Facebook Meta

Brand Creative Direction

Building a More Human Visual Library for Facebook

How we created more than 100 original photo and video assets designed to represent people as multidimensional, expressive and fully themselves.

Project snapshot

Client
Facebook / Meta

My role
Photo Art Director

Scope
Creative development, visual strategy, casting, talent direction, production collaboration and final asset review

Production partner
Henstooth Productions

Photographer
Brittany Bravo

Videographer
Julia Pitch

Studies show that authentic imagery increases engagement by 40% and strengthens brand connections with audiences. With this in mind, this shoot was driven by a commitment to capturing the vibrant, multifaceted essence of Los Angeles through the lens of its most dynamic individuals. Our mission was to highlight a diverse array of doers and shakers, each distinguished by their unique talents. This was more than just a photo shoot; it was a celebration of each subject’s human spirit and creativity that defines LA.

The opportunity

Stock imagery is often expected to speak to everyone while saying very little about the people inside the frame.

For this project, Facebook needed an evergreen photo and video library that could support a wide range of product and brand needs without feeling generic. The work needed to be flexible enough for repeated use, but still grounded in real personality, movement and human connection.

Our opportunity was to create a library that felt useful at scale without flattening the people represented within it.

What I led

As a Photo Art Director, I helped guide the visual direction from early creative development through casting, production and final image review.

I collaborated with the creative, production and casting teams to build a group of Los Angeles-based artists, makers, athletes and cultural contributors with distinct personal styles and stories. Rather than casting people only to fill demographic categories, we looked for individuals whose presence, work and energy could carry a frame.

The approach

Casting for personality, not just representation

We looked beyond appearance and considered how each person moved, worked, dressed and interacted with others.

The cast included people with different creative practices, identities and ways of showing up in the world. That range gave us more than surface-level diversity. It created real visual texture.

Building moments instead of poses

The strongest images came from giving talent something meaningful to do.

We developed scenarios around making, movement, conversation, performance and collaboration.

The result

The production resulted in more than 100 original photo and video assets added to Facebook’s internal visual archive.

Credits

Creative Director: Toby Kaufmann
Art Directors: Allison Retina Stewart-Creeks, Nicole Motta and Lorenna Gomez-Sanchez
Producer: Karina Dearwood
Production Company: Henstooth Productions
Photographer: Brittany Bravo
Videographer: Julia Pitch
Casting: Lilac Perez
Prop Stylist: Thoa Nguyen
Wardrobe Stylist: Jarae Holieway