It appeared on the web in 2010 and very quickly became our favorite social network (do you know what we're talking about?) Come on..., a little hint: many Scrunchie girls found us thanks to it. Yes, we say thank you, thank you... Instagram!
While this social network allows us to communicate with you constantly, it also allows us to create a strong visual identity. It's important to us that our feed reflects Scrunchie's image: colorful, harmonious, and inspired by vintage style. We don't know if you've noticed, but we've been creating a color-coded feed for a few months now. This may seem trivial, but it requires a lot of foresight and organization.
Today, we're going to share with you our tips, favorite apps, and visual preferences for creating a beautiful feed.
THE CONTENT
A feed is nothing without content. It's important to define three different types of content to create a cohesive universe. And now you're wondering what the different types of content are... Everyone can put the type of visuals they want. Our three favorites are: :
- photos of accessories: these can be photos from our photoshoots, photos that you send us or in which you tag us, or even outfit ideas (flatlay format: photo taken flat)
- inspirational photos: depending on our mood, it could be Parisian monuments or cafes, food, animals to eat, vintage books, etc.
- photos of fashion icons: Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Catherine Deneuve… they help create our retro universe
Little tip from the Scrunchie team: alternate between the three types of photos
VSCO
The first step in our photo editing process is on VSCO, but... what is it? A photo editing app (available on iOS and Android) that allows you to apply free filters (and paid ones for those who can't find what you're looking for). At Scrunchie, we created our own (one for summer and one for winter) focusing particularly on exposure, contrast, saturation, and temperature to give that little retro look we love so much. Once the photo is imported into the app, we select it before applying the modifications that will create the filter and we export it in actual size to obtain optimal quality. And there you have it, the first step is already complete, easy right?
The app's added bonus: you can copy the filter applied to previous photos and paste it onto the new photo to be edited.
SNAPSEED
The second step, complementary to the previous one, is Snapseed. A very high-quality and very professional retouching application (yes, again) created by Google (No, no, we're not paid to praise it, haha). The features are multiple, namely around thirty tools and filters, tips, advice, and a large number of other possibilities. On this application, we refine the retouching previously done on VSCO when necessary. For example, we can blur the background, do the white balance, or even use the selective tool (a tool that allows us to place points on the image to improve it). This is not a fundamental step in our retouching if those previously done on VSCO are perfect.
The application's added bonus: professional quality for a clean and precise rendering.
UNUM
Finally, the last stop on this Instagram journey is UNUM. A funny name for an app, right? At Scrunchie, UNUM allows us to import the future photos we want to publish on Instagram, then sort and move them to find the best layout. We can also schedule the release of our future posts via this app (the best, huh?). If you like creating feeds by color theme like we do, this app will save your day, haha.
Good to know: we used to use the Preview app to organize our feed (just as well).
The most important piece of advice the Scrunchie Team can give you is to be yourself. Don't try to look like your neighbor with 700 followers or your favorite influencer. What's your dream feed? Do you spend time building your feed? We're curious to know more :)
“ Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.”
