The Brief:
When format is the differentiator but photography keeps failing
I chose Abib as a creative subject because they've cracked something most clean beauty brands ignore—making texture and format legible without drowning it in props or turning it into a chemistry lesson. As a Vancouver product photographer, I've watched hundreds of skincare launches fumble the basics: customers can't buy what they don't understand, and if your hydrogel patch looks like every other eye treatment in a jar, you've already lost the sale. Abib's collagen jelly patches presented a perfect brief to test whether photography alone could close that gap. This is a personal project, not a client commission, but it let me build a solution for the exact problem beauty brands face on e-commerce and direct-to-consumer sites—proving what's inside the package fast enough to catch attention.
The Challenge:
Making hydrogel texture self-evident across marketplace thumbnails and social feeds
If a brand like Abib needed to explain a complex product format across marketplace thumbnails and social feeds, here's how I'd approach it. The business challenge is straightforward: hydrogel patches submerged in vegan-collagen serum are a differentiator, but only if shoppers can see the translucency, serum density, and patch structure before they click away. Most photography either blows out the gel with harsh light or buries it in aspirational clutter. Neither drives conversion. The brief I set for myself was to make the format self-evident—show the patch, the liquid, the jar, and the texture in a way that reads premium but teaches instantly.
The Execution:
Soft lighting and controlled setups to reveal hydrogel materiality
I built the lighting around soft, controlled setups to manage specular highlights without killing depth. Hydrogels are tricky because they live between translucent and reflective, so I positioned the light to reveal edge definition and surface sheen without turning everything into glare. I focused on two core compositions: a single patch isolated to show curvature and micro-beads of serum, and an open jar with the full stack submerged in liquid. That pairing does the work—one frame proves texture, the other proves format and volume. Clean, neutral backgrounds kept the product as the only focal point. No props, no distractions, just immaculate set hygiene and precise reflection control so the materiality commands attention.
Launch-ready photo collection adaptable across channels without reshoots
The images work well for multiple placements without modification. The isolated patch functions as a macro texture study for paid social or editorial use, while the open-jar photo translates directly to e-commerce main images and product page secondary slots. Working from Vancouver, I shot with enough negative space to accommodate different formats, so a brand could pull photos for vertical social formats and retail portals from the same session. The collection includes serum-density closeups that reinforce the vegan-collagen story without making medical claims, and jar angles that communicate the sixty-piece count and premium packaging. This approach would serve a launch-ready photo collection—something a lean US marketing team could deploy across different channels without needing constant reshoots.
The Outcome:
Clean beauty photography that balances clinical credibility with visual appeal
What this demonstrates is that clean beauty product photography doesn't need to choose between clinical credibility and visual appeal. It needs clarity, consistency, and a camera operator who understands that gel texture product photos are conversion tools, not art projects. If you're a K-beauty or skincare brand trying to make format and formulation legible on e-commerce or direct-to-consumer sites, let's build a shoot plan that turns your product's material truth into your strongest sales asset.
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