Content creation. Social media management. Branding.
Art, to me, is a way of life—a practice of observing the world and responding with creativity. One of my favorite ways to create is in these more remote landscapes of the world, where my lens captures nature, aiming for a perfect blend of texture, depth, and composition. Silence and emotion. Photographing the poetry of simple things.
A moon inside a church? 😍
This awesome exhibition is back in London and it’s so worth a visit guys! One of those things that inspire the creative artist within us all ✨
Recently a personal branding client said that her biggest issue with producing social media content is that she doesn’t feel to be a creative person. I decided to share part of our conversation as it may inspire some of you:
Creativity is a skill that can be learned, refined, and improved. It’s not something you either have or don’t have and there isn’t “a muse” that dumps creative inspiration into our minds or whispers ideas in our ears. One of the best ways to train your creativity is expanding your repertoire by varying what you see, live, speak, listen to and read. Getting out of the social media bubble where things are more and more pasteurised. Go walk in nature, museums, see art, watch different movies, read more books. Try to go to a new restaurant and eat something new, grab a coffee in a different place than your usual one or simply walk a different route to work.
There is a simple and generous rule in life: whatever you practice, you will improve at.
Go feed that artist in you! ♥️
Swipe left!
As someone that works with branding, social media and content creation, I thought that this movement of “make instagram great again” was worth a mention. Before you read this post know there is no conclusion to it, it’s purely some food for thought.
This movement has gained a lot of traction with support from the likes of Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, both with more than 300M followers.
Just to provide some context: In the past Kylie Jenner has tweeted about changes to Snapchat and in the same week, the company lost $1.3 billion of market value.
Instagram’s original plan was ‘to capture and share the world’s moments’ and its value is ‘community first, inspire creativity, and simplicity matters.’ Probably Instagram will never be “Instagram” again as the two founders who created the platform are long gone since the platform was acquired by Facebook and then taken into a very different direction. Instagram has become more about reels and suggested posts than posting photos and interacting with the likeminded people or friends you choose to follow. Building a community doesn’t seem to be the value anymore nor does simplicity.
To build a successful and more importantly long-lasting brand you need a clear purpose, identity and a meaningful differentiation (and not aim to be a copy of your competitor) but you must also always account for the landscape we live in, its future and the human behaviour.
People share video 1200% more than text and images combined (Forbes). I am sure all Instagram decisions aren’t taken lightly and there is a lot going on in every new update but the question remains: Where is Instagram heading?
Is it going toward a long life or an overnight collapse as it happened to other social media platforms?
PS 📷: iced coffee from 🤍
A cup of coffee and some food for thought ☕️:
Clarity is the very first step of any branding. When your intention is clear, so is the direction. This may sound very simple but in fact is a huge challenge because in order for this to be effective, you need to go deep inside yourself to figure out your “Why”. Not everyone is willing to do that.
Knowing who you are is POWER! Knowing who you are and showing that to the world is BRAND POWER! This is the main reason why over a year ago I changed my own business model and decided to add branding to it. Without a branding strategy to underpin content creation and social media, creative decisions are inherently subjective and arbitrary. The goal is to align your brand personality (values, mission, voice..) with your brand image (what you show and how you are perceived). If you have any questions or would like to know more about my work, send me a message.
(Tap in the link of my bio if you would like to read the full blog post)
Happy Monday my friends ✨
How much would you pay for a single pastry? How do you define value? Can you measure it?
Expensive is relative in businesses terms. What I love about the process of personal branding is that it adds value and puts a business, a service or a product in a position where the price is no longer the main decision making factor - the emotions are. If you would like to know how much I paid for this pastry and if it was worthy it, tap in the link of my bio for the full blog post.
You are not just what you eat. You are also what you listen to, what you see, what you contemplate on, what you feel.
What nourishes your soul? For me it includes bookshops, long nature walks, visiting Cafes, consuming art in general, reading, travelling...
Let’s feed that inner artist residing in all of us! Here are a few inspiring places of London 💕 Have you been to any of these? Any suggestions?
1 Saatchi Gallery
2 Barbican Conservatory
3 Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookstore
4 Richmond Park
5 Host Café (inside a church)
‘Make it simple but significant’. One of my mottos in life. Happy new week my friends 🫶
📷: Japan, Oman, Namibia, United Arab Emirates
A cup of coffee and some food for thought:
Stop creating content you don’t actually like. The more I study about personal branding the more I understand the importance of standing out by showing your unique identity. Each and every one of us is being called upon to be a “Creative”. We tweet, we run meetings, we write, we post, we invent and share ideas and images.
In an era of TikTok trends and drag-and-drop builder templates, it’s easier than ever to end up in a “bubble” with more of the same, without even noticing the lines between inspiration and pure replication. It almost feels as if the social media bubble we live in, actually rewards copying and posting into a vast sea of sameness.
