Whatever your niche on social media, your personal brand is what is important when connecting with your audience, says Summer Gibson. Bringing together the inspiration that is around you to the screen will help curate a strong sense of authenticity to make your audience feel at home on your page
My name is Summer Gibson (@summeregibson) and I’m a content creator on Instagram and YouTube (YouTube.com/ summerollie). I began creating videos with my partner Ollie (@olliewakefield) back in 2016, as a way of documenting the places we visit and memories of our friends and family.
As this developed, we began to explore more of our home city, Brighton & Hove, showcasing all it has to offer. From the unusual pebble beaches to stunning countryside views to the quirky and eccentric shopping lanes. It became a huge part of how I edited the videos, which also led to the curation of fashion and lifestyle images on my Instagram. I have always loved creating content in new places I travel to, from the idyllic countryside of Sweden to the pristine white buildings of Crete.
However, having recently graduated and wanting to juggle creating content whilst I was studying, some of my favourite and most identifiable images come from finding hidden gems right where I live. Finding inspiration for content at home So, how do you go about finding inspiration to create your aesthetic? I normally start by thinking about the different areas I can utilise around me to help showcase new parts of my surroundings to my followers. I begin to think about the well-known and identifiable areas where I live, such as the beach, countryside and shopping area.
From this, I then research quirky cafés, local events or new trends that even those who also live in Brighton may not have heard about! I’m constantly getting messages from friends asking where a particular café that does the world’s best pancakes on my feed is (FYI it’s @goingnowhereman – you’ll thank me later!), or where the best place to brunch is when there is so much choice (@SIXBrighton or @tradingpostcoffeeroasters are just some of my favourites) all because they have seen me post about it on my feed or in a video, and trust my judgement on these independent businesses. It also acts as a way of supporting the local community, and drawing new visitors these places. I believe that social media can give us all a voice, and therefore I like to use mine for good.
By celebrating vibrant new businesses and some more well-known organisations (such as the National Trust), there is a mutual benefit to the surrounding community. It allows me to create a varied backdrop that centres around the things and place I love, whilst marketing local businesses and encouraging the local community to get out and explore these sometimes hidden parts, which can be applicable to any place you may live. On one of my adventures out with my parents (who give me so much inspiration to explore my city), we stumbled across a beautiful brand-new shop for second hand and vintage clothing, @emmausbrighton.
I purchased a beautiful maxi dress, exactly in keeping with the kind of clothing I love, and all the profits go back into the charity which supports the local homeless community. I was able to then promote this through my Instagram, styling it on the beach as I would any other clothing content I create. So, you’ve created a ton of beautiful and varied content in your hometown, but now you’ve booked your dream trip or day out and are not sure how it will fit in with your aesthetic.
I always try to integrate my ‘at home’ content with my ‘travel’ content in various ways. For me, my home content centres around the things that I love such as the best places to eat, promoting positivity and my fashion style, and I will always research a new place prior to visiting so it is able to seamlessly fit in with my existing images. When researching, I will look for things such as unknown cafés, or popular Instagram locations and think about how I can adapt them to fit in more with my aesthetic (ie: by what I’m wearing or the style of photography).
If I’m going somewhere like London, I like to explore the London location tag on Instagram to see what’s on trend, or as my content is extremely influenced by the seasons, I will read books such as ‘Pretty City London’ which describes whole areas of London I didn’t know about and when to visit dependent on the season.
If I am going further afield, such as my recent trip to Crete, I will try to curate my feed beforehand to fit in well, so for example I posted several summer themed images such as ones of me on the beach and at summer picnics with my friends. Therefore, when my content flowed into my Crete images it still felt in keeping with the seasonal elements I had touched on in my home content.
How I Create My Content A question I often get asked is how I actually create my content. As any other creator will know, there is often a whole process behind each image in order for it to be in keeping with your personal brand. I always want to be authentic online – the real behind the highlight reel that Instagram can be today. In order to plan and shoot content, I explore different parts of Brighton and other local villages and note any potential shoot locations.
Added to this, I look out for events such as open houses, the Brighton Fringe festival or seasonal activities. Therefore, I can arrange days out which fit in with my personal likes/dislikes as well as something interesting and unique to vlog or photograph. This kind of information can be found in books, websites, through word of mouth, Instagram itself or just through mini road trips (accompanied by the soundtrack of Taylor Swift, of course!).
For me, one of the most fun ways to curate my aesthetic is through working with others. One way I do this is by working with other local bloggers frequently, that way they will learn your preferred style and you’ll be able to bounce ideas off each other. I absolutely love working with my friend and fellow Instagram blogger Mo Alexander (@momo.alex. health) who focuses her content on fitness, positivity and self-care.
Despite our content varying, we are able to find locations together and adapt them to best fit our style. For example, Mo writes some truly thought provoking and inspirational captions, so these may work best with emotive portrait images which also are given a personal feel through the setting of where she lives (Brighton also). Another way I work with others is through photography.
My partner Ollie has recently started a photography page (@olliewakefield) and shoots a large proportion of my images and brand work. Sometimes our images will be planned out and others more impromptu, as we are able to communicate our ideas together and work well as a team. I love having his photographs on my feed, as again I think it gives a more personal and authentic touch and works in synergy with our YouTube channel which is focused around us both.
And of course, inspiration comes from my family and friends. Whether it be a picnic outside a beautiful local country house, a birthday celebration or me asking my mum to help me find some new locations to visit, find your people and it will always be fun! By creating my aesthetic and building my audience, this has enabled opportunities for me to work with brands, but it is extremely important to select the right brands to work with.
By having an aesthetic influenced by where I live, I am able to better discuss options for the type of content I can create with brands so that I am not reliant on trips to create content. By knowing different options for shoot locations, I am better able to tailor my pitch to the brand I am working with. In turn, this allows my branded content to better fit in with my existing feed and videos more organically.
I think it is important to get the right balance between organic and paid content, which is why I will always think carefully about whether the brand in question is one I would personally use or might benefit my audience. I believe that anyone can create opportunities for unique and personal content by exploring and helping their local area.
Even when you are not travelling to new places your content can still be exciting and create a more personal feel which you can then integrate wherever you are. After being nominated at the Blogosphere Awards earlier this year, I felt I great sense of pride in representing my hometown through my content and networking with inspirational fellow content creators, which is great motivation for me to continue to showcase where I live.