BRAND LIBRARY: MARCUS SMITH x GOOGLE NEST

Marcus shot an image library for Google Nest’s home products that featured their new wifi, doorbell, and tablet devices. He and his team worked on location in Hudson, New York, and cast real families and artists for each scene. 

“This shoot was part of an ongoing collaboration between Google and me to help them rebrand their home products,” says Marcus. “The idea was that Google’s products bring the family closer together in the home despite how isolating technology can be sometimes. In our shots, technology was present, but people were always interacting with each other in some kind of way.” 

Previously, Google used models in this type of shoot, “but with our approach,” says Marcus, “we almost exclusively used real people and artists to showcase how they genuinely used Google products in their home and with their family.”

The vignettes were meant to feel like real life, lighting included, which called for some creative problem solving because it was gray and gloomy in Hudson that week.

“Lighting each scene was one of the most fun parts of the shoot,” says Marcus. “Despite each scene looking natural, we actually fully lit each location with artificial light to mimic the sun.”

Most of the images were used in various ways: on the Google Home Store website, on social media channels, and internally in a style guide.