Reconstructing the Meaning of Beauty with Tiny Studio
Designer: Tiny Studio
Scope: Photo Direction and Key Visual
Client: Kitschy
In between their holiday in Paris, Tiny Studio still made some time to get their creative juices flowing by offering their skills and services through Instagram Story. Heeding their call, skincare brand, Kitschy, asked them to create a set of promotional images for their products. They took on the title “Romanticism” in this project alongside “humor”, “dreamy”, and “quirky” as their three keywords.
“Why ‘Romanticism’? Because we want to ‘romanticize’ their products with a humorous approach. We glorify this word ‘romanticism’ with accents that give off a romantic impression too; it’s a little ‘glowy’, a little dreamy, a little sparkly for instance. Things like that build this romanticized impression for the audience.”
— Ratta Bill, Assistant Director
In every image, Tiny Studio builds a story from the names of the products. Playing with juxtaposition became the main element in capturing the photos. The concept and direction brought by Tiny Studio can be considered quite experimental in comparison to the previous visual materials posted by Kitschy in their social media channels. Tiny was able to negotiate and successfully convince Kitschy as their client that this experimental direction is suited for their audience.
“There are a lot of close up shots because it is a skincare product after all. We did have to emphasize the face. It doesn’t actually scream ‘Paris’. I wanted to show that these [photos were set abroad] in a subtle way, I didn’t want it to be in your face that this is a photoshoot in another country.”
— Nadine Hanisya, Art Director and Photographer
In pursuing this project, nearly all aspects were done by Tiny Studio, from the photography, editing, and even the styling. They only had the help of one make-up artist. Two people were involved as models. One being a professional model that they were already familiar with. The second model was someone they had accidentally crossed paths with at an event and they asked her to take part in the project rather spontaneously.
If you paid very close attention, you could see a painting-like effect on each photo. The application of the effect is sufficient, especially with the combination of several photos in one image. As if creating a collage photographically. As a result, the entire set becomes a unified piece that fulfills each other. Meanwhile, the decision to not show Paris explicitly was also the right move to avoid a stereotypical and repetitive visual representation of the city––like using the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.
As a set of photos for a skincare product, the direction chosen by Tiny Studio is quite daring. The product is not the main focus of these images. Rather, they emphasize the character and spirit of the product itself through a broader interpretation. Nadine’s capacity and experience as an art director as well as a photographer is palpable in this project from the model selection and fashion styling. Instead of falling in line with what was the industry norm, Tiny Studio chose to step out of the mainstream for beauty products which tend to lean into elegance and neatness by presenting photos that are youthful and expressive that reconstruct the very meaning of beauty.
