The Story: Pies, Cookies, Bars and Frozen Treats using summer’s most delicious fruits.
My Concept: a color palette of bright summery colors (Pinks, Purples, Blush) that mimic the colors from the summer fruit ingredients, and to add a dreamy watercolor treatment on background surfaces to enhance the overall summer aesthetic.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
Awards: 2022 SPD 57 Merit Winner for Best Photography Feature.
The Story: Today, holiday meals are no longer “one size fits all”—they’re rich and diverse and filled with different dishes that have special significance to our families, cultures and communities. This story will showcase 6 festive dishes from different chefs and cultures.
My Concept: A festive color palette of golds, oranges, purples and reds. Each page will be styled in a way that pays homage to its country/culture of origin. I didn’t want the propping to knock you over the head but did want to give nods to each culture through textile patterns and textures and also through the ornamentation of the serving vessels that we use throughout. Each meal will be distinct in a subtle way. The color palette will unite all of these different countries and then special touches through props will celebrate/pay homage to what makes them unique.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: This story will speak to how to make your lunch more exciting, modern and fun- using flavorful drizzles, etc to take it to the next level, and the importance of making it beautiful too (the more nutritious it is, the prettier it tends to be).
My Concept: The recipes for this were pretty disparate— soup, salad, noodles. I felt like we needed a visual hook to hold it all together as one unit. I honed in on taking a Modern Pop Art approach — boxes, graphic lines, stippling, with primary punchy colors mixed with black. This is all about adding some ‘pop’ for a modern take on lunch that is anything but boring.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: Our Shape Squad will put 59 of the latest sneaker styles to the test to find the best pair for every move you make.
My Concept: Every year we art this section as still life shots of the winning sneakers. This year I wanted to change it up by shooting a few of the winning pairs on a model/parts model with exaggerated angles/perspective—so that the sneakers still remained the focus in each shot—to act as the holding shots on the page, and add in PR shots of the remaining sneakers.
Photographed by Danilo Hess.
Photography Concept: Toni Paciello Loggia
On Set Art Direction: David Baratta
Awards: 2021 Folio Ozzie Award for Best Overall Art Direction (April 2021 Issue of Shape Magazine).
The Story: Spices and spice mixtures are not just for exotic dishes. They can take your favorite foods—everything from chicken soup to cookies—to the next level and profoundly change them by giving them incredible depth and flavors. We’ll talk to the foremost spice expert in the U.S., Lior Lev Sercarz, whose new book “Mastering Spice” comes out later this month, about the spices and techniques that will change the way you cook (and also boost your health, since spices have so many health benefits).
My Concept: In terms of prop color palette, I love these textured teal blue surfaces mixed with a slate gray surface and a white surface (plaster? Canvas? Watercolor paper? Or maybe just a clean Marble?), mixed with some brass or gold. Very earthy but still modern. I really want this story to have a painterly quality—in the texture of the surfaces, and also through the spices. I would love to use the spices to create a backdrop for an opening shot—very painterly; lots of textures; gorgeous movement. I would love to add spice texture to one of the recipe shots as well. A plate surrounded by out of package spices. I would also love to experiment with different, unexpected angles when shooting so that not everything is from the typical food shoot ‘birdseye’ angle.
Awards: 2020 Folio Ozzie Honorable Mention for Photography; 2020 SPD Merit Win for Photography.
Photographed by Sang An. Food Styling by Jamie Kimm. Prop Styling by Philippa Brathwaite. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: Alternative pastas (those made from lentils, chickpeas, etc) take pasta to a whole new level by adding flavor and nutrients to dishes. Pasta is no longer bland and just a vehicle for sauce and other ingredients—it’s now a star in its own right. In this story, we’ll pair alternative pastas with summer produce that works particularly well with each type of pasta and explain why.
