Polysporin by Johnson & Johnson

Sep 7

Commercial Product Photography for Consumer Healthcare Products

Brand Overview

As a household name in healthcare, Johnson & Johnson has set the standard for everyday wound care through its trusted Polysporin products. It is widely recognized as a go-to solution for minor cuts, scrapes, and burns. The brand focuses on empowering families to navigate life's small mishaps with confidence, offering reliable first-aid products that promote recovery while fitting seamlessly into an active lifestyle.

Project Objective

The brand requested a suite of lifestyle product photography for Polysporin Complete Ointment showing the product’s role in everyday first-aid scenarios. The objective was to capture real, relatable moments of people applying, packing, and carrying the ointment while out and about to emphasize the importance of always having it on hand. In addition, the brand requested photos featuring both individual adults applying the product to themselves and parent-child interactions with the ointment, as well as showing kids playing in scenes and situations where the ointment might become necessary if they fell.

Production Challenges

The main challenge for this project was translating a functional product like first-aid cream into imagery that connects with purchasers on a deeper emotional level. It was challenging to depict realistic, everyday mishaps without looking overly staged, bringing authentic warmth into product imagery for such a utilitarian product.

Creative Process

To capture authentic interactions, I found parent and child models and scheduled the production across two distinct park locations for visual variety. I focused on directing natural scenes where parents tenderly cared for scrapes in relatable, outdoor settings. I used some wide framing to establish the environment and the context of play, and some tight framing to highlight the tender interactions and keep the product clearly in focus during application.