An Etsy shop aesthetic goes hand in hand with establishing a brand for your Etsy shop. If Etsy were a physical marketplace, your shop aesthetic would be your store’s overall feel, appearance, and vibe. It’s probably one of the first things potential buyers will notice about your shop.

And for that reason, your Etsy shop aesthetic should be one of the first things you focus on before opening an Etsy shop.

So, how do you create an Etsy shop aesthetic when selling on the Etsy marketplace?

And most importantly, how can you make it consistent?

Before we begin

This article is a part of our Complete Guide for Everything You Need to Know to Succeed on Etsy! If you just stumbled across this article, we recommend you start back at the beginning: Everything You Need to Know Before You Start an Etsy Shop.

Or, if you’d like to check out each article in the series, click through the links below:

8 Steps to Starting an Etsy Shop

We created the Complete Guide for Everything You Need to Know to Succeed on Etsy to teach you how to start an Etsy shop the right way. You can position your Etsy shop for longterm success by following these core principals.

1. How to Do Etsy Market Research for Your Products
2. Know Your Etsy Shop Branding Before You Open
3. How to Create & Maintain an Etsy Shop Aesthetic
4. How to Master Your Etsy Product Photography
5. How to Research Etsy Keywords
6. Etsy Shipping Costs and How to Calculate Them
7. A Crash Course to Etsy Taxes & Accounting
8. The New & Improved Quick and Dirty Guide to SEO for Etsy

At Marmalead, we strive to offer real, practical advice for Etsy sellers right here on our blog and on our YouTube channel. The world of Etsy is constantly evolving, so if you have a question you can’t find an answer to, reach out to us at success@marmalead.com.

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What is an Etsy shop aesthetic anyways?

Your aesthetic is your entire Etsy shop’s general feel or vibe, to put it in simple terms. It’s how your shop and product branding gives your buyers a unique experience when visiting your shop.

Do visitors to your store feel like they’re in a clean, modern art gallery? Or are they in a rustic workshop where the products themselves are made?

Below, you can see how FiestaPartyStore has created, well, a “party” aesthetic on their Etsy store homepage. 

But let’s be honest, creating a unique Etsy shop aesthetic can be a challenge. This is because Etsy’s platform can be a bit restricted to what you can and can’t change.

And one thing’s for sure, Etsy ain’t MySpace… C’mon Etsy, let us play our favorite R&B track from the 90s in our shop! 😂

Still, there are many elements you CAN customize and make your own. Here are some of them:

Buyers consume your Etsy shop aesthetic with their eyes

People are visual creatures – we consume a lot with our eyes. 

And when buying products online, a picture tells a thousand words. The most detailed and descriptive words can’t do what the simplest picture can. Because of this, your product photos also determine a lot about your shop’s aesthetic. 

An excellent place to start with building your consistency is to edit each of your photos in a similar style. Having one product that’s edited differently can be a little off-putting. Even if it’s a simple change in white balance or a little warmer or cooler. This is also why all your lifestyle photos should be taken in the same light and receive the same editing.

Pro tip: One of the most common photo editing hacks is to increase the contrast ever so slightly to make the colors pop a little more.

So, if you’re editing your own product photos, make sure you keep the contrast levels consistent throughout each of your photos. Slightly off, and the product photos throughout your shop may vary and look off-putting.

Inconsistently edited photos will definitely take away from your shop’s aesthetic, and it can give buyers a false idea of what your products actually look like.

Increase the contrast, decrease the brilliance, take some green out of the image, but make sure it’s consistent between each photo. This is the first step to creating a vibe throughout your shop that new and returning buyers can become familiar with.

Want to edit your photos but struggling with photoshop? Be sure to check out some of our favorite Photoshop alternatives, especially for Etsy sellers!

Stylized product photos help create an Etsy shop aesthetic

Staying on the topic of photos and their role in your Etsy shop aesthetic, let’s talk about stylized product photos. 

