Art direction on a small budget

The cheapest part of any shoot is the planning, and the most expensive part is fixing a lack of it. We start every project with a one-page brief and a simple shot list, so the whole crew knows exactly what we need before anyone arrives on set.

A clear mood board does the same job for the look. We collect a dozen references for light, colour and styling, then cut it down to five. That short set keeps decisions quick on the day and stops a small budget leaking away into retakes, extra hours and overtime.

Locations do not need to be exotic to look special. Some of our favourite images were shot in a client's office, a friend's flat or a quiet street at seven in the morning. What matters is a clean background, good light and enough space to move around comfortably.

We scout with a phone first, taking test shots at the same time of day as the real shoot. It costs almost nothing and tells us where the sun will be, which walls work and where to put the crew. Small details like that save hours once the clock is running.

Natural light is the most generous member of any crew. We plan schedules around it, using a window or the shade of a building instead of renting a truck of equipment. A single reflector and a bit of patience can make a modest setup look surprisingly polished.

When we do need artificial light, we keep it simple: one key light and one fill, set up once and reused across several looks. Consistent lighting also makes the final set of images feel like one family, which is exactly what a brand library needs.

The smartest budget move is planning for reuse. We shoot every scene in landscape, portrait and square, and capture short video clips alongside stills. One morning on set can then feed the website, social channels, ads and print for a whole season.

We also leave space in compositions for type, so designers can add headlines without awkward cropping. A little thought on set turns one shoot into a flexible library, and makes a small budget feel much bigger than it really is.