Scenes Through Sony Photo Contest

Scenes Through Sony was Focus Camera’s campaign for the 2026 Sony Photo Contest, created to drive customer and social media engagement, increase traffic to the Focus Camera website, showcase local talent, and strengthen the brand’s connection with the photography community. Photographers entered images shot on Sony for a chance to win a $2,000 Sony shopping spree at Focus Camera, with additional prizes for category winners. I developed the creative direction and overall visual concept, carrying it across social, digital, and live events.

Role:
Creative Direction & Art Direction

Finding the Right Direction

I started the campaign by exploring concepts that were more quirky and fashion-forward. As I thought more about who Focus Camera’s customers were and the goal of the campaign, I realized the creative needed a stronger connection to the audience. With Focus rooted in Brooklyn, New York City became the inspiration for the visual direction. It felt more authentic to the brand and supported the goal of driving social engagement and traffic to the website.

  • Create a fresh campaign for Sony’s dealer competition that would stand out, encourage photographers to participate, and drive engagement across Focus Camera’s social channels. With a fast turnaround, the concept needed to be strong enough to launch quickly and flexible enough to grow throughout the contest.

  • I developed the visual concept around photography, New York City, and the Sony creator community. The direction was energetic and recognizable, using NYC imagery to connect the campaign back to Focus Camera’s Brooklyn roots and its customer base.

  • As the campaign grew, I continued overseeing the art direction across social, digital, events, and outside agency emails to make sure the creative stayed aligned with the original concept. The campaign expanded into photo walks throughout New York City, creating more visibility for the Scenes Through Sony Photo Contest and encouraging photographers to participate. To build excitement around the events, I designed a limited-edition contest T-shirt on a same-day turnaround, using Adobe Firefly to explore the initial artwork and Illustrator to refine and customize the final design.

Social Media & Email Design.

Models inspiring photographers behind the lens.

The NYC photo walks were designed as hands-on experiences that connected back to the Scenes Through Sony Photo Contest. Each walk had its own theme, with models provided for attendees to photograph at locations including Bryant Park and Times Square, Central Park, Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park, and Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park, with views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline. These locations gave photographers a variety of subjects and settings while encouraging them to create, connect with the Focus Camera community, and participate in the contest.

Bringing the
Photo Walks to Life

Driving Engagement

The photo walks helped bring more attention to the contest and drive traffic from Instagram to the event and Focus Camera pages. As one example, Instagram bio clicks increased from 100 to 177 over three weeks, with the click rate reaching 24% in Week 3. For the Week 3 and 4 photo walks, limited-edition Scenes Through Sony T-shirts I designed were given to attendees, helping build even more excitement around the contest.

Designed the Eventbrite headers for all Focus Camera photo walks created around the Scenes Through Sony Photo Contest, carrying the campaign’s visual direction across each event.

Wearing the Campaign

Designed a limited-edition Scenes Through Sony T-shirt to build excitement around the photo walks and give attendees something unique tied directly to the campaign. The design was created on a same-day turnaround, using Adobe Firefly to explore the initial artwork and Illustrator to refine and customize the final graphic.

Credits: 
CREATIVE DIRECTION & DESIGN: 
JOANNA MONTANO
IN-HOUSE Photographer: 
Jonathan Carrillo
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Publication Design