07 · Photography
Real people, real places, in full color
Draft for review · selection principles proposed by Hyperakt, Sep 2026
Photography is where the brand meets the people it exists for. It should feel like San Antonio on a good day: warm, direct, a little loud.
The palette and the mosaic do the graphic work. Photographs bring the proof: who we are, where we are, and what generosity looks like when it lands.
Six principles
How to choose or shoot
01
Real people, named places
Donors, scholars, nonprofit staff, neighbors. Shot in the eight counties, in the places where the work happens: a classroom, a clinic lobby, a river trail, a kitchen table. No stock crowds, no anonymous handshakes.
02
Daylight and saturation
Natural light, true color, skin tones that look like skin. The brand is 60% vibrant; the photographs should be too. No moody desaturation, no cool color grades.
03
Close and at eye level
Portraits are made with the subject, not of them. Eye contact is welcome. Get close enough that the person fills the frame and the background falls away.
04
Let the brand appear in the world
Color and the mosaic show up in objects: earrings, a mural, a tote, a table setting. Look for moments where the palette already exists in the scene, and choose those.
05
Leave room
Every campaign image needs a quiet area for type or a mosaic corner. Simple backgrounds, generous margins, and a subject placed off-center make the image work harder later.
06
Dignity first
Subjects are protagonists, never illustrations of need. Photograph capability, celebration, and connection. Get consent in writing, and let people see how they'll appear.
From the design presentation
Working images
Principle 04The palette in a real setting: navy linen, cream cards, mosaic programs at every place.
Principle 04The mosaic as an object. Close, bright, on cream.
Principle 01A named place. The River Walk, with the brand in it.
Principle 05Simple background, subject off-center, room to read.
Principle 03On the site: family, close, at eye level, in daylight.
Placeholder imagery. These are working images from the R5 presentation, shown to set the direction. Confirm usage rights before any of them appear in public materials, and replace them with SAAF's own photography as it's produced.
Photos with the system
Three ways
A photograph never carries type by itself. Give words a panel, let the mosaic hold the corner, or set the image inside a mosaic shape.
Panel
Together for brighter futures
Type on a navy panel, photo untouched.
Corner
Mosaic shape
Do and don't
- Crop with intent. Tight on faces, wide on places. Avoid the middle distance where nobody is the subject.
- Keep color honest. Light correction only. If a photo needs a filter to fit the brand, it doesn't fit the brand.
- One photo per surface unless it's a grid. Let the mosaic and color do the layering.
- No black and white, except archival images from the Foundation's own history, captioned as such.
- No color overlays or gradients on photographs. Contrast for type comes from a panel, not a tint.
- No generated people. Illustrations may be synthetic; photographs of people never are.
Don't desaturateBlack and white drains the brand out of the picture.
Don't filterVintage grades make cream look yellow and navy look grey.
Don't tintNo brand-color overlays. Use a panel for type.
Don't distortCrop to fit. Never stretch to fit.
Building the library
Next
SAAF's first brand shoot should cover the five audiences in the messaging house: donors and fundholders, nonprofits, community leaders, scholars, and professional advisors, each in their own setting, across at least three of the eight counties. Brief the photographer with this page.