Put it on repeat: Brand Codes & The Importance Of Consistency

What happens when products evolve? Perhaps you’ve launched a new model, updated the colour range, or refined the design. Recreating the same shot from a previous campaign – or scaling up for additional content – requires organising yet another photoshoot. What about products that aren’t yet fully manufactured or those too complex to capture effectively? Perhaps internal mechanisms need visualising. This is where the limitations of traditional photography become apparent, and where 3D rendering steps in as a solution. So, what are the main considerations?

More Experimentation, More Content

While both photography and 3D need careful planning, pre-defined art direction, arrangement of lighting, scenery, and camera angles, photography – especially for more elaborate set-ups – can be complex and time-consuming. With 3D rendering, these constraints disappear. Want to experiment with bold, dramatic lighting, test out multiple camera angles, or a completely different scene altogether? It’s all possible, and in a fraction of the time and effort; you can even revisit days, weeks, months later to create new ideas.

3D also isn't one-and-done. A single 3D model can create far more than just one visual, and can be a starting point for all sorts of content: product breakdowns that highlight internal features, animations for social media, and 3D or AR experiences for eCommerce, for example. With 3D, the value of investment can be spread across multiple channels, maximising the creative, as well as the budget.

Embrace Existing CAD Models

Since most manufacturers already use CAD models for product development and manufacturing, these files are a great jumping-off point for 3D rendering. By adding materials, fine-tuning the details, and incorporating lighting and scenery, you can easily turn CAD models into high-quality, photorealistic images. This way, you don't have to start modelling products from the ground up, saving a huge amount of time and budget. Products also don't always remain unchanged – features are refined, colours are updated, and new details added. With traditional photography, making these updates can mean pricey reshoots, along with all the logistics, studio time, and re-editing that go along with it. But with 3D, designers can adjust and polish details, update materials, or even completely reimagine the product without having to start all over again.

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Whether it’s a cutaway view of a mechanical gadget or a product that's still in the concept phase, 3D rendering allows us to visualise and promote ideas that photography typically can't capture

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‍Capture more

3D design can deliver visuals so precise that they rival – and often outshine – traditional photography. Every surface texture, reflection, and minute detail can be shaped without the potential imperfections that can plague a traditional photoshoot, such as scratches or fingerprints. That said, renders often look best and most realistic when they include subtle imperfections – with 3D, and those kind of details can be included and experimented with in the materials, without editing or affecting the models themselves.

And, when it comes to complex details some products can be tricky to photograph purely due to how they're manufactured, or their development stage. Whether it’s a cutaway view of a mechanical gadget or a product that's still in the concept phase, 3D rendering allows product companies to highlight details, internal structures, or design concepts with macro photography, in ways traditional photography typically can't capture. 

The Bottom Line

In our – admittedly biased – opinion, 3D is a no-brainer for businesses looking to create stunning, adaptable, and cost-effective visuals. With the ability to create anything from simple outdoor scenes to beautifully elaborate studio stills and animation; to experiment, adjust, revisit and adapt for multiple channels; it offers a flexibility that benefits both the creative process and budget. And given manufacturing companies can take advantage of the CAD models many of them already have, there's very few risks – and a mass of benefits – in considering 3D as an alternative to traditional photography.

Webflow: Scalable, Flexible, and Fully Managed

Webflow is a powerful platform for businesses looking for a fast, scalable, and cost-efficient solution. It’s a no-code tool, which means – in theory – you don’t need a developer on hand to make day-to-day updates or build new pages once it's been built. Webflow also provides everything in one place – hosting, security, and performance monitoring – with built-in features like automatic updates, SSL certificates, and backups, making it an excellent and secure all-in-one solution. Its fully managed hosting also removes the stress of maintaining third-party tools, and the need for ongoing maintenance fees.

One of the most powerful things we love is that sites built on Webflow can be easily created as component-based systems, where every element – from hero sections to calls-to-action – is modular. This means once your website is built, your marketing team can easily create new pages or adapt existing ones by dragging and dropping pre-built components, all without needing further technical input. This can of course be done in WordPress too, however as with most WordPress features, you'd need to use a third-party plugin.

Setting up a CMS for multiple types of posts in Webflow is incredibly straight-forward too – unlike WordPress where a new post type requires development, Webflow allows you to add new types of posts, and build post templates with minimal hassle, as and when they're needed. What's more, even without a dedicated CMS, all static content can be edited by content managers via a front-end editor, without the need to dive into a backend CMS. And if you to lock it down further, you can choose to remove editing ability only for specific content. What's not to love?

For all these reasons and more, for marketing teams looking for simplicity, scalability, and independence, Webflow is our go-to platform.

all static content can be edited by content managers via a front-end editor, without the need to dive into a backend CMS

WordPress: Tailored Solutions for Complex Needs

For larger organisations with unique requirements or complex technical needs, WordPress is often the better choice. With a huge amount of plugins, themes, and integrations available, WordPress can be tailored to deliver advanced workflows, complex e-commerce platforms, or custom features that aren’t as easily achieved in Webflow. One of the main reasons larger companies opt for WordPress is that it requires separate hosting – something that allows for more choice and control. This is a positive for many, however, for others, the ongoing maintenance and upkeep required are also some of the biggest pains.

As with Webflow, WordPress can also be built with a modular approach, so new pages can be created using a drag and drop system of components. We use Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) for this to ensure our clients' internal teams can manage their content efficiently and scale their sites with ease, post-launch.

However, it's worth considering WordPress isn't an all-in-one package, and does come with more moving – particularly third-party – parts. All these things make it a significantly larger beast. And while hosting, security, and functionality often rely on third-party platforms and plugins, WordPress sites need regular updates and careful management to avoid vulnerabilities. Many of these things add a great deal of flexibility, however they also introduce a requirement for far more oversight and ongoing maintenance to ensure everything continues to work seamlessly.

All this considered though, WordPress is still ideal for businesses with complex integration requirements, or custom technical workflows, provided there’s a plan in place to manage the additional overhead.