MORE THAN WORDS

Photos & video

Our images capture the real lives of real people. Always authentic and compassionate, never glossy or staged. Wherever possible, our imagery should reflect our ‘Driving change…’ mindset: optimistic, passionate, collaborative, curious, and hopeful. Through our images we show that meaningful actions have an impact and that anything is possible, if we are relentless.

Authentic and compassionate

We believe in telling personal stories with empathy, showing real patients' real lives. We also endorse an authentic look and feel with natural saturation and contrast. That's the reason we don't use b/w photos, stock photos or AI generated images in our corporate designs.

Olivia Aka and her mother. Olivia Aka is enrolled in the Changing Diabetes in Children programme and lives in Ivory Coast

Imperfect and non-staged

We want to capture the snap shots of reality where you feel the movement that lies before or after photo is taken. The people are busy living and not caring about their looks. Everyday clutter makes it authentic.

Alexander Westley and Karina Porcelli. Karina and Alexander are mother and son and both Novo Nordisk employees in Denmark

Snapshots / documentary style

Capturing real life moments: We want to leave the viewer with the feeling that something is just about to happen. We want to capture people gesturing, walking, in conversation and discussing with each other.

Anne Sofie Weekes Hald and her daughters. Anne Sofie has type 1 diabetes and lives in Denmark

Do’s

Keep imagery real and grounded in authenticity, similar to reportage photography.
Keep a simple composition.
Endorse simple geometry, symmetry and visual balance.
Use natural light, saturation and contrast in the photos.
Our imagery selection should cater for different geographies, for identification purposes.
Ensure readability if you place text on top of imagery or video.

Don’ts

Do not use AI generated images and video of people (individuals as well as groups of people).
Do not use b/w photography (unless it serves a historical purpose).
Never use coloured filters (or any other filters) on top of imagery and footage.
Never place a coloured overlay on imagery and footage.
Be respectful: Don’t place text or graphic elements on top of people’s faces.
Product brands, clinical trials and corporate areas are not allowed to use each other’s photos.

Expression scale

Our motifs vary in range and in scale. From the mode of action microscopy to people, places, and grandiose aerials.

Captions for authenticity

Do’s

All photos should have a caption (exceptions: small formats such as thumbnails, social media posts etc. and websites due to responsiveness).
Use photo captions for signature images to accentuate the element of authenticity.
For patients, write full name and disease type.
For employees write full name and title.
Feel free to add country.
Place in any four corners and use either True Blue or white. Either next to the image frame or inside it.
For photo mosaics write one caption covering all photos.
The caption should always be visible and readable.

How to crop

We crop for a distinct expression, for focus and for simplicity in composition. Crop images until no superfluous visual information is left. Letterbox, square, rectangular; any ratio will do.

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Guidelines

Photo guidelines and release forms

Photos

Motion & animation

Animation and motion is a blue thread throughout Novo Nordisk touchpoints. Everything that moves on-screen – interfaces, explainers, videos and graphics; all share a common set of principles to establish trust in our brand, guide users and deliver a message effectively.

Stills in motion

We combine the dynamic qualities of video with the strong focus of still photography in our live images. Make sure the overall impression is calm, and the video content is looping smoothly.

Anne Sofie Weekes Hald and her daughter. Anne Sofie has type 1 diabetes and lives in Denmark

Dynamic content

Generally, our videos follow the same principles of simplicity, authenticity, focus, cropping, and scale. Our look is unpolished with an overall documentary-style feel. We endorse natural lighting and subtle colour grading. We prefer non-staged locations and motifs.

Michael and Mads with their sons in Denmark

Organic in feel

To provide an authentic experience, transitions have a human feel, using ease-in and ease-out, soft effects, and subtle finesse from page builds down to micro-interactions. We add an element of friendliness for a forthcoming, trust-building flavour.