It’s essential that you show off your product in its simplicity: maybe a simple white background, void of distractions. 

BUT just as important is the opposite – stylized product photos of your product being used or your product in action out in the real world.

Below you can see a fine example of a “stylized” photo from EtchCraft. 

There’s a woodsy, rustic vibe that complement’s the look of the product. 

A different background is used on a similar product, but that same rustic vibe is there. 

Theme your Etsy shop aesthetic

Are you selling durable boots for girls aged 8-12? Then show your products being used in the mud, on the playground, on a walk – not at a birthday party in the girl’s favorite dress. Once you start with one product, show your other products in a similar light, maybe on the same trail or playground.

Your shop aesthetic then becomes one of durability, products that can stand up to all the punishment that young kids can throw at them while also being easy for parents to clean. 

Wrong place, wrong time

If you’re selling handmade chopping boards from rare woods, showing them used at a young girl’s birthday party isn’t really suitable for your shop aesthetic. Rather, you can show them at use in a high-end kitchen or perhaps by a private chef.

Your shop aesthetic will then promote the idea of a high-end, classy product rather than a simple piece of wood that you can easily buy at any home store.

The main takeaway is this: Find your theme and stick with it.

You don’t have to use the exact same background and layout for every photo. Rather, you want to focus on creating the same vibe throughout your shop.

Here’s a perfect example from HopScotchLondon. 

The basic product photo:

The stylized photo:

And another stylized shot:

They’re all high-quality photos and show off the brand’s calm, relaxing and understated vibe very well. The clean and woodsy vibe gives buyers this feeling of fresh air.

Through the aesthetic in the product photos, you can almost feel the warm sunshine filtering through the curtains as you sink into a comfortable mattress, lay your head on a cool pillow, all while the gentle aroma of cedar and pine fills the room.

Tone of voice

While photos play a vital role, it’s the words you choose to describe your product that builds your brand and helps create your Etsy shop aesthetic. 

When selling on Etsy, you’re in control of a few areas of text:

• Product titles
• Product descriptions
• Store updates
• Store Bio

These are sections of your store that you can further use to create a shop aesthetic.

• Is your brand playful, fun, and cheeky? 
• Or is it elegant and classy?
• Or maybe it’s rugged and durable?

Echoed all over Stingorgone’s shop is calm yet stable and authoritative product descriptions.

As a matter of fact, their tone also ties in with the meditation crystals that they sell – calm and soothing. 

Like your stylized product photos, your copy needs to reflect these motifs. The overall concept is that no matter what part of your Etsy store your customer ends up in, they experience the same vibe throughout.

Pro tip: there are sections of your shop, like shipping information and return policy, that can’t be customized too much – and this information really shouldn’t be written creatively. 

The main takeaway:

The main thing that can help you create an Etsy store aesthetic is this: 

Consistency. 

Whatever aesthetic you choose to create, be consistent with it.

• Use a similar editing style over all of your basic product photos.
• Use a similar lifestyle background when creating your stylized shots.
• Keep your tone of voice and word choice consistent everywhere you use it.

A consistent aesthetic throughout your shop builds trust and a sense of familiarity with your buyers.

Not only will this help build your brand, it will keep your customers coming back.

Now over to you

Your Etsy shop aesthetic says a lot about your brand. It not only echoes your branding and complements what your shop stands for, but it also shows you have an excellent eye for detail and that you’re intentional with your creative decision.

It shows that you’ve paid attention to the things that you don’t need to pay attention to – and if you can say that about your Etsy store, that goes on to say a lot about your product.

Interested in more things you should know before you start an Etsy shop? When your buyers tell their friends about a product they bought from you, do you think they remember your shop or just that they bought it off Etsy? That very question is exactly why you should Know Your Etsy Shop Branding Before You Open.

If you’re ready for the next article in our Complete Guide for Everything You Need to Know to Succeed on Etsy, then here it is:

↓ ↓ ↓

How to Master Your Etsy Product Photography

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