot. Graham captured our vision perfectly, while also balancing many challenging logistics and trouble-shooting unforeseen situations on site. Without his ability to independently navigate these inevitable surprises, we would be in trouble. He has served as a much-appreciated extension of our team and has proven to be a valuable partner we can trust.”
Thanks, Jenny!
Beyond Bricks and Mortar
Whether your business has a single home base or multiple locations, through my lens we can work together to capture the personality of a living, breathing business—not just bricks and mortar. Reach out if you’d like to chat about your next architectural shoot!