The Art of the Flat Lay

A color study in flatlay format for the painting for the Journey of Hope exhibit 2017.

What is a flatlay?

A flat lay is a photo of an assortment of items laid on a flat surface (thus, flat lay). The photo is most often taken from directly above the items. The surface serves as the background to the photo. The objects usually describe a theme, like “a day at the beach”, in which you might find a beach towel, sun glasses, flip flops, sea shells, and a good summer read, for instance.

Where does the flat lay format come from?

Flat lays, as we see them today, originally came from the fashion world. They were developed to be able to show clothing and accessories without using a model. They were also developed to show how to put a look together using various accessories and clothing, usually as a sales tool, whether directly from a designer or store, or indirectly from a magazine.

But you could also make the argument that flat lays are a spin off of still life’s from the world of art. A still life is a painting of some arrangement of inanimate (thus, easy to paint because they don’t move) objects. Flat lays differ however in that they are shot from directly above the subject, not portrayed from the side, at or near the eye-level of the painter, as in still life’s.

What does a flat lay do?

While flat lays started out to show off fashion looks and work without models, they have proven to be useful far beyond fashion. They display ideas and themes in a way that expands the meaning of the chosen theme, yet is easily accessible, understandable and defies language barriers.

How can I use it?

• Show off a display or product.
• Work through an idea or creative process.
• Create the flat lay as a work of art, in and of itself.
• Explore ideas of line, emphasis, composition, scale, and proportion.
• Develop characters for stories and plays, playing with objects and accessories that would be part of their lives.
• Build fictional worlds, gathering together items, mock-ups, characters, colors, textures, creating ambience.

How do I make one?

You can start with a theme or idea, such as Summer Fun or a fresh outfit. Search your possessions, your home, your local thrift store, your local designer boutique (yes!), or the natural world around you. Look for items related clearly to your theme. But, also be open to items that seem to have no bearing, but attract you for some unknown reason. These often reveal their relation or expansion of your idea as the process continues.

Look for colors and textures that seem to “fit”. Again, be open-minded. The best part of this process is that it un-sticks the clogs we sometimes get in our thinking. We start conforming or requiring too many rules to apply to what we are working through, and pretty soon, like a horse with too many ropes tied to it from too many directions, we are completely bound up, with no natural flow or progression.

You can also start with no theme at all and just start putting together items that delight you. Again, this process will transform your creative blocks into creative motion. Look at forms, shapes, colors, textures, line, visual weight… oh so much to play with!

Find a suitable surface to lay the items out on. Remember, this surface will serve as the background for your objects. You may find an interesting texture or pattern in a fabric or movable surface to put down in a spot with good light. Natural light is hard to beat and casts gorgeous shadows which bring out the delicious non-flatness of your flat lay. But artificial light is also quite acceptable, if you’re willing to work it around and play with it.

Start playing with the arrangement of the items:

• Will they be symmetrical and in straight lines, like soldiers?
• Will they explode in chaos, like confetti?
• Will they play organically together, like wildflowers?
• Will they overlap or keep to their own space?
• Where will the large items be in relation to the smaller items?
• Will there be a scattering of very small items, like seeds or jelly beans?
• Will there be a repeating element or only individual presentations?

You might just go with what looks good to your eye, without analyzing it too much. Or you might tell a story with the choice of objects.

And if you want to get fancy and go one step further, you can add filters to the image. After you have the arrangement how you want it, position your camera/phone directly above the arrangement and take your shot. Then, if you’re using your phone, get a free app like Enlight, Lightroom, or VSCO, to name just some of the ones available. If you’re using a camera, you can put your images on your computer and use editing software to filter your images. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find free editing software for your computer. The apps make such a difference in the presentation of your image. You just have to be patient and willing to fool around on it, until you get the image to where you like it.

The process of creating the flat lay is just as important as the final image. Keep it light and have fun, and you won’t regret a moment of it.

You can see more about each flat lay I created here.

What would you create a flat lay of?