My Concept: I would love to do something graphic with pasta as an opener to the story, and also as holding shots within the story to run recipes on, facing a recipe holding shot. I love these lightbox pasta moments on the moodboard. As for the recipe shots, I would love to play with different angles (maybe a tighter straight in shot for something?) and tighter crops (Overall, graphic) and alternative plating (showing one of the recipes just on a fork, close up; another in a skillet it was cooked in) so that we have few full frame birdseye shots within the story. As for prop palette, this should be light & airy—whites, creams, linens/napkins, a light plastered surface. WHITE Stoneware plates AND SHALLOW BOWLS—modern but with a slightly earthy/rustic edge to pair with the pasta vibe. If there is a trim to the plate or other decorative feature that could be nice too. Very clean & simple overall.
Photographed by Marcus Nilsson. Food Styling by Victoria Granof. Prop Styling by Kaitlyn DuRoss. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: Vegetable-forward has been all the rage, now fruit-forward is the hot new thing. We’ll give five recipes in which fruit is the star
My Concept: I was really looking for a visual way to make this feature different from the vegetable forward features we had done previously. The idea that came to mind was to work with an illustrator to create watercolor illustrations of the main fruit that is in each dish to use as a backdrop to shoot each meal on top of. I couldn’t really find a lot of images to create a moodboard as I normally would, as there weren’t a lot that existed— and that made me love the idea even more since it reinforced to me that it was a fresh approach. I really wanted the photograph & the illustration to interact & work together as one unit. So, maybe there could be crumbs or drips etc on the surface/illustration, so that the photographs and illustrations would hang together more as a cohesive unit/image. In terms of color palette, I thought that for the most part the bowls and plates should be white, that way the only color that we would get into each shot would come from the food on the plate and the illustration below it. Overall, very clean & simple & graphic.
This was shoot was particularly interesting in terms of production and planning. We worked with illustrator, Samantha Hahn, who worked on illustrations of each main fruit. From there, we sent the hi res images to our prop stylist, Sarah Smart, who printed them out to use as the background surface for each shot. We knew that they should not be printed on a paper that was high gloss or had a sheen as we would be shooting the meals on top of them. We had our art department mock up layouts that incorporated the illustrations, and placed a bowl/plate within the illustration, just to give a sense of size/shape for help in pulling props. Our photographer, Johnny Miller, and food stylist, Rebecca Jurkevich, worked their magic on set to create images that led to one of my favorite features to date— largely because it truly was the work of so many talented team members.
Photographed by Johnny Miller. Illustrations by Samantha Hahn. Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich. Prop Styling by Sarah Smart. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
Awards: Folio Ozzie Award Winner for Overall Art Direction.
The Story: Peloton trainers have become our workout from home heroes, and they have the most fabulous style, unapologetically wearing full-blown makeup (bold lips, shimmery highlighter, strong brows) in their classes AND always changing their looks for each class. We’ll ask them how the makeup affects their confidence and helps to create a vibe. Obviously we’re not trying to tell all of our readers to wear full faces of makeup before their workouts, but clearly there’s a lot to learn from these pro instructors about the emotional component of makeup and how to use makeup to set your tone. Also: how in the world do they get it to stay put?! We’ll report.
My Concept: This shoot was to take place early into the Covid Pandemic. We were unsure if we would be able to have multiple trainers on set to shoot in person. We aimed to include 5 instructors, and from there shoot as many as we could in studio in person, with others being photographed remotely over zoom. (Luckily we were able to shoot all in person!). My thought was that product hero shots should be what anchored the story. Dramatic, macro, luscious— illustrating the key makeup look/product that each instructor wears to class. For the portraits I felt that, while this was a beauty story, we definitely would want to include a spin bike in at least 1 or 2 shots (especially the opener) to set the tone for the story. Product and instructors should be shot on white (disregard the different background tones on model shots in moodboard attached, and these should all be shot in color too since it IS a makeup story, so disregard the B&W as well). Perhaps one of the instructors gets a few shots as well, rather than one full page portrait, that could work in layout as a contact sheet moment. Could also be nice to inject some red into the background for added sense of power, which all of these instructors evoke.