Think for example about the trend songs on Instagram and how sometimes it almost appears as if everyone likes the exactly same songs(!?). Content that is created to be “liked” by everyone will unlikely resonate with anyone. Don’t sacrifice your identity by constantly copying quick-win viral trends. More of the same equals = easy-digestible and quickly forgettable.
Create the kind of content you actually want to see. Social platforms will keep on changing their algorithms and style and as much as it’s important to adapt in order to be seen, remember to always add your identity to it. Relevant differentiation is the ‘engine’ of the brand.
(Text from Carpe Lux Blog: If you like this kind of content you can sign up to receive a notification every time a new post is up - link in my bio)
Book lovers, this one is for you! Here are 6 of the most beautiful bookshops / libraries I have been to. Let me know which one of these is your favourite and please send me your recommendations, I absolutely adore visiting them 🫶
1 Ler devagar - Lisbon
2 Acqua Alta - Venice
3 T-Site -Daikanyama
4 House of Wisdom - Sharja
5 Daunt Books - London
6 El Ateneo - Buenos Aires
Some highlights of the past few days in Portugal 🇵🇹 🫶 Let me know which one is your favourite picture
Currently dreaming about this paradise 😮💨💙 Who has Zanzibar on their bucket list? I was lucky enough to be there a few times but I would really love to go back! Let me know which picture is your favourite ✨
Hello friends, it’s been a while and I hope you are all doing well 🙏 This year has been a busy one so far, I had a few travels plus at work I started with a couple of amazing new social media & branding clients which I am so happy to have on board ♥️ Also, I started a blog on my website, I write mostly about branding so if this is something that interests you, check it out (website link in my bio).
📸: captured by my friend and super talented photographer
Pancake day feels 😍
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Main essential 😮💨☕️
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Memories from the first road trip of the year with my favourite people 🤍🎞
Let me know which picture is your favourite
The perfect modelling couple lol 🥐☕️
less is about making room for more of what really matters 🤍
The weather forecast showed 100% chance of rain but we decided to try our luck and were surprised by this. The sun rose right in between the stone formation and it was pure magic.
A great lesson from mother nature: May we take chances even against the odds and allow for some unexpected magic to happen in our lives…✨
Coffee and sunshine ☕️☀️ yes, please!
📷 : for .ae 🤍
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and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from… ✨ I hope you are all having a great end of the year… ✨
When the ‘models’ look like pieces of art 👌🏼😍
London looking cute, per the usual 😌 Let me know which picture is your favourite
Oozing sweetness inside and out 🤤
Captured for .ae
It is amazing to see how Christmas decorations gives a magical atmosphere to the whole city of London 💫 This year, after immersing myself into the branding universe, the whole contemplation of festive decorations became even more fun to watch as I started to look at all of them with ‘a fresh pair of eyes’, mostly thinking to myself how the decor matches and represents (or not) a brand. for example is about powerful aesthetics but always taking into consideration a very timeless appeal. I think they nailed their festive decor which underlines their very elegant brand. What do you guys think? Any favourite decorations?
Happy 50th UAE National Day 🤍
May this nation continue to inspire the world with its vision. The UAE is so much more than skyscrapers built on sand, so much more than shopping malls and luxury vehicles. It’s a safe place in every possible meaning of the word. This country will, without a doubt, continue to shine on it’s journey, not because of the gold, the glitz, the glamour nor because of it’s daily sunshine but because it’s a forward looking country full of opportunities and vision. Endless prosperity and brilliance is its only possible destiny 💫
‘Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.’ Cecil Beaton
I heard this quote in the new personal branding course I have been immersing myself into these past few days. The quote speaks directly to one of my core believes which is to be the master of our lives and to find our own path, instead of following one already made.
I hope this quote motivates you, as much as it impacted me. Let’s take every step with intention and make our life our very own unique masterpiece! 🖤 Happy new month!
📷: shot on iPhone at
‘The world is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper’ (author unknown).
I saw this quote in a book I just started reading, called Visual Intelligence. I really love the idea to sharpen my ‘eyes’ and master the art of perception. What better way to do this than with photography? Even if a subject has been photographed countless times as is the case with St Pauls cathedral here, we can still see it from a new point of view, then frame and compose it differently not forgetting that timing always changes everything… the light, the season and in this case, I saw birds flying around so I waited for the moment when one was just above the dome.
In a ‘social media bubble’ world where we see more of the same, sharpening my perception is more than training a skill, it’s a necessity to keep any form of authenticity 🤍
My happy place is behind the camera. Where is yours? 🤍
*if you also love photography, I have a highlight titled ‘TIPS 📷’ on my .lux.travel IG with lots of ideas for composition and tips to train your eyes for travel and landscape photography.
📷: through his eyes ♥️
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