# UTIMCO Imagery Direction Last updated: 2026-05-05 Status: Recommendations pending client approval. Use these search-term clusters to source candidates for review. ## Source The four pillars below come directly from the brand guide PDF (Visuals section). Each pillar carries a tonal mandate and search-term clusters I've assembled to make stock and commissioned image briefs faster. ## Pillar 1: Texas Excellence Without Cliché Mandate. Show contemporary Texas as a global leader in education, research, and healthcare. Avoid Western tropes: no boots, no longhorns, no oil derricks, no cowboy iconography unless the institution itself uses them in context. Search clusters. Architecture. "modern Texas university architecture", "UT Austin tower contemporary", "Texas A&M academic building modern", "Houston medical center skyline", "Austin skyline twilight", "Texas state capitol contemporary". Landscape. "Texas Hill Country at golden hour", "Big Bend modern landscape", "Gulf Coast contemporary", "Texas plains aerial", "Texas wildflowers minimal". Cultural specificity without cliché. "Texas mariachi student ensemble", "Texas regional cuisine plated", "Texas urban diversity professional", "Houston port aerial", "Texas wind farm dawn". Tone words. Confident, contemporary, expansive, deliberate, considered. ## Pillar 2: The Future of Communities Mandate. Show the 400,000-plus students, faculty, researchers, and healthcare professionals whose work UTIMCO enables. Document real impact: scholarships received, research discoveries, patients receiving care. Search clusters. Students. "diverse college students studying together", "graduate student presenting research", "first-generation student graduation", "engineering student team prototype", "pre-med student lab anatomy". Faculty and researchers. "professor mentoring student one on one", "scientist diverse lab modern", "humanities professor lecture small group", "researcher microscope contemporary lab". Healthcare. "medical resident hospital corridor", "oncology nurse patient warm interaction", "surgical team scrubbing in", "research clinician with patient consultation". Real moments. "student receiving scholarship letter", "researcher lab notebook handwritten", "hospital staff team meeting morning". Tone words. Genuine, hopeful, hardworking, authentic, alive. ## Pillar 3: Focus on Human Connection Mandate. Favor environmental portraits over isolated headshots. Show people inside the context of their work: labs, libraries, medical facilities, lecture halls. Capture authentic moments of discovery, learning, and care. Search clusters. Mentorship. "professor and student conversation walking", "lab head explaining experiment to junior", "physician explaining diagnosis to family member". Collaboration. "two researchers comparing notes whiteboard", "surgical team operating room overhead", "students study group library tables". Discovery. "moment of insight scientist lab", "student aha expression class discussion", "researcher reading peer review printout". Care. "nurse holding patient hand bedside", "physical therapist working with patient rehab", "pediatric oncology family room warm light". Tone words. Warm, present, observed, candid, unguarded. Avoid. Stock smiles, posed boardrooms with crossed arms, isolated headshots against gray backgrounds, anything that reads as performative. ## Pillar 4: Institutional Stewards Mandate. Show scale and impact, the magnitude of what UTIMCO stewards: vast campuses, state-of-the-art facilities, major research initiatives, partnership conversations, the serious business of endowment management. Search clusters. Scale. "aerial UT Austin campus", "Texas A&M campus aerial dawn", "MD Anderson facility wide", "research vessel UT marine science", "particle accelerator scientific instrument". Stewardship at work. "investment professionals meeting modern conference room", "board meeting institutional setting", "two executives walking corridor conversation", "trustees touring research facility". Outcomes. "completed research building dedication ribbon", "new wing hospital opening", "scholarship recipient family photo formal", "lab dedication plaque close-up". Quality and precision. "architectural detail Texas modernist building", "medical instrumentation precision close-up", "researcher carefully measuring sample". Tone words. Substantial, deliberate, measured, considered, enduring. ## Photographic style notes Color treatment. Lean cool with selective warmth. Match the brand palette: deep blues and teals dominant, Aqua as a midtone, Green as a soft accent. Avoid heavy orange grading. UT Burnt Orange and A&M Maroon should appear in context (jerseys, banners, building lighting) rather than as a color grade. Light. Natural light preferred. Golden hour for landscapes and architecture. Soft north light for interiors and portraits. Avoid hard noon sun and harsh on-camera flash. Composition. Wide environmental shots over tight crops. Headroom and breathing room. Subject at one third, not centered, unless the symmetry is the point. Depth. Use depth of field to direct attention but keep enough environment in focus that context reads. Avoid extreme bokeh that erases setting. People. Include diversity in age, ethnicity, ability, and field of study. Show real expressions and real interactions. Avoid the polished commercial lifestyle look. ## Image usage rules Always pair imagery with copy that names the institution, the person, or the outcome. A photograph alone without context flattens the brand into stock. Use the masked logo variant (inlinelogo+whiteMask.svg) when a logo overlays photography. Maintain at least 4.5:1 contrast between any logo or text and its image background. Add a scrim if needed. Do not use stock photography that reads as generic corporate. If a search returns gray office buildings, three smiling professionals at a laptop, or a handshake, keep scrolling. ## Brief template for commissioned shoots Every photo brief should include: the value being expressed (one of the six), the pillar (one of the four above), the institution and named subject, the moment to capture, the lighting and time-of-day target, and the intended end use (report, web, social, signage). The brief is short. Specificity beats length.