For the Ellen Stirling Dental team · October 2026

Six ways this could look.
All of them still you.

A new direction for the feed, built around your own photography and a more considered approach to type. Six options to look through, each a different idea rather than one layout rearranged.

Proposed directions · Nothing locked inYour reception, Ellenbrook · October 2026
The direction

Keep the brand.
Give the photographs room.

Your palette, your logo and your own clinic photography all stay. What changes is how much room they get. Smaller branding, no decorative shapes across faces, and headlines that hold up at thumbnail size on a phone. All six directions share that foundation, then go their own way.

Real clinic photographyReadable headlinesUnderstated brandingLess decoration
Charcoal#5B6768
Mint#9BC2B8
Alabaster#E9EDED

Jost throughout, with one serif accent in Direction 01 · Your exact palette, plus white · Photographs cropped to each format, never stretched and never cut out.

Choose a direction

Six directions, all pointing the same way.

Every one of these leaves the wave shapes, the cartoon elements and the tinted overlays behind. What they lean on instead is the photography, a good deal more space, and type that stays quiet. Understated rather than decorated, which is closer to how the clinic actually looks and feels.

Directions 01 to 05 use the same few topics and the same photographs, so what you are comparing is composition rather than content. Each one holds six different layouts, because a direction is a set of rules rather than a single template. Direction 06 works differently again: a whole feed in one look, shown as twelve posts.

Everything here is a design sample. The layouts are the proposal, the words are placeholder, and some of the images are stand-ins rather than Ellen Stirling patients or clinic photography. Finished posts would use your own photos and approved copy. Click any graphic to open it full size.

Ellen Stirling Dental clinic photography
First visit

First visit?
Let’s start with
a conversation.

A chance to ask questions and discuss your dental care.

Ellen Stirling Dental

01 · Refined Editorial

Serif, airy, classical.

View all six examples →
Ellen Stirling Dental clinic photography
First visit

First visit?
Let’s start with
a conversation.

A chance to ask questions and discuss your dental care.

Ellen Stirling Dental
01

02 · Structured Modern

Hairline rules and small type.

View all six examples →
Ellen Stirling Dental clinic photography
First visit

First visit?
Let’s start with
a conversation.

Ellen Stirling Dental

03 · Natural Photography

Full bleed, no panel.

View all six examples →
First visit

First visit?
Let’s start with
a conversation.

A chance to ask questions and discuss your dental care.

Ellen Stirling Dental
Ellen Stirling Dental clinic photography

04 · Bold Typographic

Charcoal field, large light type.

View all six examples →
Ellen Stirling Dental clinic photography
Ellen Stirling Dental clinic photography
Ellen Stirling Dental clinic photography
First visit

First visit?
Let’s start with
a conversation.

Ellen Stirling Dental

05 · Documentary Photo Story

Wide margins, framed prints.

View all six examples →
01

Refined Editorial

A serif headline above a generous photograph. The most classical of the five, and the quietest. The serif and the hairline rule stay fixed; everything else moves, from a full photograph down to a plain title card with no photograph at all.

Suggested uses
First visits · Team introductions · Patient interactions
02

Structured Modern

A hairline grid, small type and numbered steps. Reads like a carefully set document. The rules and the framed photo area are the constants, so the same system handles an explainer, a split layout and an index card.

Suggested uses
FAQs · Treatment explanations · Educational carousels
03

Natural Photography

No panel and no caption strip. The photograph fills the whole post and the words sit inside it. What changes between the six is where the type lands and how much of the image it covers, from a single line at the foot to a centred statement. The wash over the photograph is drawn from the brand teal rather than a neutral grey.

Suggested uses
Candid moments · Reel covers · Stories
04

Bold Typographic

A charcoal field with type set large and light. The only direction that darkens the feed. The light weight holds throughout while the photograph moves, shrinks, swaps sides or disappears, and two of the six step off charcoal onto a softer brand tone so the set is not one note.

