The Views Are Different Here Showcase Toronto In A New Light

Toronto
Image courtesy of City of Toronto

Views.

Recently Tourism Toronto released their 2017 campaign to promote tourism in the city of Toronto. Needless to say, the reaction was extremely positive and receptive by many, including local Torontonians.  In the 71-second clip, the viewer is introduced to many quick shots showcasing various parts of the city, focusing on popular destinations in the city as well as hidden gems. J. Walter Thompson Canada directed the visual,  which features vocals performed by Toronto poet and singer Bethany Lee.

While the focus of this video is to promote Toronto tourism, it also doubles up as a civic pride exercise.  For many years, Toronto has constantly been labeled as a micro town comparable to the bright lights of its counterpart in New York city. However, in recent years the city affectionately known as “The 6” has established their own identity, their own culture and uniqueness.  Dubbed as “Canada’s Downtown”, a lot of locals took to social media praising the clip for demonstrating what they already knew about their city.

Diversity and Equality.

As Toronto is the most visited destination in Canada, the city does not discriminate.  It has one of the largest LGBTQ communities in the world and is home to a large array of diverse and unique cultures. The town openly welcomes new visitors who are looking to find a place both in their professional and personal lives.

With that mindset comes opportunities for multiculturalism and immigration to the city.   There are various pockets in Toronto that cater to different communities like Chinatown in Spadina, Little Italy on College street and Polish town in Roncesvalles to name a few. Toronto truly embraces and shows love in its vast diversity.

The world in one city.

Toronto no longer wants to blend anymore with other cities in the world.  It wants people to know that they clearly have their own established identity and are not afraid to break barriers down.  No longer does the city want to be known as the best kept secret, but to let the international audience know that culture wise there is a little bit of everything all in one city.  Last month I made a presentation highlighting this campaign, which you can check out below.

Image Composition Ideas for Capsule Toronto Instagram

Capsule Toronto
Capsule Toronto

Visuals sell product

Capsule is a recognized sneaker boutique based in the Toronto area.  The 16-year old company has built a reputation for their consistency in carrying the most popular shoe brands, complimented by the latest and emerging street wear brands on the market.  Capsule has been known to have line ups for days leading up to a highly anticipated product release. They have 3 locations in the Yorkville (including a show room) and Markham area to better serve the GTA.  Their target market focuses on the 18-34 age group, who are fashion forward minded consumers.  The following 3 image composition shots that will be discussed below in this blog post are suggested visual ideas, to promote and sell products for their Instagram account, which has over 20,000+ followers.

Image Composition 1

Knolling your role

This image uses the popular knolling composition, which is an overhead view display that gives the viewer a great look at 3 different products.  This would be a great look for Capsule, simply for the fact that their customers are always looking for a combination of ideas on how to integrate their wardrobe from head-to-toe.  The jacket provided is by Roots of Fight, an apparel company that celebrates vintage sports icons, the hat is a retro Brooklyn Dodgers cap from New Era and the Jordan Brand shoes are the iconic 1996-1997 Air Jordan 12 model.  The common denominator between all 3 black/grey colored products is that they incorporate wool material, which is an appealing look for the current fall season.

Camera: OnePlus 1 smartphone
Image Size: 840 x 840 pixels
Filter: None
Lighting: smartphone flash
Suggested Hashtags: #rootsoffight x #miketyson x #brooklyndodgers x #brooklynsown x #airjordan12wool x #airjordan12 x #wearejordan x #hatclub x #wool x #fallfashion x #swag x #baddestmanontheplanet x #jordanbrand x #jumpman23 x #knolling

Image Composition 2

Figure to ground image composition

One of the most popular nicknames a shoe collector is often referred to is a sneakerhead.  And one of their most popular hashtags that they use on social media to define their shoe collection is known as shoe porn, a playful term which has an addictive connotation to it.  If there could be a satirical composition to describe the image, it would have to be POV!  In all honesty, Figure to ground is the primary composition.  This shows the product on foot which is the Air Jordan 6 Maroon model, originally released in 1991-1992.  The Ludwig filter from Instagram was applied to brighten the image of the shoe.

What we see here are two clean primary colors in white and maroon, which is another fall season tone.  The secondary product in this shot is the Zanerobe jogger pant, which is a must have item for fashion enthusiasts.  The stand out feature is their cuffed bottom that prevents the tongue of any high top shoe from being hidden from a pant leg hovering over.  While this image is clean and polished, it also serves as a double meaning with a fashion tip as well.

Camera: OnePlus 1 smartphone
Image Size: 819 x 1024 pixels
Filter: Ludwig (Instagram)
Lighting:  Natural room lighting
Suggested Hashtags: #airjordan6 x #airjordan6maroon x #jordanbrand x #wearejordan x #zanerobe x #joggerpants x #streetwear x #burgundy x #maroon

Image Composition 3

It’s 1996 all over again.

This black and white image portrait features one of Nike’s most iconic shoe designs.  The Nike Air More Uptempo shoe originally released in 1996.  The shoe saw a retro re-release brought back in spring 2016.  This model is widely known for its large “Air” logo design, surrounded by black synthetic nubuck material. Image composition uses a simplistic approach, with a clean and polished visual.  Capsule has built a reputation for its visual simplicity in their Instagram posts.  The popular Clarendon Instagram filter was applied to brighten and intensify a popping color image effect.  This visual fits in line with the brand’s desire to produce eye catching imagery through their social channels.

Camera: OnePlus 1 smartphone
Image Size: 840 x 646 pixels
Filter: Clarendon from Instagram
Lighting: Natural room lighting
Suggested Hashtags: #nikeair x #nikeairmoreuptempo x #scottiepippen x #retrokicks x #oldschoolkicks x #igsneakercommunity x #blackandwhite x #clarendon