Visual Storytelling for Your Personal Brand on Instagram
A course by Marioly Vázquez, Photographer and Designer
Develop a visual strategy to create an engaging and relatable narrative
The best Instagram accounts are backed by a solid visual strategy and a clearly defined editorial line. Selfies, photos of food, and disorganized content without rhyme or reason are a thing of the past. Now, the profiles with the most followers are those that tell captivating stories with a personal touch and a bit of strategy. Photographer, designer, and stylist Marioly Vázquez, the creative mind behind Maria Marie, has spent more than seven years creating content for her personal account and for brands like Dyson, Oral-B, Ford, Unilever, Deliveroo, and Swatch, among others, relying on an effective holistic approach.
In this course, join Marioly as she teaches you how to get the most out of the tools Instagram offers, using branding techniques and a visual strategy to develop an engaging narrative your audience can connect with.
What will you learn in this online course?
17 lessons & 16 downloads
What's included in this course?
Get to know Marioly as she describes how she got her start with Instagram and how it paved the way for her career, making it possible for her to publish her own book, speak at conferences in London, and travel all over the world. Discover how she finds inspiration beyond the world of Instagram to create her photos and designs, drawing from inspirational sources as varied as trips, bookstores, ceramics, and prints.
Then learn what visual storytelling is, how it acts as a branding strategy, why it's important, and why Instagram is one of the best places to apply it. A single image can convey a lot, but why stop there? Explore different avenues of communication by finding ways to tell stories through a combination of images, videos, and text using the various types of content formats that IG supports. Take your profile to the next level by applying additional tools to optimize your account.
Start taking your first steps towards creating your own story to post on Instagram as Marioly reveals one of her most effective strategies, which she calls the Rule of Five, and helps you narrow down the topics to focus on in your profile. Next, define your own personal style or that of your brand, establishing a strong narrative thread to tie your content together, and use this foundation to assemble an inspirational mood board. Learn the importance of planning out your project meticulously, considering everything from potential trips to the materials you need.
Delve into the different types of photos and videos you can use to tell your stories and their main features, later learning how to edit this type of content like a professional. Find out everything you need to know about captions and ways to use hashtags to reach your target audience. Top it off by using Instagram's different formats to share your content in the most effective way.
To wrap up, Marioly explains how Instagram's current algorithm works, how to avoid some of the most common mistakes, and why it's important to spend time carefully crafting your content for the best results.
- 96% positive reviews (744)
- 18,977 students
- 17 lessons (2h 16m)
- 16 additional resources (4 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Find your own personal style and come up with a visual strategy to post a series of nine photos that tell a meaningful and engaging story capable of captivating your audience.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
All creative, up-and-coming entrepreneurs who want to show the world who they are and what they do, either for their own personal brand or a business.
Requirements and materials
You need basic knowledge of photography and a familiarity with Instagram. As for materials, you need a smartphone with access to Wi-Fi or mobile data to download apps.
Reviews
Marioly Vázquez
A course by Marioly Vázquez
Marioly Vázquez is a Mexican photographer and stylist who works and lives in London. There, she runs her boutique studio Maria Marie, which specializes in creating visual stories to bring brands to life. As a self-described ‘restless creative’ she has explored a variety of creative disciplines from graphic design and branding, to illustration and poetry. She also has a master’s degree in art management.
Marioly has written and published her own book, Pastel Moods, and hosts workshops to help creatives build a powerful online presence and connect with their audience. She has worked with both start-ups and well-known brands including Dyson, Ford, Issey Miyake, Dior, and Adobe.
Content
-
U1
Introduction
-
Presentation
-
Influences
-
What will we do in the course?
-
-
U2
How to use IG tools to tell stories
-
What is the Visual Storytelling? And why is IG one of the best channels to do it?
-
Types of GI content
-
Optimization of your profile in IG
-
-
U3
First steps
-
Set of 5
-
Find our style 1
-
Find our style 2
-
Plan and Materials
-
-
U4
Creating Content
-
Creating the content of your story: Photographs
-
Creating the content of your story: Videos
-
Edit and filters
-
Captions and hashtags
-
What to post, where to post and when to post
-
-
U5
Final Recommendations
-
How to exponentiate your content
-
Top Mistakes and how to avoid them
-
-
FP
Final project
-
Storytelling for Instagram
-
What to expect from a Domestika course
-
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
-
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
-
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
-
Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
-
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
-
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
-
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
-
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
You’ll learn how to craft cohesive visual stories, develop your own style, edit photos and videos, plan your feed, optimize your profile, and boost your personal brand on Instagram using storytelling and visual branding techniques.
No, this course is designed for people with intermediate photography skills and basic Instagram knowledge who want to deepen their understanding of visual storytelling and personal branding.
You can use either a professional camera or your phone, as the course covers techniques for both, including mobile photography and editing with accessible apps.
You should have basic photography skills and know how to use Instagram. It’s recommended to have a mobile device or camera and access to photo and video editing apps.
You’ll learn how to define color palettes, create mood boards, use consistent filters, and organize your feed to build a recognizable and appealing visual identity.
You’ll see how to apply custom filters, adjust colors, create narrative sequences, edit vertical videos, and optimize images for different Instagram formats.
Yes, the course teaches strategies for captions, hashtags, content planning, and profile optimization to increase reach, engagement, and audience growth.
Me ha encantado. Contenido bien estructurado y explicado . Muy inspirador, tiene una estética preciosa.
Sehr empfehlenswert
Un curso muy completo, desde ya que lo recomiendo. La profesora es muy generosa al compartir su historia y conocimientos.
buen curso
Me encanta el curso, aún no lo he terminado, pero me resulta súper interesante.