ImageryStandards

Imagery and Photography

Overview

Authentic imagery is one of the most powerful tools in the DroidBuilders brand toolkit. A single great photo of a child examining a droid's open dome communicates everything our brand stands for. Our visual standards protect that power by ensuring consistency and quality.

Photography Style

Authentic over staged. Real moments at real events -- children's reactions, builders at work, droids in environment -- are always preferred over posed studio shots.

People-forward. The best DroidBuilders images feature the human element: the reaction, the interaction, the volunteer's pride, the child's wonder. Droids alone are interesting; droids with people are powerful.

Show the STEM. Wherever possible, capture the engineering and the learning: a builder explaining how a droid works, a child looking inside a panel, hands on a controller, the gears and electronics that make the magic real. These images do double duty -- they're charming and they prove the mission.

Environment matters. Classrooms, hospital corridors, school hallways, convention floors, and community spaces all reinforce the mission. Establish the setting so viewers understand the context.

Photography Guidelines

Principle	Detail
Preferred Subjects	Droid + person interactions; builders explaining or demonstrating; kids engaging with the tech; event environments
Lighting	Natural or warm ambient light preferred; avoid harsh flash that flattens images
Composition	Rule of thirds; leave room for text overlay when intended for marketing
Color Tone	Warm-neutral; avoid heavy filters or oversaturated processing
Quality	Minimum 1500px on the short edge for web; minimum 300 DPI at final print size

Image Permissions

Always obtain explicit permission before publishing images of minors. This is both a legal requirement and an ethical obligation, especially given the frequency of hospital and school events.

For events:

• Confirm the venue's media policy before shooting
• Use event consent forms where required
• When in doubt, do not publish identifiable images of children

For builders and volunteers:

• Verbal consent is sufficient for publication in most cases
• Tag volunteers in social media only with their explicit approval

Text Overlays on Imagery

• Apply a dark overlay (Deep Space #060D1A at 40-60% opacity) behind text to ensure legibility
• Use White or Gold text only on photographic backgrounds -- never process black
• Maintain logo clear-space rules even when placing on photography

What to Avoid

• Stock photography depicting droids from the actual Star Wars films -- we build replicas inspired by those designs
• Imagery implying official affiliation with Lucasfilm, Disney, or Star Wars properties (see Intellectual Property and Affiliation)
• Low-resolution, blurry, or poorly lit images in any published context
• Heavy filters, Instagram-style presets, or unnatural color grading
• Images where another organization's intellectual property is prominently featured without permission