Suggested uses
Offers · Reminders · Question-led posts
05

Documentary Photo Story

Photographs inside a wide white margin, captioned underneath like a printed card. The margin and the hairline frame never change; the number of photographs does, from three in a sequence down to none at all.

Suggested uses
Clinic walkthroughs · Team activity · Visit sequences
06

Classy Minimalist

A complete feed rather than a single layout. Portrait 4:5 posts, generous space, small quiet type and the clinic handle in place of a logo panel. Photo-led posts, type-led posts and small photo groups alternate so the grid has rhythm without any post shouting.

Suggested uses
A full feed look · Service explainers · Practical posts such as hours and payment

These twelve are design samples, not finished posts. They exist to show the layout system and the feed rhythm. The copy is placeholder, and while several use real clinic photography, others use stand-in images rather than Ellen Stirling patients. Nothing here has been approved for posting.

06.2 in particular shows the before and after layout only. A live version needs two unedited photographs of the same patient taken in matching conditions, the treatment named, the timeframe shown, and written patient consent on file.

See it as a feed

Any direction, laid out as a profile.

A single post is one thing. A grid of them is what a patient actually sees. Pick a direction below and the preview rebuilds as a profile, so you can judge how it holds together rather than how one square looks on its own.

Classy Minimalist behind the scenes post
Classy Minimalist before and after post
Classy Minimalist first visit post
Classy Minimalist mouth guards post
Classy Minimalist smile detail post
Classy Minimalist the team post
Classy Minimalist opening hours post
Classy Minimalist what a clean involves post
Classy Minimalist what happens at an appointment post
Classy Minimalist clear aligners post
Classy Minimalist payment options post
Classy Minimalist families post
At a glance

What changes between the six?

DirectionWhat leadsPhoto treatmentSuggested role
Refined EditorialA serif headlineOne large photo, cropped square; white caption areaMain feed look
Structured ModernOrder and hairline rulesFramed photo area; small type on whiteEducation and FAQs
Natural PhotographyThe photograph, entirelyEdge to edge; type reversed inside the imageCandid content and Reel covers
Bold TypographicScale and contrastCharcoal field with the photo as an inset bandOccasional offers and reminders
Documentary Photo StoryMargin and sequenceFramed prints inside a wide white borderWalkthroughs and clinic stories
Classy MinimalistSpace and small, quiet typePortrait 4:5 crops; one shared grade across every postA complete feed look
For reference

Where the feed sits today.

Worth putting side by side. Plenty of it is already working, and the clinical results and the reels are the strongest things on the account. What changes is the layer we have been putting on top of them. The curved wave shapes, the cartoon-style illustrations and the tinted washes over photographs have had their run, and all three are being retired. The six directions above are built the other way around: quieter, more considered, and closer to how the clinic itself looks when you walk in.

Ellen Stirling Dental current Instagram feed
Current feed · October 2026
Staying

Real clinical photography. The team on camera. A willingness to be informal in a reel. Those are the hardest things to manufacture and none of them change.

Going

The wave and blob shapes, the cut-out figures floating on them, the mint wash over skin tones, anything cartoon-drawn, anything AI-generated or AI-altered, and headlines set heavy enough to fight the photograph behind them.

Arriving

One consistent photo grade across every post, a proper crop for each format, generous margins, and type small enough to feel deliberate while still reading on a phone. Sleeker, and a good deal more premium.

Next step

Which one feels right?

A reply in WhatsApp is all we need. A number is enough to get started, and any of these three answers works just as well as the others.

Answer oneA number

“05.” Done. We build that one out next.

Answer twoA mix

“01, but with the offer layout from 04.” Name the two and we will put them together.

Answer threeMore options

“None of these.” Tell us what is missing and we will come back with a fresh set.

Once we know, the next thing you see is that direction across a full month of real posts, using your own photography rather than these samples. Nothing gets scheduled without your sign-off. If it is easier to talk it through than type it, say so and we will set up a short call instead.