15 product picture ideas for creative visuals that drive sales

Jan 21, 2025

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15 product picture ideas for creative visuals that drive sales

90% of consumers consider high-quality product photos crucial when purchasing online (source). In other words, the right visuals have the power to draw customers in and increase your conversions.

But what exactly makes a good product visual? A great image showcases your product clearly, is consistent with your brand image, and grabs customers’ attention.

Discover 15 unique product picture ideas to help you create images that engage customers and drive conversions. We’ll also show you how Omi helps brands generate visuals quickly, affordably, and without stepping foot into a photography studio.

How product visuals should vary depending on their purpose

Product visuals aren’t one-size-fits-all, so you make a good product image by considering what works best for your channel and goals. The feed-friendly image that works on Instagram might not perform as well on your Amazon shop or eCommerce website — or in a printed catalog.

Here are a few examples of how to make good product images for their different purposes:

eCommerce websites: Clean, white product photography backgrounds highlight your product and meet platform requirements like those of Amazon.
Social media platforms: Bold, creative visuals or monochromatic grids capture customer attention and create a consistent aesthetic.
Printed catalogs: Lifestyle shots show your product in use so customers can imagine themselves using or wearing it.
Ads: Attention-grabbing angles (or even product videos) stand out and drive clicks.

The story you want to tell should also shape your product image, whether that’s highlighting your high-quality materials with detail shots or painting a picture of your product in use with lifestyle images.

Help your products stand out and sell more with these 15 unique ideas

Creative product photography is the art of showcasing your product in a way that tells a story, evokes emotion, or sparks curiosity.

But how do you take unique product photos? By capturing unique angles, using bold backdrops, or setting a scene that reflects your brand’s personality.

These 15 ideas will inspire you to create product photos that engage customers and help you sell more.

1. Use a solid background

Create solid background product images in a matter of clicks with Omi.

Just a plain background, whether classic white or a bold color, is a staple of packshot photography. This approach removes distractions to keep the focus on your product. White is ideal for online stores and marketplaces like Amazon, while colorful backdrops add personality to marketing content.

2. Tell a story with lifestyle photography

Omi makes it easy to set the scene and add props and accessories to your visuals.

Lifestyle product photography brings your product to life by showing it in action — on a dining table, in a living room, or worn by a model. This approach helps customers visualize your product in their own lives, making it perfect for catalogs, social media, and ads that seek to evoke an emotional response and connection.

3. Shoot close up to showcase details

Omi’s 3D models capture all your products’ most important details so you can show them to customers.

Close-up shots highlight the finer details of your product, like texture, stitching, or technical features. This product photography style builds customer confidence by giving them a clearer view of quality and craftsmanship.

This approach works well for eCommerce product pages, especially when shooting luxury items, high tech, and any other product where the small details make a big difference.

4. Show your product scale/size

Add accessories to scale to show the real size of your product.

Demonstrating your product’s size in relation to familiar objects helps customers understand its dimensions more clearly. Whether it’s a jar of cosmetics in a hand or a basketball beside a massage gun, this approach reduces buyer uncertainty and helps customers convert.

5. Lay your products flat

Create flat lays in minutes — without the hassle of lighting issues — in our Virtual Studio.

With a flat lay, you can showcase your products alongside complementary props to create a visually appealing and contextual story. This style works well for social media grids, website banners, and lookbooks. It helps highlight your brand's aesthetic while keeping the focus on the product itself.

6. Play with lighting

Create the exact ambiance you’re looking for by adjusting lighting in Omi’s Virtual Studio.

Experiment with lighting — like shooting during golden hour or using a focused spotlight — to create depth and emotion in your product visuals. Natural light adds warmth, while a controlled light source highlights textures and shapes. This approach works well for mood-driven social media posts, lifestyle imagery, and artistic ad campaigns.

Bring product pictures to life with Omi

The free version includes everything except a 3D model of your product

Explore the Virtual Photo Studio

7. Keep things monochrome

Add all the props, accessories, and colors you need to achieve a monochrome look with Omi.

Monochrome product photos create a sleek, cohesive look, and using a single color palette can make your product pop. Play around with this style when curating your social media grids and creating website banners for artistic, eye-catching product shots.

8. Embrace the season

Update your Halloween visuals to get started on your holiday campaign in minutes with Omi.

Seasonal product photography helps customers associate your products with specific times of the year, like pastels and florals for spring or festive tones for the holidays.

This approach resonates emotionally with customers to make your products relevant whenever you want them to be. It’s ideal for marketing campaigns, promotional emails, and catalogs where it makes sense to tie product styling into seasonal themes.

9. Take things outdoors

Omi customer Endro Cosmetics uses the tool to create brand-aligned visuals at scale.

Outdoor settings provide a natural aesthetic fit for sustainable products, outdoor apparel, or sports equipment. Natural landscapes serve as both compelling background material and a storytelling element. This product photography setup is a good call for brands wanting to highlight eco-friendly values, natural ingredients, or products designed for adventure and the outdoors.

10. Make your product pop

Colors, composition, backgrounds, and lighting: with Omi, the options are endless.

Pair colorful product photos with a monochrome or plain background to make your items stand out and highlight unique features. This bold, high-contrast approach draws customers’ attention right where you want it: your product. It’s ideal for social media posts, marketing campaigns, and ads where grabbing attention quickly is crucial.

