Work with Smart Doll to build the brand, highlight your profile and get goodies
80% of our customers tell us that Smart Doll is their first Fashion Doll. Our customers are from all walks of life of all ages from all around the world.
I want folks who encounter our brand for the first time to be inspired by how Smart Doll fits into your lifestyle - whether you use them for photography, designing apparel, for inspiration or because you just like cute things around your house or office.
If you love our products just as much as I do making them then it would be an honor to have you play a part in building our brand.
All you need to do is submit photos with the theme “Smart Doll Lifestyle” or “Selfie” (or both).
Your photos may be used on the Smart Doll official website as well as TV, magazines or newspapers that we are regularly featured in. Your photos may also be featured on my social networks and possibly billboards too.
In return for your help I will give out goodies to folks whose submissions get selected. Selected entries could get anything from a Smart Doll to apparel items to gift cards to use on our Smart Doll online store.
Submit your Smart Doll Lifestyle photos
The first theme is about how Smart Doll fits into your lifestyle - do you use them for your work? Do you have them posed on your desk? Do you have them in the office? Photos should capture what you do and clearly show that you have a Smart Doll in your work or home environment. All the photos in this post are examples that I feel would be suitable entries.
Things to avoid in the photos.
- Dolls of any size from other manufacturers or their legal department goes knock knock on my door.
- Smart Dolls with their headlights showing through apparel. While I think headlights look cute (which is why I put them on M bust and above) they don’t look that great on billboards - they could cause car accidents. This is also the reason why I ship all Smart Dolls with S bust.
- Strong shadows cast on the Smart Doll’s face cos they may look like they had a bad day.
- Smart Dolls sitting with their legs open showing crotch - may sound like a no brainer but some folks oversee this.
- Wigs that are not attached properly - refer to photos on the Smart Doll online store to see how wigs should be attached.
- Apparel or accessories such as eyes or wigs that are not made by us or you - again, we want to keep that legal guy away.
- Half used tissues on the desk which you have obviously been using to…blow your nose on.
- Half eaten food - especially if its curry because then it may look like a cat or dog left something on your desk.
- If somebody is taking a photo of you at a desk, that person should not be standing aiming the camera down at you. Rather it should be taken at the same height that your head is or lower. A good example is the first photo in this post. That photo is actually the type of composition I am looking for. It has a nice bokeh - even though Ebony is slightly blurred, you can still make out that it is her and that she is part of this persons work lifestyle.
- Avoid taking all your photos super tight - have some wide shots too so that folks can see your complete work environment.
- If you are going to have a Smart Doll slightly blurred out in the background, make sure that the eyes don't end up looking completely black - make sure there is a slight twinkle or they may look like they got no soul - and we all know that Smart Doll got soul.
- Unnaturally placed items - you should not have to clear up your desk (well not too much) of things (apart from those half used tissues) as I want to capture your work environment. I will be looking for a selection of both clean and cluttered workspaces. You should also not have to strategically place items around your workspace either - if you want to show something work related, it should be placed as if you placed it naturally off angle - not laid our neatly unless that is what you usually do. And no - you don't need to stuff your dog or cat for the photos either.
- Another example of unnaturally placed items are logos on cups - the logo on a Starbucks cup for example should not be directly facing the camera as it looks like its been strategically placed.
- Smart Doll's placed on your table should not be placed in a way that makes them look like they are about to fall off the side.
- OK you probably think I'm being a bit picky now but represents the sort of details I nag about to my staff and vendors when developing and producing the product.
Things that must be in some of the photos.
- You! Some photos of you looking at the camera and some looking away doing your work - whether its working on a prop for a movie or browsing the Internets or setting your Smart Doll boy or girl up by the reception in your office etc.
- The photos should capture your work environment and your profession if possible.
- Smart Doll! They can be sitting or standing but should be posed reasonably well and not look like a zombie. If you are not sure then just check the photos on the smart doll website.
- Do note that Smart Doll does not have to be in *all* your photos. For example 5 photos can be of you in action at work and 1 or 2 photos of you at work or home with Smart Doll. A selection of photos like this would show your profession and how Smart Doll fits into your lifestyle even if they are just displayed at your desk at home or work.
- You do not have to be interacting with Smart Doll - they can be just displayed by your desk etc.
- Photos should be original resolution in JPG or JPEG (not RAW) and zipped up - see further down for submission link.
- If you are going through all the hassle to take these photos, you may as well take a selfie with your favorite smart doll at the same time and put the photo in the same zip file mentioned above. There is no file size limit and no limit to the number of photos you submit either.
Things that would be good.
- Photos taken on a DSLR with bokeh gives a look and feel which is inline with the photos that I already take and is preferred but not essential.
- About 10 photos of you doing various things in your work. Can also include co-workers or family members too. If you have bought Smart Doll for a child and you are OK about having their photo on the internets (like this lovely girl) then that would be awesome.
- Some photos of you smiling while doing your work would be nice - but not the wide-eyed deranged-look smile. OK - you can include one for the lols.
What you get.
- I’ll go bankrupt if I gave thousands of Smart Dolls away so instead I will go through entries on a regular basis and send email to folks who made the mark. If you didn’t make the mark then don’t hate me - it could just be that the photo didn’t have the correct composition for a particular print format (for example).
- Folks who take outstanding photos with the composition sense that we are looking for could be asked if they can work for us on a freelance basis to take photos of Smart Doll in their region.
- Folks who show an extremely high understanding of the way the product should be portrayed in a corporate look and feel could be offered permanent or part time jobs.
Submit your “Smart Doll Lifestyle” photos here >
Selfie
If you don’t have too much time for the Lifestyle photo setup shenanigans then you can still help our brand and get goodies at the same time just by sending in a selfie of you and your Smart Doll. Your photo will be cropped to be square so take note when composing your photo.
This is most recently updated collage - which was actually a while ago. We have so many new Smart Dolls now but this collage only captures a few of them.
As your photos will be bunched together, a plain background or one that is blurred out with a low F-stop on your camera is preferred. Send in the largest resolution your phone can take - you can get somebody to take one of you too. Ideally the Smart Doll should be sitting on your shoulder or held close to your face or the crop will mean that both of you get less real estate.
Remember to avoid strong shadows on the Smart Doll's face and keep their legs closed because they are not that type of girl (or boy).
Folks who submit selfies that get selected will all be sent a gift card to use on the Smart Doll Online store. If your photo is not selected then don't hate me - it could be because that your Smart Doll face ended up looking like a dot due to the composition and size of your photo etc.
Thats it for now! If you are not sure then just submit anyway - don’t think about it too much. I look forward to working with you!