Erica Danielle

Success in the entertainment and marketing fields is all -- ALL -- about focus. With the increase in technology, marketing strategies are all about sharply defining your market and crafting your message for that market.

Here is where Archetype Images believes that most actors and models make a misstep. For very real financial reasons, they tend to choose one image that appears to have the best chance of opening the door to work. By trying to 'be all things to all people' most headshots really end up being rather generic. If you ever have the opportunity to sit down and look at a stack of headshots, you'll find that after about ten they all begin to blur together. So imagine being headshot number six-hundred-and-fifty-eight out of a thousand? That picture had better have something going for it besides you, because all nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine other pictures are of cute brunettes, just like you. And if that picture doesn't speak to a casting director so that she flips it over to read the resume, and call you in for an audition or a meeting, isn't it just a waste of money?

This is the fundamental issue that Archetype Images was created to address, and to that end we ran an ad looking for three adventurous actresses and/or models to try and expand the definition of a 'good headshot' in general, and increase the style options for Chicago talent in particular.

First up is Erica Danielle. Erica started out as a children's model and has progressed to fashion shoots and works regularly as a petite runway model. In our discussions, we were able to help Erica define three specific niche markets that she was most interested in. The shot above is her Mommy shot.

Every actress between the ages of twenty and fifty needs to have a Mommy shot. For unknown talent, that's where a big chunk of money is, especially for commercials and print. Now, ask yourself: does that shot of me up against a brick wall say "Mommy?" If so, I don't want to know about your childhood.

We took Erica to the park. With kids running around and the swings and slides, the setting communicated Mommy to the viewer, so all Erica has to do is be herself.

The other two markets for Erica are fashion and as a business spokesperson. Visit the Archetype Images website and compare all three shots. In all three composition, color, and context do the work to focus the image and communicate to a specific market, giving Erica's headshot in the middle of a stack of one thousand shots a better chance of standing out.