Hey makers! In this blog post, we're going to be talking about the three different arrangements you can use for your product photography flat lays. Let's get started.

Style #1 - Linear

Arrangement style number one is linear.

This is a very purposefully arranged style in which all of the items in your flat lay are arranged in a parallel or perpendicular way with one another. Everything is placed in straight lines and looks very neat and organized. This style is great for brands that really focus on things like minimalism and clean style.

It's really great for products that tend to be structured and geometrical anyway, like a stationery or notebooks for example. Another example is garments that are very simple. Maybe you're a big proponent of the capsule wardrobe. It would make sense for your brand to maintain kind of a minimalistic, simplified arrangement for you product photography flat lay.

Style #2 - Logically placed

Flat lay arrangement number two is logically placed.

For this style you want to place things in a flat lay the way that they may actually occur in real life.

Let's say you sell journals. You can set up your shot so that there's a coffee mug within arm’s reach, some cute pens, and so on. If you sell lip balm the lip balm could be spilling out of a clutch handbag with some other commonly found things in a handbag (sunglasses, cell phone, etc). So, you set up the shot to look almost like lifestyle photo, almost like it occurs in a real-life situation.

Style #3 - Random

Arrangement style number three is random.

This is where you're going to place your props randomly around your product. For this strategy, you want to make sure that your product remains front and center. It should be more or less the largest thing in the shot. It needs to really stand out. It should be right in the center, and other props can be scattered around the edges. They can even be peeking in from the edge of the photo frame. You don't need to capture the entire prop in the photo, but you need to make sure that your product is entirely captured in the photo.

You should place the props in a strategic way to lead the eye toward your product by pointing them in angles towards your product creating lines that lead the eye towards your product.

The important thing to keep in mind when it comes random placement is that you need to make sure that your product is the most obvious thing in the photo. You don't want anyone to look at those kinds of photos and think, "What's really for sale here? It's not really clear what this person is selling." You definitely want to avoid that for all of your flat lays, but especially for the randomly placed strategy. This placement can look really great, but you do need to be careful about planning where you're going to put your props and how you're going to make your product the star of the show.

If you arrange your flat lay so that your product is front and center, it's the largest thing in the photo, have the props be peeking in from the sides, and have them be pointing towards your product leading the eye towards your product, your product will undoubtedly be the focal point.

And that is the three styles of arranging your product photography flat lays that you need to know!

If you're stuck for ideas when it comes to props for your flat lays, be sure to grab my free 90+ prop ideas download. I have listed over 90 ideas for props which will inspire new ideas that are a great fit for your brand and your styled product photos.