Photography

Portraits are our primary means of communicating photographically. We shoot all of our own portraiture and do not use stock photography, unless absolutely necessary. Stock photography should be reviewed by the Creative Team for approval prior to purchase.

We don’t place more than one photograph within a confined area of a layout. Each portrait should stand on its own and not compete with another photo below, above or next to it. This reinforces the strength of our connection with individuals and their stories.

Do not composite or retouch multiple people together into one photograph.

Brand portraiture is eye-catching and helps to connect us with the viewer. It may be used as the visual focus of advertising and marketing collateral, if desired. Pay attention to the copy to determine whether a portrait of a clinician or of a patient should be used. We recommend using a mix of both patients and clinicians, as appropriate.

Whenever possible, we prefer to have our in-house Creative Team direct and produce the creation of our brand photography. We would then provide the assets to external partners for use, and upload them to our Brandfolder digital asset management site. If photography must be produced by external partners, we ask that these guidelines be followed, and that photographers, scenarios, treatments, models, lighting, concept, art direction and wardrobe be reviewed with the Foundation Medicine Creative Team for approval prior to beginning production.

Portraits show the model looking directly into the camera, and are shot from the waist or bust up. This maintains our strong focus on our patients and their clinicians, and creates an authentic and tangible connection between them and the Foundation Medicine mission. We do not capture full-body portraits, or people who are not looking directly into the camera. Shoot straight on, not from a high or low angle.

We try to photograph models who have had cancer themselves, when casting for patient roles. Environments chosen for patient models should align with the individual’s real interests, such as painting, writing, cooking, gardening or yoga. We strive to be real and honest with our photography, cast selection, styling and makeup, with nothing contrived or overly stylized or gimmicky.

We never show our models fully smiling. We strive to convey a feeling of hope, quiet confidence and inner strength, but we cannot imply or promise success by showing smiles.

The direction for the models is “bright eyes, neutral mouth.” They should exude warmth and realness. Their bodies should feel natural, not posed.

Selects should be chosen on the basis of uniqueness. We never choose the most generic or expected shot, but instead strive for something different or special. Which shot would other brands not choose?

We tend to shoot with on-camera flash and a variety of stand lights to ensure the portraits feel very bright and crisp. We choose photographers with extensive experience in high fashion, lifestyle or editorial, who bring a keen eye and a unique, sophisticated look to our imagery.

Wardrobe should be sourced by an experienced professional stylist and should be neutral or jewel-toned in color and not clash with our FM Fire color (no orange or red tops). Looks should be modern and appropriate style-wise to someone in their 30s, regardless of the model’s actual age. Bold jewelry, glasses, scarves, or other interesting accessories should be incorporated. Our models should always feel youthful, creative and interesting.

Color correction in post should maintain an intentional point of view, but not feel overly filtered. Please try to closely match existing Foundation Medicine brand portraiture.

Please consult the Creative Team for more guidelines and approvals.

Ensuring Representation

We aim to photograph a diverse cast of patients and clinicians. The goal is to represent as many races and ethnicities as possible, as well as all spectrums of gender. In casting for doctors, choose non-traditional or under-represented demographics, and do not reinforce stereotypes about who would be a doctor vs who would be a nurse. Clinician models should be between the ages of 35 and 50.

Patient Demographics

Patient models should be between the ages of 45 and 60. When using patient portraiture for any disease-specific piece, be certain to represent the patient populations who are most typically affected by that particular disease. For example, melanoma predominantly affects people with lighter skin, while lung cancer is most commonly found in black men—use portraiture appropriately.

When there’s a need to show people working or lab equipment, please use the Foundation Medicine laboratory and office photographs, instead of stock photos of lab workers. These shots are not staged portraits, but instead documentary photos of our own employees in the lab. This ensures the science depicted is accurate and the shots follow brand guidelines for secondary photography. Typically we do not use secondary photography for marketing purposes like digital or print advertising or marketing collateral, but instead for certain communications needs such as social media announcements, on our corporate website, etc.

Secondary shots may contain more action-oriented content such as holding a flask in the lab, collaborating with colleagues or reviewing a report. These photos can contain more than one person, show just someone’s hands, show people who are not looking into the camera, or show equipment only. These photos are intended to support specific copy about laboratory procedures, our science, or other tactical information. They should always be used secondarily (smaller and less prominent) to the brand portraits.

Photographs of molecules or DNA are generic, not connected to our patients or our mission and are not ownable in any way by Foundation Medicine. Avoid the use of this sort of biological imagery in all creative.

Photographs depicting doctors looking pensive or wistful should be avoided. These feel inauthentic and do not properly represent our brand.

Never show the natural world, patients in nature or patients doing strenuous activities such as climbing mountains These photos are misleading and disconnected from our brand, our mission and our commitment to patients.

Never set up a propped laboratory scene or try to replicate the science we do outside of our own labs. Doctors and scientists know these shots are not real. Any photos showing lab processes should be taken in our own labs with our scientists, not models.

Never use metaphoric images to represent concepts, such as a maze to reflect the complex nature of comprehensive genomic profiling, a puzzle piece to indicate a unique solution or a mountain to imply a tough challenge.