Portraits by Troy Covey. Styling by Jenn Barthole. Hair by Clay Nielsen. Makeup by Shana Goldberg. Still Life Photography by Richard Pierce. Still Life Styling by Christine Mottau. Beauty Director Kate Sandoval Box. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
Awards: 2021 Folio Ozzie Award for Best Overall Art Direction (April 2021 Issue of Shape).
The Story: Greens are the first spring vegetables to appear, and they are also incredibly healthy. This story will cover creative ways to build dishes around greens, and all the different ways to prepare them—braise them, layer them on pizzas/flatbreads, and so on. It will also be gorgeous, with all different shades of green throughout the story.
My Concept: I wanted the overall look to be graphic and poppy but still simple and sophisticated, and to use a color palette of varying shades of green and whites to reinforce the color of the recipes and theme of the story. I also wanted to incorporate dip dyed fabrics and to create graphic shapes and lines through both propping and lighting. In addition to the recipe shots, I felt it would add to the visuals to get a graphic macro shot of one of the greens in the story (like collards, kale or spinach) or a single elegant leaf as a way to open the story.
Photographed by Victor Protasio. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
Awards: 2021 Folio Ozzie Award for Best Overall Art Direction (April 2021 Issue of Shape Magazine).
The Story: Here are this year’s best products, each tested by our Shape Squad (made up of staffers, Brain Trust beauty experts, beauty-obsessed fitness trainers) to make sure they seamlessly fit into our readers’ active lives.
My Concept: I wanted to have holding shots for each category shot in a way that highlights our active beauty platform. The shots attached in the moodboard are quick mockups that I did (combining pre-existing sourced shots) to provide a ‘sketch’ of the setups I had in mind: Roller skates rolling through skin cream product; a tennis ball hitting blush or eyeshadow product causing a powder explosion; waffle print pattern from nailpolish that was pushed through the face of a tennis racket; products swishing through a basketball net, etc. Super bright, poppy and colorful palette throughout to reinforce the active component of the story theme.
Photographed by Claire Benoist. Prop Styling by Megumi Emoto. Photography Concept by Toni Paciello Loggia. On Set Art Direction by David Baratta.
The Story: At this time of year, you crave the fresh and vibrant taste of citrus. And there are so many interesting (and beautiful) types of citrus available now. We’ll give fresh and surprising ways to use them in entrees, sides, salads, etc.
My Concept: I wanted this story to feel light, bright & airy, with beautiful long shadows that would make it feel warm and sun kissed. For our prop palette I wanted to focus on whites & creams mixed with soft citrus tones: yellows, peaches, blushes & soft pinks. I also loved the idea of bringing in some plates with graphic leaf patterns on them to play off the idea of plated citrus recipes freshly “picked off the tree”, and incorporating gold flatware for an overall very clean & modern style. In addition to the recipe shots I also wanted to get some graphic establishing shots of some of the citrus we are showing in the story, that could work as an opener to the story, and also as a shot within the story facing one of the recipes to reinforce the citrus theme.
Photographed by Thom Driver. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Thom Driver. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: Chefs have been having a lot of fun with the “one dish” idea, especially since the pandemic. These dishes can be really creative and unexpected with fun ingredients. (Not your mother’s one-dish meals.) Some of ours will be sheet pan meals, others can be made in a pot/pan. All will be healthy and really gorgeous.
My Concept: When concepting this story I was playing off the idea of 1-pot/vessel and incorporating that circular shape (skillet, pan, dutch oven, etc), as well as showing one recipe on a sheet pan and then the others as plated meals in dinner plates etc. This story topic can tend to go homey fast, which I did not want, so my approach was to have the overall look be simple, graphic and sophisticated. I also wanted to incorporate the hed of the story into a circular shape and run it opposite a skillet (*the first shot on moodboard was a mockup/sketch that I did from numerous pre-existing found images), to add another design element that reinforced that “one pot” story line. In terms of prop color palette I liked the idea of keeping this one simple & graphic—black, white, (some color blocking with interesting angles), tan/ochre/mustard yellow, with some wood tones added in for a comforting and sophisticated fall meal feeling.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: Delicious dishes with nutrients that energize your body and your mind. We’ll include citrus, whole grains, leafy greens, maybe some fish—all of which are loaded with vitamins and minerals that give you strength and stamina and fight stress.
