When promoting your brand the images you use should help you stand out from the crowd. There are many different ways in which you can add dimension to your work through color, fonta, photography, and texture. We will detail each of these individually and then take a closer look at how you can use texture to add dimension to your assets.  Let’s dive in and take a closer look!

1. Color palettes

When you think of a good photograph or design to showcase the products your brand has produced, it’s quite likely that you think of color palettes. For example, whether you should go for a cool palette for a more corporate feel, or a warm palette for a friendlier vibe.

You might spend time pondering whether you should opt for muted colors that fade into the background, or bright colors that pop out. Colors have tons of associations – food chains often use red and yellow to get people’s appetites revving. Certain colors can evoke different feelings, such as peace, anger, calm, curiosity, etc.

 Image created by writer

2. Typography

Perhaps you would also consider typography at length. You might want something that is not only readable, but also looks appropriate for your business, whatever that means to your business. Perhaps you want a clean look, or maybe something more retro and attractive.

Image created by writer

3. Adding Photography

With photographs, you might spend time thinking about composition. Whether to apply the rule of thirds, or the golden triangle, the golden spiral, or use leading lines to draw the eye of the viewer where you want.

rule of thirds horizontal sections

Image sourced from an article on photographypro.com

4. Using Texture

Finally, you might consider texture and how it affects the digital experiences of customers. It’s not talked about in design as much as color, typography or composition, but it’s a pretty nifty tool to use in your design.

In this article we are going to focus on texture, and show you a few different ways in which you can use texture to add dimension to your assets.

What is texture

Have you ever looked at a picture of a pebble-dash wall, and found that you could almost feel that pebble dash beneath your fingers? Or a picture of hands holding a leaf, and you could almost feel the leaf yourself? That’s the texture. It adds another dimension to your pictures. Whether they’re pictures of software products, pictures conveying an idea or philosophy, or a part of your website design.

Photo by Alexander Klarmann on Unsplash

When it comes to design, texture is essentially a picture which includes a three-dimensional, tactile surface of some kind. The whole picture could consist of just a single textured surface, or it could include tactile and textured elements within the photo.

So you might be thinking, sure that’s great and all, but why would I want to add another dimension to my business website? Isn’t that just extra work for little reward? Well, creating a more replete sensory experience is simply more engaging for the consumer.

When you stimulate more of people’s senses, they feel more connected to your product, website, or brand. And the good news is that there are plenty of free pictures you can use online that contain plenty of texture. Unsplash.com is just one example. And if you’re taking photographs of your own products, it takes very little effort to add texture to your pictures.

Why do we like texture?

Photo by Matt Hardy on Unsplash

Texture adds an extra sensory experience to life, and to pictures. Pictures are two dimensional. They can feel very flat, even if they’re perfectly captured. Adding texture makes even simple search engine searches jump off the page and onto your fingertips.

Our world is three dimensional – we didn’t evolve to stare at computer screens. Even art as it was before the advent of the photograph was more three dimensional – you would have to see it in person, where you could see it from different angles, observe the tiny brushstrokes in detail, see the small bumps and shadows of the paint. You could even smell art.

Have you ever run your fingers over a knitted blanket? Or taken off your shoes and walked barefoot in the grass? It feels grounding. It makes us feel more connected to the earth. That’s what texture does. Texture in photos is relaxing, because it cancels out other visual noise. And it’s relaxing in real-life because it can cancel out mental chatter.

Ideas for adding texture to your pictures

So how can you add texture to your pictures and designs? Easy!

Find a wall

Photo by Henry & Co. on Unsplash

Most walls have some texture – the more texture, the better! If you have a red brick wall in your vicinity, you can add some warmth from the color and texture from the brick. A lot of bands and brands take photos in front of walls because it adds an urban dimension and feel. Pictures of walls can be used to make a design feel more solid and grounded, gritty, or add negative space to a photo.

Texture adds character to a subject, it grounds the subject in a particular mood. It puts the subject in sharp focus while reducing external noise and distractions.

Procure some foliage

You don’t have to go to the jungle to get a really nice foliage background. A few houseplants, the corner of your local park, someone’s front garden – these are all easy places to get some nice, natural texture if you want to add some fresh, green texture to your pictures and designs. Wedding photos often have foliage in the background because it adds to the gentle mood of the day.

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

In the below example you can see how Cafe Frida has incorporated flowers and foliage on their website.

cafe frida floral background

Screenshot from Cafefrida.ca Website

Soaps and lotions also often have this type of background because it evokes thoughts of waterfalls and tropical rainforests.

example of beauty packaging mockup

Image sourced from Beauty, Stationery, Wedding & Cosmetics on the Design Cuts Marketplace

Rustle up some fabric

A wooly blanket, a ribbed-knit jumper or beanie hat, a simple curtain fabric is another very easy source of texture you can add to your photos, either as backgrounds, or on your models. Back to the band example – many musicians will often wear a hat, and it’s not just for style. It adds texture. It can add softness to the picture, a sense of coziness, warmth, and perhaps even depth.

