Styling Beyond Instagram

Up your styling skills, avoid common pitfalls, and turn your passion for prop styling into a career that feeds your soul.

Stylist and creative director Robin Zachary explains the vast array of opportunities and how to choose the path that’s best for your lifestyle and goals. Imagine spending your days telling visual stories; dreaming up ideas for photo shoots; scouring boutiques, flea markets, and antique shops for the perfect props; working with beautiful objects; and collaborating with photographers, art directors, and other creative minds. Prop styling can encompass all of these, and here's the guide to teach you the basics. Robin explains the many types of prop styling that exist, and how to choose: tabletop, food, crafts, interiors, and more. You'll learn the components and steps of a styling job from start to finish, including everything from creating client questionnaires and winning jobs to the best processes for estimating your costs; pricing your services; making your merchandise shopping list; choosing props, surfaces, and backdrops; managing your photo shoot's logistics; and more. Throughout, "real life" spotlights offer tips and suggestions from a range of successful professional and emerging stylists; many of them have transformed themselves from other careers while working with Robin. The included styling resources provide key tools: checklists, schedule plans, helpful forms, and more to help you work like a pro. Understand every aspect of styling, including gathering and arranging objects to tell a story or sell a product, photographing or filming for a media outlet, creating an environment to exhibit a specific theme and cohesive style, and working for varied clients and brands. Learn how to advocate for yourself in negotiating with clients, and how to bring your vision to every kind of audience.