My Concept: I wanted to use a wintery color palette that felt energizing and healthy: blue, green and rich purple, with soft neutrals interspersed, and to bring in florals to the plating and propping to reinforce the energy and vitamin rich angle, in a sophisticated and modern way. It was important to me that this be BOLD, and not too precious. I also wanted to explore a range of shoot angles where able (birdseye, ¾, straight into), as well as darker grounding shadows and some drama in the lighting so this stayed appropriate for winter and not too spring-like.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: A new study shows that people who eat pasta are healthier than people who don’t. Our recipe developer will come up with fresh ways to make pasta that are truly out of the box (so to speak)—unexpected combos of ingredients, using spices in clever ways, twists on sauces and toppings, adding all kinds of texture, new kinds of noodles to experiment with, and so on.
My Concept: I wanted the overall look of this feature to be Cozy & Comforting, while still strong, modern & graphic. I felt that it would be best to open the story with a graphic shot of a variety of (raw) pasta that could act opposite a finished recipe, as a way to showcase some of the new ‘healthier’ pastas out there. Also, I liked including a tablescape shot with a chair tucked in—as I felt that it made the story feel more like a food experience and played to the feeling of comfort and gathering, and I loved the unique angle that you see the food here. In terms of prop palette I was going for a cozy, comfort food vibe here with palette of gray, cream, white, and black with wood.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: Salads make great middle-of-fall dishes because they’re simple to prepare, and super satisfying—and you can eat them for any meal, including breakfast. Plus they help you shoulder the time between summer and winter. Our hearty, healthy salads will include interesting grains, greens that go beyond lettuce, seeds, nuts, and other proteins, creative combinations of vegetables, and clever spins on dressings and sauces.
My Concept: In terms of prop color palette, I really loved these deep tones: Blacks, Grays, Deep Purples and Cobalt Blue. I wanted this story to have a rich, almost painterly feeling in the depths of the color palette; sexy and saturated; and for the dishes to be the true pop of light & bright color in each shot. I wanted to get variety in the plating: some single serve plates, some in platters, others as multiple plates in shot. In addition to the plated recipes, I wanted to get hero shots of some of the key fall produce ingredients (red beets, radicchio, purple broccoli) on dark backgrounds, per moodboard, to pair opposite some of the recipes, but also as an opening shot option.
Photographed by Sang An. Food Styling by Heidi Gintner. Prop Styling by Claire Mack. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: One of the best and most unique ways to make spring and early summer vegetables shine is to combine them with herbs. For instance, mint adds brightness and pop to an asparagus dish. Chives are delicious with tender spring carrots. Tarragon gives depth to sugar snap peas. Herbs are often underused in vegetable dishes, yet they add so much flavor texture, depth, and vibrancy. They deliver extra health benefits as well, since herbs are packed with antioxidants. This story will showcase recipes that combine seasonal vegetables and herbs in creative, beautiful ways.
My Concept: For the overall look of the story, I really wanted to keep this clean, and light. I liked a white and cream palette next to the greens of the veggies & herbs, and showing the herb with the veggie that it is paired with in a graphic, heroic way—either as a side by side for an opener, or maybe even working them into one vertical frame, layering them one on top of each other in a graphic way or having them intertwine in some way. As for props, I thought bringing in some linen for texture could be beautiful, in addition to a light natural stone surface or light painted plaster surface with texture. White & cream plates—some ceramic/stoneware plates would be nice too in spots, but overall pretty simple, modern & clean.
Photographed by Johnny Miller. Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich. Prop Styling by Kaitlyn DuRoss. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: It’s finally warm enough to eat outside again without needing heaters and blankets. We’ll come up with 5 creative dishes featuring in-season fruits and vegetables (strawberries, asparagus, apricots, radishes, carrots) to make your outdoor dinners truly special.
