Imagery
ProposedDraft — unverified translation. Machine-assisted English translation of the Swedish canonical page
foundation/imagery.md(Swedish title "Bildspråk"). Not reviewed for voice fidelity. Note: the category names Life, Care, and Porträtt were already English/near-English in the source; "Porträtt" is rendered here as "Portrait" — confirm whether the category label should stay Swedish. Do not treat as canonical or stakeholder-facing.
Why the images look the way they do
A patient opening a brochure from Aleris should recognise us before reading a single word. The images do that work. They communicate the close expert — calm, competence, human warmth — in an instant.
Aleris imagery rests on three choices:
Real environments. We show real clinics, real employees, real situations. Not studio-produced ideal images, not stock photos with generic smiles. What is shown should be credible enough that a patient who visits us recognises it.
Natural light and soft depth of field. The light is warm and directed — never flat flash, never harsh top light. Shallow depth of field directs the gaze to the person, not to the environment. Together they create a sense of presence rather than documentation.
The person at the centre. Images of equipment, premises, or processes serve as support — never as the main subject. The person the image is about should be the first thing the eye lands on.
Three image categories
Aleris images tell three different stories. The category determines what the image should communicate, not how it is produced.
Life — why we do what we do
Images that show what care is aimed at: an active life, community, everyday moments that work. A person walking by the sea. A family playing. Someone cycling, climbing stairs, enjoying nature.
Life images show the result of care — not the care itself. They are warm, bright, and optimistic without becoming sentimental. They are about life, not about Aleris.
Use: Landing pages, campaigns, employer branding, annual reports, brand-building material. Situations where we tell the story of why we exist.
Care — what we do and how we do it
Images from our operations that show the close expert at work. A surgeon in the operating theatre. A physiotherapist guiding a patient. An ophthalmologist examining. A nurse meeting a patient at the door.
Care images are documentary in feel but careful in execution. They show competence and human contact in the same image. The environment is visible, but the person dominates.
Use: Specialty-area pages on the web, patient information, printed material describing what we offer, recruitment material.
Hygiene rule: Care images must follow the National Board of Health and Welfare's basic hygiene routines — even in staged images. Hands and forearms free of watches, jewellery, and the like. Short nails with no artificial material. Long hair tied up. The same applies to beards. An image that breaks hygiene rules undermines the very trust it is meant to build.
Portrait — who we are
Images of our employees — warm, natural, professional. The person is ideally depicted against a calm, neutral background in the work environment. Soft light and shallow depth of field create focus on the person.
Portraits show who the patient or partner meets. They should feel like the person looks in reality — not like an advertising version of themselves.
Use: Web profiles, patient information, recruitment, presentations, business cards.
Never AI-generated. Portraits of employees are always photographed. It's a question of credibility — someone seeking care should be able to trust that the person in the image is the one they meet.
Image choice and emotional mode
The same character applies in all images. But which image category leads depends on the recipient's emotional mode.
| Worry — the patient before an assessment or procedure | Curiosity — the patient who actively chooses | |
|---|---|---|
| Lead with | Care images: competence, human contact, the process visible | Life images: outcome, quality of life, "this is what it gives you" |
| Support with | Portrait: show who the patient meets — a real person | Care images: show that there is expertise behind the promise |
| Avoid | Life images as the main subject — they don't answer the worry | Clinical images as the main subject — they create a worry that isn't there |
It isn't a question of style — it's a question of structure. A Life image as the hero on a page about a cardiac assessment communicates that we don't understand where the patient is. A Care image as the hero on a page about a health check-up signals that something is wrong.
See Emotional Mode as a Design Entry Point for the full framework.
Constant and contextual
Constant — what always applies
- Natural light, soft depth of field, the person at the centre. This is the visual signature. Remove it, and the images no longer look like Aleris.
- Real environments and real people in patient and employee material. No stock photos with generic smiles, no AI-generated faces in external material.
- Hygiene rules in clinical images. Always.
- Three categories with clear roles. Life tells why. Care tells how. Portrait tells who.
- Warmth without sentimentality. The image should inspire trust and calm, not emotion or drama.
Contextual — what is adapted
Channel and format govern composition and image choice. A website has room for a hero image and supporting images in the flow. A poster has a single image that does the whole job. A patient brochure can mix Care and Life. An SMS has no image at all — and that's right.
Recipient governs register. Patient material leads with reassurance and human contact. Partner material can show more of the operations and the competence. Employer branding shows the work environment and culture — the employee at the centre.
Emotional mode governs which category leads. See the table above.
Country can mean differences in which environments and faces feel authentic. The images should reflect the reality the patient meets — a Norwegian clinic doesn't look exactly like a Swedish one, and it's right that the images differ.
What Aleris images are not
Not stock photos. Generic images with obviously arranged situations, white backgrounds, or smiles with no cause. They break the credibility promise.
Not clinically documentary. Images of equipment with no person, sterile corridors, data screens with graphs. They communicate institution, not the close expert.
Not sentimental. Close-ups of hands holding each other, tears in the eyes, dramatic sunsets behind the hospital building. Aleris shows care through competence and presence — not through maximising emotion.
Not lifestyle advertising. Life images should feel like everyday life, not like an ad campaign for the outdoors. The difference is subtle but important: we show an ordinary life that works, not an idealised version of life.
Quick test
Before you choose an image:
- Which story does it tell — why, how, or who? That determines the category (Life, Care, Portrait).
- What does the person encountering the image feel? That determines which category should lead.
- Would a patient who visits us recognise what is shown? If not — the image isn't credible enough.
Imagery communicates before a single letter is written. Natural light, real environments, and the person at the centre — in the right category, in the right context — are Aleris. Swapping them out for stock photos, sentimental gestures, or clinical documentation doesn't make the material more professional. It makes it less recognisable.