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Scavenge some wood

Another popular choice for texture is wood. The bark from trees adds very nice texture and helps with designing work which stands out to your audience, but you can also use wood chippings, logs, wooden fences, wooden boats, and more. Wood tends to add warmth to design, a feeling of groundedness and solid foundations. It also evokes ideas of craftsmanship and traditional artisanal methods.

floor wood textures

Image sourced from 50 Wood Textures Backgrounds Set 10 on the Design Cuts Marketplace

Design Cuts has a wide selection of wood textures that are perfect for conveying warmth and craftsmanship to the viewer.

Below is a great example of how Chamberlain’s Leather Milk has incorporated wood on their website, to show durability, highlight the brand’s history and show they incorporate natural ingredients in their products.

Chamberlain's Leather Milk wood background

Screenshot from Chamberlain’s Leather Milk

Locate some ridges

Why are chips with ridges so popular? It’s the same food as the regular chips, but some people seem to love those little ridged chips a lot more than the simple ones. Perhaps they make the eating experience more interesting, they give your tongue some extra  texture.

You can find walls with ridges in a lot of places. Shipping containers often have beautifully ridged metal walls, and can offer a nice contrast for a softer subject.

Photo by Craig Manners on Unsplash

Zoom in on some fences

A chain-link fence may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you’re thinking of how to spruce up your design, but it can add some beautiful texture to a moody picture. Most people know what it feels like to lean against or put their fingers through the loops of a chain-link fence, it evokes some kind of memory or feeling for most people.

Pull out the wrapping paper

Cosmetics companies will often include pictures of soft, bright, or muted wrapping paper in their pictures of products or promotions, to evoke those childhood feelings around receiving presents on birthdays and holidays that most of us can probably relate to. The feeling of untying ribbons, struggling with a well-tied knot, the anticipation of seeing what’s inside. A little bit of texture can evoke all of these memories and feelings.

Take a look at the example below of a gift box mockup:

patterned gift box mockup

Image sourced from designcuts.com

Image sourced from Gift Box Mockup 6K on the Design Cuts Marketplace

Can you hear the squeak of plastic wrapping? Can you feel the smooth sheet lightly gluing to your fingers? That’s what texture gives you: sounds, sensations, memories.

Photo by Emily Bernal on Unsplash

Other things to consider

If you’re going to add texture to your design, there are some basic things to take into consideration.

What do you want the texture to do for your design?

Stats on ads with emotional content vs rational content

Image sourced fromfolajomiballo.com

A major thing to consider is what you actually hope to gain from adding texture to your design. What emotion are you hoping to evoke? What mood? We know that evoking emotions helps sales, but let’s delve deeper into your brand.

If you want a very professional, cool vibe, maybe you want some metallic texture and straight lines. If you want to add a homely, warm feel to your design, perhaps add some warm fabrics and wood for texture. And, as mentioned earlier, If you want an urban feel, perhaps opt for a brick wall.

Whatever emotions or impressions you want to leave your viewers with should inform the texture you opt for. You don’t want texture for the sake of having texture, and choosing the wrong one for the feeling you’re going for could leave people with an unusual or dissonant impression.

Texture doesn’t have to be realistic

The third point to remember is that texture doesn’t have to be realistic, although it might pack a stronger emotional punch in some contexts if it is. Texture can be abstract, it can be something made entirely on a computer by a graphic designer.

This might in fact be exactly what you want if you run a royalty free background music  website with mostly abstract, lo-fi tunes. It doesn’t have to evoke specific memories or relatable sensations. As long as it looks three-dimensional and has some shadows, that will evoke some sort of emotion.

Texture is emotion

Along with grungy phase, vintage aesthetic, or magical imagination. There’s a lot to learn from the world of art that we can apply to our websites, logos and marketing plans, and texture is a fun dimension to explore.

Cover image by Andrea Piacquadio

Shane Barker

About The Author

Grace Lau is the Director of Growth Content at Dialpad, an AI-powered cloud communication platform for better and easier team collaboration. She has over 10 years of experience in content writing and strategy. Currently, she is responsible for leading branded and editorial content strategies, partnering with SEO and Ops teams to build and nurture content. Grace has also written for various graphic design websites such as manypixels, contributing articles on color modes and agile graphic design workflow. You can find more about Grace on the LinkedIn profile.