My Concept: We shot this story in January, in Birmingham Alabama, so shooting outdoors obviously was not an option, but I really wanted to get that summery feeling through light & dappled shadows (all achieved in studio). Springy/summery palette of whites and creams mixed with soft warm color (peaches, pinks, oranges, yellows). Lots of linens to get creases and shadows for light to spill over (and make it seem like your’e eating outside on linen on grass, etc). Incorporating some flowers /sprigs into shots as ‘outdoor’ touch and also for cast shadow. I also thought it would be nice to have some hard surfaces interspersed here and there. Last, I thought that a still life shot of some of the in season produce that we were featuring in the recipes, shot with with beautiful light & dappled shadows, could make a beautiful opener to set the tone for the story.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: A new generation of young Asian chefs is reinventing Chinese food and making it healthier and more modern. This is happening in restaurants across the country and there are also several cookbooks coming out this subject. We’ll feature this exciting “new Chinese” with dishes that use fresh, seasonal ingredients, lighter sauces, and brighter flavors.
My Concept: I wanted to reinforce the modern theme of the narrative by using a sleek, clean and modern approach to the photography and a bold color palette of Black, White and Red. Some of my inspiration came through typography references. I wanted to shoot the dishes in a simple, bold way and introduce graphic elements like lines, diagonals and pattern to the surfaces and plates to add to the design aesthetic. I also wanted to try something graphically with chopsticks as a surface for the story headline typography to integrate with.
Photographed by Marcus Nilsson. Food Styling by Simon Andrews. Prop Styling by Angharad Bailey. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: This story will show how to creatively customize your pie with all kinds of different crusts (including vegetable crusts, of course), sauces, toppings, and fresh ingredients (veggies, etc) to finish it. We’ll get super creative with this and give it a summer angle as well—seasonal vegetables (and fruits) you can use to elevate your pie, and lighter, more flavorful sauces.
My Concept: I wanted for this story to be clean and modern, with an alternating dark & light color palette in terms of background surfaces and mood. For the surfaces I was targeting Marbles, Slates, Soapstone, Textured plaster, etc. and other than the surfaces very minimal props: wood boards; cast iron skillet; parchment paper; etc. I also wanted to get hands into one or two shots—making a crust; sprinkling flour; topping a pizza; etc. Something that added a little bit of life and a human element to the shots. Additionally I wanted to get a cheese pull moment somewhere (like 2nd shot, top row on moodboard) and an ingredient shot that could be diagrammed out in design. In terms of the pizza pies, I wanted to get varying shapes throughout—round pie; rectangular pie; cast iron pan; haphazard cuts; Slices on plates, etc. so that each had a unique look.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: It’s the healthiest food you can eat, science shows. And now you can give it a creative, even more intensely flavorful spin. Yasmin Khan is coming out with a new cookbook called Ripe Figs, which features vibrant dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus. The recipes are inspired by her travels and the people she’s met, and they are all very vegetable-centric with interesting spices and ingredients. We’ll talk about how to build flavor that tastes like summer on the Mediterranean, by creating food that’s as good for your body as it is for your soul.
My Concept: As this was our June food feature, and focused on the tastes of the Mediterranean, I really wanted for the overall look of the story to have a feeling of strong summer light & shadow play. I wanted to bring in a mix of stone surfaces & patterned tile for a Mediterranean aesthetic, mixed in with some simpler white stone surfaces to break things up; and a color palette of Blues, Turquoise and Golden Yellow. Additionally, as the surfaces were a huge part of the prop pull I wanted to shoot some plates of them that we could use as surfaces for the recipes and typography to rest on.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: Since this is our ““Body Issue”, it might be fun to give the quickie science of exactly how muscle is made. An element of this will be Athlete focused: What the Fittest Bodies Can Teach Us Periodization. Undulating strength training. Recovery and regeneration. We go to this year’s standout women Olympians and Athletes to get the training principles they practice by, then provide takeaways for how you can actually apply them to your wellness goals by optimizing your body’s rebuilding mode.
