Earlier this year I was asked to provide headshots for KuKu Connect Members. for the release of their new exclusive social media app. They needed clean, consistent visual identity because they wanted members to look credible on launch and needed fast turnaround + high-quality + uniformity. KuKu needed 70+ members photographed quickly, with consistency, quality, and brand alignment. They approached me because they needed someone who could deliver all three under event conditions.

Live events are messy. Especially when held in multiple places including Nottingham, Leicester and Derby. People arrive at random. Lighting shifts. Most attendees did not plan to be photographed. You have seconds to get a natural expression or you get a staged portrait that feels false.

I designed the shoot to remove variables, not paper over them. Fast rapport so people relaxed in under a minute. Simple, repeatable posing that made everyone read as capable rather than posed. A single background and locked lighting setup so the images behaved like system components, not one-off assets. A delivery pipeline that allowed KuKu to deploy profiles on schedule.

Outcome: A set of consistent, usable assets that made the app feel intentional from first login. Members looked like members. The brand looked cohesive. The launch kept its credibility.

The takeaway for founders: images and especially headshots are not decoration. They are a functional element of product experience. Treat them like product work and you remove a familiar point of friction for growth.