Aesthetic Food Inspiration and Tips
In the broadest sense, aesthetic means “concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty”. That’s the dictionary definition, but in reference to social media the term “aesthetic” usually refers to the overall theme or mood of an account.
And that’s what this article is all about. It includes seven mood boards, each with a different aesthetic food idea to give you inspiration for your own social media accounts.
It’s important to remember that ‘aesthetic’ isn’t about shooting one incredible photo. It’s about creating a consistent style or theme when you put your photos together.
Your colour palette, light and props will all play a part in this. So the best place to start is to find a style that you like, and really pick it apart to understand what’s going on and how you can recreate it.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at some stunning food aesthetics that you may want to use in your own social media or brand.
Rustic
The rustic food aesthetic is all about comfort. There’s nothing pretentious here, just delicious home cooking and there’s something so reassuring about that.
Stay grounded and earthy with the rustic aesthetic. Celebrate fabulous farmhouse cooking, homegrown ingredients and eating with the seasons.
How to create the rustic aesthetic
COLOUR PALETTE
All colours are included in the rustic palette, but they’re muted. Notice that none of the colours ‘pop’, so experiment with desaturating your images and reducing the vibrancy of the colours.
LIGHT
There are plenty of shadows in these images, and they vary from light (bottom left) to dramatic (top middle). Experiment to find the style that suits you best – more shadow creates more drama, while softening the shadows helps to lift the mood.
STYLING
Rustic is all about natural materials. Think about shooting your photos on backgrounds like weathered wood, baking paper and linen cloths.
Rustic gives the appearance of a very natural, ‘unstaged’ photo. But don’t be fooled – it can be very difficult to achieve this look. The photos are busy, and include linen cloths, utensils and scattered ingredients.
Think about telling a story rather than documenting a particular plate of food.
Moody
The moody food aesthetic is all about drama and intrigue. It feels colder and more calculated, and draws us in with its unusual demeanor.
People and brands who adopt this aesthetic need to be both bold and considered, which is a tricky combination to master.
How to create the moody aesthetic
COLOUR PALETTE
The colour black features heavily in the moody aesthetic, as do darker and desaturated hues.
LIGHT
Dramatic lighting is critical in the moody aesthetic. Notice that some photos are brighter with dramatic shadows (middle), whilst others are flatter (top left). The variety increases the sense of intrigue.
STYLING
Keep the background clean. If it’s not adding to the photo, don’t include it. Experiment with unusual props. The use of grayscale backgrounds helps to maintain cohesion in the mood board above.
Keep the styling bold and unfussy, whilst still communicating a message or story.
Organic
The organic style feels very soft and wholesome. It has similarities to the rustic style but feels more polished with the use of more refined materials, e.g. marble versus weathered wood.
The colours are still muted, but the shadows are much lighter and softer.
How to create the organic aesthetic
COLOUR PALETTE
Tend towards softer and lighter hues, with a desaturated colour palette.
LIGHT
The light is soft in the organic aesthetic. Lift the shadows and be careful not to over-expose the photos when you lighten them.
STYLING
The background and props add texture as well as a luxurious feel. Think marble worktops, and delicate cutlery and materials.
Like the rustic aesthetic, the styling feels quite natural here. The impression is wholesome, and the entire frame is important and tells a story.
Light/minimal
Light and minimal aesthetics are very popular, and I think they’re one of the easier ‘looks’ to curate.
Keep your backgrounds very pale to provide consistency and make your food ‘pop’. Less is more – if a prop isn’t adding to the photo, leave it out.
How to create the light aesthetic
COLOUR PALETTE
The colours are brighter and bolder in this mood board. You can restrict the colour palette, but you don’t need to. Just make sure that white features heavily in each photo.
LIGHT
The light is bright and the shadows are very subtle in this aesthetic.
STYLING
The background should be very light, ideally with some texture. White marble, wood or cloth are all beautiful backgrounds.
When it comes to props, simplicity is key and less is more. Also, experiment with close ups and different angles to add interest.
Dark
I love dark food photography, it can be so luxurious and impactful. Dark backgrounds can really make your food pop and give a cinematic feel.
Experiment with enhancing dark colours, increasing shadows and upping the contrast to find the right amount of ‘drama’ for you.
How to create the dark food aesthetic
COLOUR PALETTE
Naturally, dark colours feature heavily here, but you need to create contrast. Choose colours that will pop against the dark background. I love including warm reds, oranges and yellows – they look fantastic when you increase the contrast.
LIGHT
The light is dramatic – increase the dark and shadows, but experiment with increasing the highlights too.
STYLING
The composition can be as simple or complex as you like here – the key is to create contrast. Experiment with different angles to find the one with the most impact.
Pink
A fabulous way to make your Instagram feed cohesive is to use a consistent colour palette. This doesn’t mean you have to exclude certain colours, but give one or two priority and make sure they feature in every photo.
This feed prioritises pink and these varied photos hang together well because they feature pink in some way.
How to create the pink food aesthetic
COLOUR PALETTE
Include different shades of pink in your theme, and make sure it features in every photo. You can also restrict your colour palette if you like, but you don’t need to.
Be consistent with using bolder or more muted colours – the mood board above uses bold colours.
LIGHT
I like to use brighter images and softer shadows with a pink aesthetic.
STYLING
It’s useful to have several different pink props and backgrounds to hand, in case your food hasn’t delivered on your colour palette.
Coffee/brown
Here’s another example of a gorgeous aesthetic built around colour, but here I’ve restricted the palette to browns. This is a simple and effective way of building a cohesive food aesthetic.
If you’re struggling to create a more complex aesthetic, like ‘rustic’, then I recommend starting with an aesthetic like coffee that’s based around a few colours.
How to create the coffee food aesthetic
COLOUR PALETTE
The colours are restricted to creams, greys and browns in the coffee aesthetic. The colours are also bold and warm.
LIGHT
The light is fairly bright with high contrast. Experiment with the use of shadows and you can mix this up in your photos.
STYLING
The composition is varied which adds interest. Experiment with close ups, props and the inclusion of hands/people in the photos. The styling can be more varied because the colour palette is very restricted.
Creating your own food aesthetic
I hope these mood boards have given you some ideas and inspiration for your own food aesthetic.
I’d love to know if you found this article helpful? Perhaps you want more tips on taking food photos, where to find food presets or the backgrounds I’m using? Let me know in the comments!
