Branding for Consultancies and Law Firms: Positioning and Imagery Instead of Stock Photos
Key takeaways
- Consulting is an invisible service, so the website often decides before the first conversation (according to Gartner, 61 percent of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free buying experience)
- According to Nielsen Norman eyetracking (2010), users look at photos of real people, while generic stock photos are barely looked at
- Positioning comes before imagery, because image rules follow the brand core
- For lawyers, § 43b BRAO requires factual advertising, for tax advisors § 9 BOStB applies, and for auditors advertising is permitted as long as it is not unfair (§ 52 WPO)
- For lawyers, client references require explicit consent (§ 6 para. 2 BORA)
In short: A consultancy or law firm sells something you can't touch. That's why the brand has to show what you stand for, and the imagery has to show real people and real work instead of interchangeable office scenes. The order is: positioning first, then image rules, then the shoot. For lawyers, tax advisors and auditors there is one more thing: professional conduct rules set limits on how you may advertise, including with images and references.
Why Imagery Matters More for Consulting Than for Products
Anyone hiring a consultancy can't try anything out beforehand. They look at the website, read a few texts, study the faces and decide whether they want a conversation. Gartner surveyed 632 B2B buyers (August to September 2024): 61 percent prefer a buying experience with no sales rep at all (Gartner, June 2025). The survey spans all industries and is not tailored to consultancies. In addition, according to Forrester (January 2026, cited via The Starr Conspiracy), 94 percent of B2B buyers use AI in the buying process, and typically 13 internal stakeholders and 9 external influencers are involved (The Starr Conspiracy, Benchmarks 2025). This is a secondary source and refers to B2B purchasing in general, not specifically to awarding a mandate.
We did not find a reliable German study on how clients choose law firms or consultancies online for 2024 to 2026. Our working assumption: the website is the first test. If it looks interchangeable, the consultancy looks interchangeable too.
Stock Photos: What the Research Says, and What It Doesn't
The Nielsen Norman Group's classic eyetracking research (study from 2010, article dated October 31, 2010) shows that users pay attention to photos of real people: on FreshBooks.com, one user spent 10 percent more time on the team's portrait photos than on the biographies, even though the biographies took up 316 percent more space. Generic stock models on a university page were barely looked at (Nielsen Norman Group, Not All Images Are the Same). The study is 16 years old and does not come from consulting. It does not prove that team photos build more trust. It shows that attention goes to images that carry information, not to decoration.
That doesn't mean a ban on stock photos. An abstract background image, an illustration or a photo of a building can work. The problem is faces with no connection to the firm: if someone has already seen the woman at the laptop on three other law firm websites, they won't draw any good conclusions from it.
Positioning First, Imagery Second
Imagery without positioning becomes a matter of taste. These questions should be answered before the first moodboard:
- What do you stand for? One sentence that a stranger can repeat after 10 seconds on the homepage.
- For whom? Not "for companies," but for which size, industry and situation.
- How do you sound? Confident and restrained, direct and outspoken, approachable and explanatory.
- What can be verified? Case studies, client testimonials with names, awards, fixed contact people.
After that come the image rules, which belong in a brand guide. How one is structured is covered on the blog under Visual language in companies and Branding for professional services.
Building Blocks of an Image World for Consulting and Law Firms
| Baustein | Wofür | Aufwand | Risiko |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porträts der Partner und des Teams | Gesichter hinter dem Namen, Teamseite, Profile | ein halber bis ein Tag Shooting | Einwilligungen, Aktualität bei Personalwechsel |
| Arbeitssituationen (Workshop, Gespräch, Besprechung) | Zeigt, wie du arbeitest | ein Tag, gestellt oder dokumentarisch | Mandanten dürfen nicht erkennbar sein, wenn sie nicht eingewilligt haben |
| Räume, Detailaufnahmen, Objekte | Atmosphäre, Seriosität, Ortsbezug | wenige Stunden | wirkt beliebig, wenn der Stil fehlt |
| Illustration, Typografie, Grafik | Komplexe Themen erklären (Steuern, Recht, Prozesse) | je Motiv unterschiedlich | zu verspielt für manche Kanzleien |
| Datenvisualisierung | Zahlen aus Studien oder Fallstudien | einmal Regeln, dann laufend | nur sinnvoll mit echten Daten |
| Stockbild, bewusst gewählt | Lückenfüller, Abstraktes | gering | Wiedererkennung, Lizenz prüfen |
What matters is a consistent style. Light, color palette, framing and post-processing are fixed so that a photo from 2026 next to one from 2028 looks like it came from the same mold. The rules belong in writing in the brand guide.
