Brand / Photography

Photography

Photography direction based on stock images: real people at work, product in context, natural light and cool color toward Ink. Includes token overlays and keywords to search.

Version 1.4 · Oct 20, 2026

Base: stock images

Starshot has no photos of its own for now. We work with stock images chosen with these criteria so they look real and consistent. The examples on this page are neutral placeholders: replace them with the chosen photo.

Principles

Principle
What we look for
Why
Real people working
Teams that collaborate in front of screens, whiteboards or prototypes. Process, not poses.
Shows how we work.
The product in context
Software in real hands or on real screens: healthcare, classroom, factory.
Proves “software people actually use”.
Calm and focus
One main subject, clean backgrounds and room for text.
The message reads better.
Authentic before perfect
Stock photos with a natural look, no studio scenes.
Avoids the corporate cliché.

Light and color

Natural light, from the side and soft; indoors with windows. In low-key shots, the screen is the source of blue light. Cool, neutral color grading: clean whites and shadows leaning to Ink (#021627), not pure black. A touch of color-brand-blue (#006AFF) in the setting if it shows up naturally. Moderate saturation (-10 to -15). No warm or vintage filters, no duotone except for specific campaigns. color-accent-violet and color-accent-star are not used in photos.

Subjects and composition

Leave a third of the space free for headlines. Keep horizons and screens straight. Crop with radius-card (12 px) on cards and radius-none full bleed.

Type
Usage
Composition
Team collaborating
Web “Company”, jobs, social media
Medium shot, 2–4 people, looking at the work, not at the camera.
Portrait
Team, speakers
Plain color-surface-subtle or Ink background, shoulder framing, soft light.
Product in use
Cases and services
Close-up of hands and screen; interface readable or blurred on purpose.
Client sector
Case studies (healthcare, education, industry)
Wide shot of the setting with people using technology.
Detail or abstract
Heroes and covers
Screen textures, lights, lots of room for text.
Four colleagues gathered around a monitor in an office with a chalkboard wall and plants
Team collaborating
Portrait of a smiling woman in a grey blazer standing in a bright office
Portrait
Hand with a pen over a blue card payment terminal on a wooden table
Product in use
Doctor in a white coat with a stethoscope holding a tablet
Client sector
Person working at a desk in a dark room lit by the blue glow of a monitor
Detail or abstract

Overlays on photos

Text on a photo with an overlay: always text-inverse and a minimum contrast of 4.5:1 where the text goes. Do not stack two overlays or use gradient-brand as an overlay.

Token
Direction
When
gradient-overlay-ink
Ink → transparent
Hero and covers with a headline on a photo; the Ink comes in from the text side.
gradient-overlay-photo
transparent → black at 50%
Cards with text or logo on top, from the bottom.
Group of colleagues taking notes around a wooden table in a bright office
Software people actually use.
Herogradient-overlay-ink
People working with laptops at a long table in a classroom or meeting room
Case: education
Cardgradient-overlay-photo

Keywords to search

Filters: dominant color blue or neutral, horizontal orientation, people aged 25 to 55. Suggested stock sites: Unsplash, Pexels and Adobe Stock; always check the license before using an image.

Search (EN)
Type
For
software team collaborating natural light
Team collaborating
Web, jobs
developer laptop candid office
Team · product
Services
product designer whiteboard prototype
Process
Cases, blog
doctor using tablet hospital
Healthcare sector
Cases
students interactive learning screen
Education sector
Cases
factory worker tablet dashboard
Industry sector
Cases
night office monitor blue light
Detail or abstract
Heroes, covers
remote video call team candid
Remote team
Social media, jobs

What to do and what to avoid

Two colleagues working together at a laptop on a wooden table in front of a chalkboard
Stock photo
✓
Do this

Real people in real work settings.

Two men in suits shaking hands in an office meeting
Stock photo
✕
Avoid this

The stock handshake or people pointing at an empty screen.

Nurse in scrubs holding a tablet next to a patient in a hospital bed, in cool light
Stock photo
✓
Do this

Cool shadows toward Ink.

Gaming desk setup with several monitors in red and blue lighting in a dark room
Stock photo
✕
Avoid this

Pure blacks and warm or grainy filters.

Hands holding a smartphone showing a colorful app interface over a wooden table
Stock photo
✓
Do this

Screens with believable interfaces.

Vertical streams of green code characters on a black background
Stock photo
✕
Avoid this

Green “hacker” code or holograms.

Four colleagues gathered around a monitor in an office with a chalkboard wall and plants
Stock photo
✓
Do this

Natural diversity in teams.

Posed group of smiling people in business clothes cheering with raised fists
Stock photo
✕
Avoid this

Forced or posed diversity.

Doctor holding a tablet on the right, plain concrete wall on the left with text placed on it
Text in the free space
Stock photo
✓
Do this

Free space for text.

Portrait of a smiling woman in a grey blazer standing in a bright office
Text over the face
Stock photo
✕
Avoid this

Text over faces or details.

People working with laptops at a long table in a classroom or meeting room
Case: education
Stock photo
✓
Do this

Token overlays to read the text.

People working with laptops at a long table in a classroom or meeting room
Case: education
Stock photo
✕
Avoid this

Lowering the photo opacity.

Credits for the example photos: Unsplash (Unsplash License) and Pexels (Pexels License), free commercial use with no required credit. Authors and links in /workspace/starshot/photos/credits.md. They are direction examples; they are not Starshot photos.