The end of the photo. Michael Rying holding an imaginary camera against a dark timber wall.

The right image.
At the right moment.

In 2027 you will see Smart Images by Scenes Lab. Uniquely made Brand imagery that adapts to context and screen, delivered in a second.

By Michael Rying · 2 Nov 2026 · 3 min read

More images. Still missing the right one.

A brand can have thousands of images and still be missing the one it needs. The season is wrong. The setting feels distant. The product is unavailable locally. A beautiful widescreen composition becomes an awkward crop on a phone.

Producing every variation in advance ties up time and budgets. Creating each one manually adds another queue for the marketing team. The opportunity is to rethink the system behind the images.

Exactly what is needed. When it is needed.

Smart Images by Scenes Lab is our concept for that shift: brand imagery that responds to location, weather, season, available products and screen format, always within an approved visual identity.

A strong image stays in use while it remains relevant. When the context changes, the system selects a suitable version or creates a better one. There is no need to generate a new image for every visit or produce endless variations for an archive.

Zurich car Smart Images concept, with labels showing the adaptations

Closer to the person looking.

Imagine the same yellow jacket in sunny Milano and cold Stockholm. Open over a T-shirt in one setting; fastened with a scarf and gloves in the other. The light, architecture and composition adapt, while the product stays accurate and recognisable.

Visitors see products in situations that feel closer to their own lives, presented clearly on their screen. Brands gain the potential for greater relevance with less unnecessary production.

See Smart Images

Your brand writes the rules.

Together with the marketing team, we define the CVI, photographic style, approved compositions and product details. Best-practice examples establish the standard. A no-go list sets the boundaries.

That direction can reach down to lens choice, depth of field, lighting, colour and film grain. Our experience in building brand visuals and entire visual identities is what enables us to take this to a professional level.

SCENES LAB / SMART IMAGESPROCESS SIMULATION · 01

Behind the image.

Context in. Brand rules applied. The right image out.

01 / CONTEXT INPUTSQUEUED

location.city: Paris, FR
time.local / season: 09:41 CET / autumn
weather.conditions: Overcast / 12°C
language.locale: fr-FR
device / viewport: Mobile / 390 × 844
commerce.context: In stock / FR delivery

02 / BRAND FRAMEWORKQUEUED

brand.cvi / references: Approved framework
camera / composition: 35 mm / off-centre
product.reference: Shape / colour locked
prompt / exclusions: Master rules loaded

03 / IMAGE ASSEMBLYQUEUED

context + brand: Compile image brief
generation.render: Compose / generate

04 / VALIDATIONQUEUED

product / brand checks: Fidelity / compliance
geo.brand_pillars: Brand meaning aligned

05 / DELIVERYQUEUED

output.optimisation: Size / format / weight
metadata / disclosure: Alt text / AI label

TIME BUDGET REMAINING↓

AWAITING CONTEXT

STARTING BUDGET2,500 ms

ILLUSTRATED TARGET880 ms

A new context. An entire process.
All before the image needs to appear.

Creative direction at a different scale.

Creative and marketing teams increasingly shape the framework, rather than commission every adaptation. Their role becomes defining what good looks like, refining the rules and steering the output, with more time for ideas and customers.

Autonomy starts with trust.

Eventually, brands will publish images they have never personally seen and may never see. That takes faith, supported by clear limits, product checks, controlled testing and an approved fallback. Useful context must also be used appropriately and with respect for the visitor.

Quality includes the delivery.

The ambition reaches beyond the image: the right composition, dimensions, file weight, filenames, alternative text, metadata and AI disclosures. People, search engines and AI agents should be able to understand what the image represents.

Speed, product fidelity and consistent photographic quality are requirements we must validate before promising a real-time experience.

Five brands. First into the future.

We are looking for five pilot brands to co-develop Smart Images by Scenes Lab. Together, we will build the creative framework, test relevant use cases and establish what creates value in practice.

Our ambition is to build the world’s most advanced visual content system, with these five brands as the first to put it to work.

Become a pilot partner

As Scenes sees it.

By Michael Rying, founder of Scenes.