FEATURE
Article Image Styles: the Card, the Picture, and How We Choose
Every website gets one of two kinds of article image: the Branded template card, or an art-directed picture in one of six styles. We decide from the website itself, and you can change it any time on the Brand page.
✓ Core
✓ Growth
✓ Scale
How every article image is made: read the site, decide once, make the card or the picture, check it against the site, publish it with the article.
Two websites should not get the same kind of image. A site built on photography of its people looks wrong with a designed card, and a typographic, illustrated or dark editorial site looks wrong with a photograph that could be anyone’s. So the choice is made per website, once, from what the site already is.
What it is
The Branded template is a designed card: a kicker, the headline in bold capitals with one word in your accent colour, an isometric illustration of the topic, your logo and your domain. It is the same frame every time, so a blog or a social feed reads as one publication.
An art-directed picture is one image made for one article in a style chosen for your brand: editorial photography, photography, conceptual still life or product photography, illustration, graphic design, or abstract. The headline and logo are set on it by us, never drawn by the image model.
Why it matters
Imagery is the first thing people judge, and consistency is what makes a publication look like one. A card system gives a growing blog a spine, and a photo-led brand keeps the warmth its site already has. Either way the reader never meets a stock photo or a piece of clip art.
The practical payoff is that nothing waits on a designer. The choice is made when the site is added, every article that follows arrives with its image made, checked and sized, and the Brand page lets you change your mind in a click.
How it works in Awareness Marketing
We read your website
When a site is added we look at how it presents itself: does the homepage lead with real photographs of people and places, or with typography, illustration and colour? That single reading decides the default.
Photo-led sites keep photographs
A site built on photography gets an art-directed picture, usually editorial photography, in its own light and tones, with the headline set in the calm half of the frame and the logo in place.
Everything else gets the card
Typographic, illustrated and dark editorial sites get the Branded template. You can override either way on the Brand page, where the six picture styles are shown as samples on your own brand ground before you commit.
The styles, side by side
Branded template
The default for every site that is not built on photography. The same frame on every article: kicker, headline, illustration, logo. magecart.co.uk shown.
Branded template on a light brand
Same structure, the site’s own blue and typography. DDoSInfo shown.
Editorial photography
The default for a website whose homepage leads with real photographs of people and places. Data Protection People shown.
Photography
For photo-led sites where the picture should carry the mood rather than people. DarkInvader shown.
Conceptual still life
For businesses with something you can hold. Shown as product photography when they sell a physical product. Example brand.
Illustration
Painted or drawn in a named medium, never flat clip art: one nameable subject with material and light. Example brand.
Graphic design
Flat shapes of colour with hard edges, the language of a poster or an annual report opener. Example brand.
Abstract
A treatment rather than an object: light across a surface, texture, no nameable subject at all. Example brand.
Who it’s for
Any UK SME that wants its blog to look like it has a creative director. Businesses with strong photography keep it. Everyone else gets a card system that makes even a small blog look established.
Branded article images are included on every plan. See what each plan includes.
Frequently asked questions
Which one will my website get?
If your homepage leads with real photographs of your people and places, you get pictures. If it leads with type, illustration and colour, or is dark and editorial, you get the Branded template. The Brand page shows which was chosen and why.
Can I switch between the card and pictures?
Yes, at any time, on the Brand page. Switching to pictures shows the six styles as samples made for your brand, so the choice is never blind. Existing articles keep their images and new ones follow the new setting.
What is on the Branded template?
A kicker line, the headline in bold capitals with one word in your accent colour, an isometric illustration of the article’s subject, your logo and your domain, on your brand ground. It comes in every size an article needs.
What are the six picture styles?
Editorial photography, photography, conceptual still life (product photography for businesses that sell something physical), illustration, graphic design and abstract. Each is made in your brand’s tones and checked against your website before it is used.
Are the pictures AI-generated?
They are generated, but never left to a generator. Each is directed from the article, made to a style brief for your brand, and checked against your own website. One that fails is not used.
Related features
See it in your own content
Start with a free snapshot of your website, or see what each plan includes.
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