Lifestyle Shot vs White Background Imagery:

Lifestyle shot and white background photography are two popular tools used by Manufacturers and Marketers for catalogs, social networks, ads, and other tools of marketing campaigns. Having plenty of promo content is easier for a brand to become noticeable, increase sales and the market share, but the competition in the design industry constantly goes way up. That’s why advanced Marketers use all opportunities to get top-notch promo imagery that will outstand them amongst other companies.

To keep up with the competition and get abreast of the latest marketing trends, other brands strive to get jaw-dropping promo images. However, to organize photo shoots both for product photos on a white background and in room sets is an expensive and burdensome matter. This makes Retailers and Marketers doubt if they need to spend money on both services to get first-class images, or they can choose one type of 3d product rendering and get equally satisfying results? 

As a highly experienced CG company, we take up the challenge to compare the two most popular product rendering services and find out which one is the best for striking promo – lifestyle shot or white background imagery?

White Background Imagery

#1. White Background Imagery Is More Budget-Friendly

Let’s go straight to the point – product photo on a white background is less costly than a lifestyle shot. The price for lifestyle is higher because it takes more skills and turnaround time to make it. To create a lifestyle shot or room set, 3D Artists choose suitable 3D models of furniture and decor or make new ones to build an exquisite scene around the product from scratch. Moreover, because of the large number of textures and reflections in the scene, a lifestyle rendering process becomes longer than the rendering of a single product on a blank backdrop. Therefore, it affects the final cost of the lifestyle shot.

#2. Product on A White Background Showcases the Design Without Destraction

The laconicism of white background photography is its main benefit since it doesn’t distract the viewer from the goods themselves. The item gets all the attention of a customer because there are no adjacent objects in the scene that can take off buyers’ focus and overshadow an item. 

In addition, the fact that there are no added sources of light or extraneous reflections and shadows from other objects on white background shots, allows viewers to see original colors and materials of an item and be sure that they are corresponding to the real ones. This way, the high quality of the image provides potential buyers an opportunity to examine the product and make a conscious decision of a purchase. 

#3.  White Background Photo Is a Must for E-Commerce Platforms

For some big e-Commerce platforms, such as Amazon, a photo of a product on a white background is obligatory for the publication on the website. It means that Amazon will not approve the listing that has no white backdrop photo of the goods – no matter how many beautiful lifestyle shots it contains. Moreover, according to the rules of the platform, a white background photo has to be the main picture of the item. Therefore, Marketers and Manufacturers must make every possible effort to get first-class images of an object on a blank backdrop to be approved on the e-store and outshine other sellers at the same time.

Lifestyle Shot 

#1.  Lifestyle Images Make a Jaw-Dropping Product Presentation

A lifestyle shot is an impressive photorealistic room set where goods are showcased in a suitable stylish scene. It is especially important for furniture pieces that are meant to be placed in interiors, so their promo pics have to be related to an office, commercial interiors or housing. 

However, lifestyle shots not only shows how an object works with indoor space, being surrounded by matching furniture and accessories – it creates a certain mood and a scenario. Just put a chair by the fireplace in a cozy room, with a small table and a glass of wine on it, and a customer will realize that this is exactly how their evening at home should look like. And even if the chair is not the only thing they need to recreate this picture, buying one could become a small step to set new family evening traditions.  So, let’s admit it, when it comes to product presentation, a lifestyle shot is a real winner.

#2. Room Sets Demonstrate Different Environments and Styles for a Product

Lifestyle shots of one item in various scenes make it possible to showcase the product in different contexts. For example, the same dining set can be ideal for both a home and restaurant. In such cases, a Manufacturer can provide several scenarios for the same object to demonstrate how cross-functional and convenient the product is.

Moreover, to give full play to the design and emphasize its multipurposeness even more, Marketers can ask CG Artists to experiment with interior styles and build several sets for background options. By doing so, a Manufacturer provides customers with visual proof that the object could be successfully integrated into various interior styles and environments. For example, the same couch design could work for both Industrial interior in a trendy office and a Scandinavian apartment.

#3. A Lifestyle Shot Works Best for Printed Promo and Outdoor Ads

Lifestyles is a stellar choice for print and outdoor advertising since they make a greater visual effect on the viewer. Buying an ad page in the magazine, a Manufacturer wants to be represented as respectable as possible. Therefore, it is better to choose an awe-inspiring lifestyle for a page spread instead of printing an unexciting photo of the product on a blank background. Moreover, a top-notch room set will definitely captivate the reader’s attention, so they most likely take a closer look at the ad page before turning it over.

For the same reason, lifestyle product shots look better for booklets, brochures, leaflets, and flyers. After all, when a person gets a booklet with an object on a white background, the chances it will spark the interest of potential customers are slim – most likely, they will immediately put the brochure aside. On the other hand, a mind-blowing room set with the product in the center and plenty of exciting details will capture their attention at once.

For outdoor advertising, it is essential to catch the interest of passers-by at first sight, as far as they look at the billboard only for a few seconds. In this case, it’s smart to choose a striking lifestyle to print in a large format. Moreover, a lifestyle shot of an interior placed in the middle of the street creates a visual contrast between a busy city and a cozy home on a billboard. This simple maneuver will surely catch the eye of a passer-by and draw their attention to the ad.

To sum up, there’s no real competition between white background imagery and lifestyle shot of a product – they just serve different goals, but are equally important for Manufacturers. White background photography allows customers to concentrate on the item and study its design better than a lifestyle shot. Room sets, on the other hand, showcase goods in the interior and helps buyers to imagine a certain product in their home. Using both types of CG imagery, Marketers can get breathtaking pictures for catalogs, online and offline ads, and a vast number of content for SMM, making promo campaigns extremely successful.

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Impressed with the marketing opportunities 3D visualization brings? Contact us for 3D product rendering services and our 3D experts will make jaw-dropping renderings that will help you to attract customers and outshine competitors at the same time!

Irene Lewis

Content Writer

Irene is a content writer. She previously worked for interior and chess magazines. When not writing articles, Irene finds great pleasure in collecting Star Trek memorabilia, reading Medieval poetry and playing banjo.