11. Sell the idea of luxury

High-end brands often create bespoke design templates and prop collections for their scenes.

A well-styled product photo with elegant props and rich textures creates a sense of luxury and exclusivity. Think velvet backdrops, metallic accents, or moody lighting. This style works for premium items like jewelry, watches, or high-end fashion, whether you’re creating images for social media campaigns or product catalogs.

12. Highlight your product’s texture

3D-based product photography presents textures and materials with beautiful fidelity. No wonder cosmetics products love Omi's Virtual Photo Studio.

Showcasing textures adds depth and appeal to your images: think the creaminess of skincare products or the flakiness of baked goods. For food photography, for example, close-ups of crispy crusts or drizzled sauces help customers imagine what they would taste like. This approach is ideal for food and beauty brands aiming to captivate audiences on social media, their website, or even packaging.

13. Showcase your product in use

Complement your white background shots with images that help your customers imagine themselves using your product. With Omi's Virtual Photo Studio, it's easy to set your scene in any context. Have at it!

Displaying your product in action, like a bag slung over a shoulder or body wash on the side of a bathtub, helps a potential customer envision themself using the item. Get creative here and add in other relevant props to really set the scene. This type of product photo works well for social media posts, website landing pages, and catalogs.

14. Play with patterns

All you need is one 3D model and a few minutes to create eye-catching pattern visuals with Omi.

Incorporating patterns into your product photos — whether through tiled backgrounds or repeating product arrangements — creates a bold, eye-catching design. Patterns help your product stand out while maintaining a cohesive and visually appealing aesthetic. This playful, eye-catching approach works well on social media grids and for creative marketing campaigns.

15. Bring your products to life

Using an interactive 3D Viewer, you can add a touch of the in-store experience to your site.

With 3D product visualization, you can create dynamic, photorealistic images beyond the limitations of traditional product photography. This tactic lets you use 3D models to style and render as many creative product pictures and videos as you need. Plus, it enables you to produce interactive 3D viewers that give customers a more immersive way to explore your product, resulting in increased engagement and conversions.

Give your customers an in-store experience from the comfort of their home

Omi’s 3D Viewer provides an interactive experience at your customers’ fingertips — helping them stay on your page longer and eventually convert.

Explore the Virtual Studio

How to create product pictures at scale (without having to step foot in a photography studio)

Setting up a photography shoot requires meticulous planning, and having to reshoot products for campaigns or seasonal launches can delay progress and sales. This approach simply isn’t scalable, especially for brands working on tight deadlines.

Omi, on the other hand, can save you up to 90% on photoshoot costs. Take Omi client Endro Cosmétiques, for example. After starting with our tool, they doubled their content creation and reduced the time to create a packshot photo from one day to five minutes. Now, they rely on Omi images for all their channels.

Omi’s Virtual Studio gives you all the options and settings you could need to create visuals for your website, socials, and ads, including:

White backgrounds for marketplaces and eCommerce stores
Seasonal visuals with festive accessories and settings (such as Valentine's)
Lighting options to match the aesthetic you’re going for
Photorealistic close-ups to highlight product textures and details
Outdoor-inspired scenes for eco-conscious or adventure brands

Omi’s Virtual Studio uses 3D models of your products to provide endless possibilities for visual content creation. Here’s how it works.

Create a ‘Digital Twin’: Ship your product to us. It’s 3D-modeled to serve as the base for all your visuals, ensuring photorealistic accuracy for both 2D renders and interactive 3D viewers.

Create a ‘Digital Twin’: ship your product to us. It’s 3D-modeled to serve as the base for all your visuals, ensuring photorealistic accuracy for both 2D renders and interactive 3D viewers.
Choose templates and upload brand assets: select from hundreds of scene templates, and upload your brand assets, like logos or custom props, to make the visuals distinctly yours.
Add objects and change the scenery: bring your image to life by incorporating props, adjusting lighting, or even adding seasonal elements like snowflakes or greenery.
Play with camera angles and product size: explore different angles to showcase your product from every perspective. Customize product size and placement for impactful compositions.
Export channel-specific images: seamlessly export visuals in the perfect format for their intended platform.

As you saw earlier, the Virtual Photo Studio also lets you generate an interactive 3D Viewer. This lets users zoom in, rotate, and explore your product from every angle. Online shoppers love it, because it helps them make an informed purchase decision (reducing return rates).

Increase conversions by 19% with Omi

Combining photorealistic 3D modeling with a Virtual Studio that allows for complete customization, Omi enables you to design high-quality visuals that perfectly reflect your brand.

Whether you’re producing seasonal campaigns, launching new products, or refreshing your online catalog, Omi delivers images that audiences love to the point that they often get up to 32% higher engagement.

Omi eliminates the time, cost, and complexity of physical shoots. You can experiment with different designs, lighting setups, and angles at the click of a button, meaning you can quickly create different variants to A/B test and pinpoint what approach resonates most with your audience.

Even better, the tool is so simple that anyone on your team can create images without prior expertise. Says Aude Kermadé, Digital Content Creator at Endro Cosmétiques, “What attracted us right away was the promise: creating high-quality visuals very quickly and easily. We can say that the promise was kept! Omi is super easy to use, and the team is very responsive: any initial issues were quickly resolved.”

Omi drives measurable results — like 22% more time spent on product pages and a 19% increase in conversions. Get product pictures that engage your audience and bring in more sales — at a fraction of traditional costs.