Professional Advertising Rules: What Applies, and What It Means for Images
The most important point first: for law firms and tax firms, professional conduct rules set the framework, not the agency. In the end, the professional is responsible for whether the advertising is permissible. This is not legal advice. Check the current version of the rules and ask your chamber if in doubt.
| Beruf | Norm | Kernaussage (zusammengefasst) |
|---|---|---|
| Rechtsanwälte | § 43b BRAO | Werbung ist nur zulässig, soweit sie in Form und Inhalt sachlich über die berufliche Tätigkeit informiert und nicht auf die Erteilung eines Auftrags im Einzelfall gerichtet ist |
| Rechtsanwälte | § 6 BORA | Nicht unsachlich oder unlauter, insbesondere nicht irreführend werben; Werbung mit Mandaten oder Mandanten nur mit ausdrücklicher Einwilligung; die BORA wurde laut Quelle zuletzt am 26.05.2025 geändert |
| Steuerberater | § 57a StBerG und § 9 BOStB | Werbung muss in Form und Inhalt sachlich über die berufliche Tätigkeit informieren und darf nicht auf die Erteilung eines Auftrags im Einzelfall gerichtet sein (§ 57a StBerG); berufswidrige Werbung ist zu unterlassen, besonders wettbewerbswidrige (§ 9 Abs. 1 BOStB) |
| Wirtschaftsprüfer | § 52 WPO | Werbung ist zulässig, es sei denn, sie ist unlauter |
| Unternehmensberatungen, Agenturen | § 5 UWG | Nach unserem Kenntnisstand keine eigene Berufsordnung wie bei Kammerberufen; es gilt das allgemeine Wettbewerbsrecht, vor allem das Verbot irreführender Angaben |
What follows for your brand, as a practical conclusion and not as legal advice:
- Keep the visual language factual. No sensational motifs, no promises of success, no superlatives like "the best law firm." Calm portraits and working shots fit the requirement of factual tone.
- References only with consent. For lawyers, § 6 para. 2 BORA requires the client's explicit consent when you advertise with mandates. This also applies when the duty of confidentiality no longer applies. For case studies that means: name, logo and quote only with written approval, otherwise anonymized.
- No advertising aimed at individual cases. The website informs, it doesn't push. Forms and calls to action like "Book an initial consultation now" are a question of wording. Have your chamber or a legal ethics specialist review them if you're unsure.
- Photos of clients. People in the picture need their consent under § 22 KUG. Documentary photos of real consultations are therefore rarely possible, and staged scenes with team members are the clean way.
- Titles and qualifications. Specialist lawyer or specialist advisor designations may only be used if you can prove them. Under § 9 para. 3 BOStB, for designations that point to special qualifications you must be able to prove the corresponding knowledge and experience.
For design this means: imagery and layout can be chosen freely, as long as content and statements meet the rules. If you hire an agency, put in writing who approves texts and image statements from a professional conduct perspective.
Team Photos and Usage Rights
Real team photos are the cheapest route to your own image world, but they come with obligations. You need consent from every person, ideally in writing and stating where the images will run. With the photographer or the agency, you clarify where, for how long and to what extent you may use the images. Without an explicit agreement, the scope depends on the purpose of the contract (§ 31 para. 5 UrhG). The details are in the guide Usage rights for photo and video. If you have to choose between a photographer and art direction: Art direction or photographer.
Choosing an Agency for Imagery and Branding
Whether a branding agency is worth the premium over a pure web designer is decided not by the title but by the scope. A web designer implements an existing brand. A branding agency works on the positioning that comes before it. If your website doesn't explain what you stand for, the problem usually lies before the design. These questions help with the comparison:
| Frage | Gutes Zeichen |
|---|---|
| Kannst du Beispiele für Beratungen, Kanzleien oder ähnliche Wissensdienstleister zeigen? | Mehrere Projekte, mit Kontext und Aufgabe |
| Wie entsteht die Positionierung? | Strukturierte Fragen und ein Gespräch vor jedem Design |
| Wie sieht die Bildwelt aus, die ihr vorschlagt? | Moodboards mit Bildregeln, nicht nur Stimmungsbilder |
| Wer fotografiert, und wie sind die Rechte geregelt? | Schriftlicher Rechtekatalog vor dem Shooting |
| Wer gibt Texte und Aussagen berufsrechtlich frei? | Klare Aufgabenverteilung: Agentur gestaltet, du verantwortest |
| Wie messt ihr den Erfolg? | Anfragequalität und Gesprächsquote, nicht nur Optik |
Be suspicious of promises like "more mandates through the new design." The only honest claim is that a clear brand pre-sorts inquiries better. We did not find a study proving that corporate design demonstrably brings consultancies more initial conversations.