My Concept: Visually, I wanted this feature to be a celebration of the female body— showing all of its strength and power— with a focus on musculature and shape. I thought that it would be striking to alternate the figures shot on a plain white background opposite the figure shot in nature— with the natural background mimicking the curves, and shapes and strength of the body. Rugged cliffs and rocks. Black and white photography was the only way I saw this, to add to the overall graphic quality and feeling of strength. To further enforce that aesthetic I wanted our casting to feature models with varying skin tones.
Photographed by James Houston. Model Casting by David Baratta. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
Awards: 2022 SPD 57 Gold Medal Winner for Best Photography Feature.
The Story: Certain root veggies don’t get a lot of love (mainly because people don’t know what to do with them) but should because they are so versatile and add so much flavor to dishes. Things like parsnips, turnips, celery root, rutabaga, etc. We’ll give creative and beautiful recipes for using these veggies, plus tips on how to prep and use them.
My Concept: Visually, I really wanted to play to the idea of root vegetables and the idea of pulling from the ground. I thought it could be fun to use shadow and light (to symbolize earth/dirt and light) to reinforce this idea of the recipes coming out of the earth. Using light and shadow in graphic ways and strong lines; and breaking recipe shots up with some of the gorgeous vegetables shot in a heroic (almost fine art) way.
Photographed by Johnny Miller. Food Styling by Simon Andrews. Prop Styling by Sarah Smart. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: Truly creative and inspiring ways to make fall vegetables, including root veggies and hearty greens, the center of your meals. Fresh ways to prepare them and give them flavor, spices and herbs to pair with them, sauces, drizzles, toppings to give them taste and texture. Readers are looking for new ideas and flavor profiles for veggies, according to our reader research, so this story should resonate.
My Concept: I loved the idea of putting some of the key produce we are focusing on within the story, literally, on pedestals / columns to showcase and celebrate their beauty—almost as fine art. Visually I wanted to focus on rustic / modern textures and an earthy color palette to set up a cozy, fall, ‘pulled from the earth’ vibe. Concretes, distressed woods, grays, black—with hits of purple in the propping and the main color (greens, oranges, more purple) coming from the food itself.
Photographed by Greg DuPree. Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall. Prop Styling by Christine Keely. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.
The Story: The section will focus on 10 of the newest standout tech savvy finds that will deliver next level wellness.
My Concept: I wanted the set and props to reinforce the new tech narrative of the story. I felt that bold bright colors would be striking and powerful, and that incorporating set platforms, shapes, and plexi would yield a sleek and modern dynamic visual.
Photographed by Massimo Gammacurta. Photography Concept by Toni Paciello Loggia. On Set Art Direction by David Baratta.
The Story: This 20 Page Food/Entertaining Feature for the 2020 Fall Issue of Sweet July Magazine will showcase everything from appetizers, to entrees and cocktails to make your holidays fun and festive.
My Concept: As this is a Fall Issue, and not specifically a “Christmas” celebration, I didn’t want this to be overtly “Christmas” in terms of color palette. It could just as easily work for a Thanksgiving meal, or general holiday celebration. Also, I didn’t feel that a traditional Christmas color palette would be the most modern approach visually, and I wanted the overall look for this to be chic & modern. For the prop color palette I wanted to focus on Navy with Golds and hits of dark grays and blacks for a little depth and sexiness. Emerald green accents here and there. Some breaks with white as well. Candles, some simple flower arrangements, architectural wall details as backgrounds, shiny gold and sexy marble accents, place settings, tablescapes. Fabrics with some texture like velvets and silks. I also wanted to try a tablescape to open the story and set the tone for what would follow.
Photographed by Caitlin Bensel. Food Styling by Rishon Hanners. Prop Styling by Heather Chadduck. Photography Concept and On Set Art Direction by Toni Paciello Loggia.