Vanessa Gollasch
Founder & Editor of @flipandstyle
Vamp Collective Member
Vamp caught up with Central Coast based full time blogger Vanessa who spends her time writing blog posts, taking photos, filming videos for her Youtube channel, creating images for Instagram and drinking way too much coffee. Vanessa’s passion began from a very young age, making websites from the age of 13.
Growing up on a farm outside Wagga Wagga she filled her time with dancing and teaching herself HTML coding before packing her bags for Sydney to study Fashion Marketing and Visual Merchandising. Coming full circle Vanessa eventually left her previous roles with fashion companies such as Market HQ, Mink Pink and Forever New to move to the central coast to live a slower paced life and return to her original passion of blogging and the extended social media channels such as You Tube and Instagram.
Describe your style in 3 words.
All things pretty.
What are your 3 tips for creating a beautiful flatlay on Instagram?
1. Work with a colour scheme – maximum 3 colours mixed in with neutrals.
2. Make one item the point of focus then add items in around it.
3. Make sure the background isn’t louder than the items you place on top.
What inspired you to start @flipandstyle?
I started my blog back in 2008 after discovering the world of fashion blogging. I wanted to get involved in it straight away as it looked so creative and I was dying to share what I loved fashion-wise.
As a teen I was an avid magazine collector – particularly Girlfriend and Dolly. The fashion pages were what I looked forward to the most so I would flip through until I found them, hence the blog name “Flip And Style”.
I started my Instagram when I moved to Sydney from my hometown in country NSW. I was studying Fashion Marketing and also interning at an online store when I heard about the App, so I felt at the time it could be a great extension of my blog to show what I got up to “behind the scenes”. I would share pictures of what I was doing at my internship, along with any clothing or accessories I’d bought. It’s crazy to see how much Instagram has changed in 5 years.
Talk us through how you use colour to visually brand your aesthetic.
Creating a solid colour scheme is so, so important in branding. A carefully curated selection of colours will bring your entire website to life, and will add a personal touch that shades of black and white can’t.
Sometimes choosing a base colour for your palette can be easy (ie. blue for an ocean-themed site, pink for a girly site). I based my colour palette around my favourite colours – blush and rose gold. It took quite a while to come up with the perfect pink. Previously I had a lighter, less saturated pink but for this palette I wanted something a bit more fun, a bit punchier. I ended up with 3 shades of a warm pink, leaning towards peach. I included the rose gold as a metallic, a light grey as a neutral and a black to tie everything together.
“Inspiration images can be the starting point in branding your business. If you are unsure of where to begin when it comes to choosing colours and a style of logo, scroll through Tumblr or Pinterest and save a bunch of images that you like to a folder.
When you have enough, look at them as a whole and see if there’s a colour scheme you lean towards, or a general mood amongst your images. If that’s too overwhelming, take one image that you love the most and draw your colours from what’s inside that picture.”
Talk us through your main editing Apps.
There are three that I use – PS Express, VSCO and Facetune.
I use PS Express to lift the exposure and I’ve purchased a filter on VSCO which I use to apply to each image. I then take my image into Facetune to use the whitening tool for the background or to enhance my makeup so it’s visible. I do some last minute editing in the Instagram app as well.
Lighting is extremely important in creating high quality images. Can you talk us through how you achieve the clear, crisp and consistent lighting in your images?
For me to get a great image for Instagram, it has to be a sunny day. Images just don’t come out the same when it’s cloudy outside.
I like to create flatlays between midday and 4pm as the lighting in my apartment is most bright at that time. I will typically take a selfie around the same time of day, standing right at the window with the sunlight shining onto my face.
“Treat your Instagram like a personal art gallery. Be selective with what you post, plan it out and perfect it. Have a theme and edit images consistently. Use hashtags and tag brands as much as possible.”
What are your optimum posting times?
I have two that I find achieve the best results – 8am and 6pm.
Wise words for those just starting out or looking to take it to the next level?
Treat your Instagram like a personal art gallery. Be selective with what you post, plan it out and perfect it. Have a theme and edit images consistently. Use hashtags and tag brands as much as possible.
Right now I’m…
Listening to: 90s R&B
Eating: Lemon Glazed Blueberry Scone
Drinking: Coffee
Wearing: PJs, of course.
Watching: Pretty Little Liars and Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.
Reading: Blogs