How We Do It
Webwavers is a branding and web design agency with locations in Günzburg and Munich and one of seven Webflow Premium Partners in Germany. The process is described on the process page: onboarding with 34 strategy questions, a strategy conversation, three moodboards, then the first three sections of the homepage in Figma, before development and subpages follow. If the moodboards and first design sections don't convince you, according to the process page we refund the deposit in full. So far, no one has claimed it across more than 140 projects.
References from consulting and services, with what the project pages actually state:
- Steuerkanzlei Spengler (2025, web design): A website with a calm visual language, an understandable presentation of the services, clear ways to get in touch and a friendly tone. According to the project page, this includes a professional photo shoot. The project page gives no figures (Project Steuerkanzlei Spengler).
- Primegate Consulting (2026, branding and web design): Executive search consultancy that discreetly fills leadership positions. The mark abstracts the letter P into a gate-like symbol, and the palette of deep black, muted bronze and warm gray avoids the usual recruiting look. No figures on the project page (Project Primegate).
- Proxima / Lion Private Equity (2025, rebranding): A calm, structured, deliberately slowed-down visual language for complex topics, implemented with web design in Webflow. No key figures (Project Proxima).
- Wassenhoven (2026, corporate identity): Modular brand system for a partner at the intersection of technology and organization. According to the project page, the website is not live yet (Project Wassenhoven).
- Latzer Associates Group (2025, web design): Strategic communication platform in Webflow for consulting and transformation, with a calm visual language. No quantitative results (Project Latzer).
None of these project pages state measured results. Whether and how a professional may cite them in advertising depends on the professional conduct rules. For consultancies that want to know more about branding and websites, there are the pages Branding, Art Direction and the general page Consulting and agencies.
When You Don't Need an Agency
- You are a small law firm with a good name that mostly gets referrals. The website then only has to show that you exist, who you are and how to reach you.
- You have a clear positioning and a corporate design, and only good portraits are missing. Then a photographer for one day is enough.
- Your problem is about content: the texts don't explain what you do differently. Sharpening the copy fixes that before any design gets rebuilt.
- You have no budget for upkeep. Outdated team photos showing colleagues who have left do more harm than none at all.
FAQ
Are law firms and tax advisors allowed to advertise with images at all?
Yes, but factually. For lawyers, § 43b BRAO requires factual information without advertising aimed at individual engagements, for tax advisors § 57a StBerG and § 9 BOStB apply, and for auditors advertising is permitted as long as it is not unfair (§ 52 WPO). This is not legal advice. Check the current version and ask your chamber if in doubt.
May I name clients as references?
For lawyers, only with the client's explicit consent (§ 6 para. 2 BORA). This also applies when the duty of confidentiality no longer exists. Get the approval in writing, or anonymize the case study.
What is better for a law firm: stock photos or its own photos?
Your own photos, if they are well made. According to Nielsen Norman Group eyetracking, users pay more attention to photos of real people than to generic stock images. The study is from 2010 and not specific to law firms. Abstract stock motifs can work as a supplement.
Is a branding agency worth it compared with a pure web designer?
If your website doesn't explain what you stand for, yes, because the problem lies before the design. A branding agency works on positioning, tone and imagery. If you already have those, implementation by web design is often enough. We are not aware of a proven effect on the number of initial conversations.
How long does it take to build your own image world?
That depends on the scope. We give a timeline in the initial conversation; our process page states no fixed duration. Plan for positioning, moodboards, image rules, shooting and post-processing as separate steps that build on each other.
Which agencies have experience with law firms and consultancies?
Ask every agency about comparable projects, how they handle professional conduct rules and photo rights. Above, we show references from consulting and services, including a tax firm and an executive search house.
Sources
- Gartner: Sales Survey, 61% of B2B buyers prefer rep-free buying experience (2025)
- The Starr Conspiracy: B2B Buying Committee Benchmarks 2025 (secondary source for Forrester)
- Nielsen Norman Group: Not All Images Are the Same (2010)
- Gesetze im Internet: § 43b BRAO
- BORA § 6 (lxgesetze.de, secondary source)
- Berufsordnung der Steuerberater inkl. Fachberaterordnung, § 9 BOStB "Werbung und Kundmachung" (Steuerberaterkammer Stuttgart, 04/2025)
- Gesetze im Internet: § 57a StBerG
- WPO § 52 (buzer.de, secondary source)
- Gesetze im Internet: § 5 UWG
- Gesetze im Internet: § 22 KUG
- Gesetze im Internet: § 31 UrhG
