Brand Guidelines

Brand Guidelines

Photography

Songenius photography is designed to reflect the brand's bold, urban, and gritty aesthetic. Our imagery captures raw energy, intense expressions, and vivid contrast, evoking the spirit of urban music culture. The photos blend stark realism with a stylized look, adding a distinctive edge that aligns with our brand’s visual identity.

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Selecting the Right Images

To achieve the Songenius look, it’s essential to start with images that embody our brand’s style and feel. When selecting photos, keep the following guidelines in mind:

Expressive and Raw Subjects: Songenius is about capturing real, intense moments. Seek out photos that show people with genuine expressions, whether it’s energy, reflection, or intensity. Avoid overly polished or posed shots; the goal is to reflect raw emotion that resonates with urban and music culture.

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High Contrast with Defined Highlights and Shadows: Look for images with strong lighting contrast—distinct highlights and deep shadows. The effect we apply relies on contrast to bring out intense colors and dramatic tones, so images with soft or flat lighting will not produce the desired look.

Dark Backgrounds Preferred: Images with darker backgrounds tend to work best, as they naturally provide contrast for the Color Burn effect. Bright, busy backgrounds may not create the same high-impact look and can distract from the subject.

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Where to Find Suitable Photos: For sourcing images, look for photography collections that focus on urban culture, music events, and street photography. Sites like Unsplash, Pexels can provide a good starting point.

Creating the Songenius Effect

Our signature photo effect uses a solid yellow layer and a specific blend mode to create Songenius’s unique, high-contrast look. Follow these exact steps to replicate the effect correctly:

Do not use the main accent color (#FFD507) for this effect. It will look completely different due to the way blend modes interact with color. Instead, use #F1C906—a slightly darker yellow specifically chosen for this effect. Using any other shade, especially the accent color, will result in unintended colors and distortions.

Apply the "Color Burn" Blend Mode

Start by creating a solid color layer with the exact yellow #F1C906 as the base.

Place your chosen photo above the yellow layer and set the blend mode of the photo layer to Color Burn. This interaction between the yellow background and the photo creates the intense reds, blacks, and highlighted yellows characteristic of the Songenius style.

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Photoshop Template

For convenience, we provide a Photoshop template pre-configured with the correct yellow layer and blend settings. Simply add your chosen image to the template, and the effect will be automatically applied, ensuring consistency and saving time.

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color-burn-effect-songenius.psd

150.5 MB

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How "Color Burn" Works

The Color Burn blend mode works by increasing the contrast between the base color and blend color through a mathematical calculation: it darkens the background color to reflect the top layer, enhancing shadows and intensifying highlights. More Information

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