Instagram has given birth to a new culture of product promotions, but how do you make your product stand out? Quality attributes are one but if the product fails to attract the audience, none of its characteristics will matter. This is where a still life stylists comes in. An interesting still life or flat lay composition can be the key to maintain an Instagram feed with appealing aesthetics.
Some of our favourite still life stylists on Instagram
A still life is a work of art exhibiting the product with props around it. Still life stylists or product stylists are the masters of it.
1. Anupriya Roy
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Anupriya Roy is an Indian still life stylist, who has a distinct European touch to her flat lays. While some of her artwork borders on a younger persona, most of it is inclined towards pink and pastel luxury palettes. Flowers are a common recurring element in her content and occasionally the contrast is credited by green leaves to restrain the femininity of the palette from overwhelming the audience.
2. Wen Ting Gu
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Based in New York, Wen’s work lies amid characteristics of quirky and surreal. Her fondness for food and ingredients is quite palpable in her flat lays. The general aesthetic enveloping her content is clean and minimalistic ensuring focus on the key product. Her palettes are mostly earthy and organic exhibiting a fresher aura.
3. Kimberly Swedelius
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The intriguing element in Kimberly Swedelius’s work is that even though she mostly retorts to lighter colour palettes, her sense of balancing still life with props and products in dark colours is quite commendable. It is one thing to make a composition interesting with pastels and nudes but darker tones are quite a challenge. Plants, flowers and fruits are common recurring elements and are often accompanied by abstract elements in the backdrop. Her preference is to let the main product take the most attention and other elements to simply create the mood as add-ons.
4. Alma Melendez
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As delicate as her design sensibilities might be, her portfolio is quite eclectic. Her content ranges from makeup to food, from accessories to footwear. The colour tones are not maintained for the Instagram feed and are more in accord with the product itself. If her muse is a sports shoe then she adjust her aesthetic accordingly whereas if it were a cosmetic product, she lets the femme within her take charge.
5. Claire Baker
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Claire Baker’s work stands out due to her creativity and casual usage of quirks. Her portfolio comprises of styling in food and fashion. Her content keeps one intrigued and has something for everyone, while for some flat lays she would stick to minimalistic design elements, whereas for others she would not hesitate to over accessorise.
6. Maya Linhares Marx
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This London based stylist maintain a sporty and quirky aesthetic in her still life work. Maya’s work puts the main product in focus first. Second, she tries to maintain a colour palette that does not overpower the product. To some people, her compositions might come off as chaotic but for somebody looking for inspiration for styling with watches, she generates pioneering content.
7. Michaela R. Baker
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A still life stylist based in London, Micheala also handles moving imagery. Her aesthetics are very clean and scattered and not dependent on any palette and mood. She is not restricted to any product either. Michaela curates intriguing content for people looking for inspiration with watches, alcohol, cosmetics, and perfumes.
8. Sarah Louise
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The essence of her design sensibilities lies between minimalism and monochrome. What is interesting about her Instagram feed is that despite having a profile with refined visuals, she is not keen on maintaining a given mood. She prefers adding more focus to the product and her aesthetics are quite gentle, enabling her to add a touch of delicacy in all that she does.
9. Elpida Magkoura
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Elpida is a window display designer, visual merchandising consultant and still life stylist. Her understanding of elements of design is high which enables her to understand the mood of the product. Her portfolio stretches from food to fashion and everything in between. Elpida’s aesthetics are neat and clean and often she adds hints of abstraction.