BEHIND THE LENS: CAPTURING WHITE PUMPKIN'S EXCLUSIVE SPACE JELLYCAT RELEASE

Brand Photography • West Branch, IA • White Pumpkin

If you heard a collective squeal echo through the Iowa Corridor recently… yeah, that was the Jellycat girlies. 👽✨

When our friends at White Pumpkin got the call that they'd be hosting an exclusive release of the wildly-anticipated Jellycat Space Collection, we knew one thing for sure: this moment needed to be documented beautifully. Because a launch this fun, this buzzy, and this full of adorable little plush aliens? Deserves more than a few grainy iPhone stories.

So we packed up our gear, headed out to White Pumpkin, and got to work capturing one of the most magical release-day shoots we've ever done. Grab your Zyllan Alien and settle in — we're spilling all the details. 💫

Why Brand Photography Is a Game-Changer for Small Businesses

Let's get one thing straight: brand photography isn't just for your website's "About" page. (Though yes, please upgrade that too. 😉)

For small businesses like White Pumpkin, professional brand photography is the secret weapon that takes everyday moments and turns them into marketing gold. Specifically, we're obsessed with how it elevates things like:

• 🎉 Special events & product releases — Think: exclusive drops, launch parties, holiday pop-ups, anniversary celebrations. These are moments that happen ONCE. Having professional photography means you get to relive (and re-share) them forever.

• 💌 Membership & loyalty programs — Exclusive photos for your VIPs? Yes please. Nothing makes a member feel special like getting early access to gorgeous, behind-the-scenes content.

• 🛍️ Product launches & seasonal collections — New arrivals deserve to be shown off, not shoved on a shelf.

• 📱 Social media content banks — One shoot = months of content. Your Instagram grid is about to look chef's kiss.

• 📧 Email marketing & newsletters — Custom images convert WAY better than stock photos. Ask anyone.

• 🎨 Brand consistency across every platform — Your website, your socials, your printed materials — all speaking the same visual language. Swoon.

Translation: if your small business has something worth celebrating, there's a brand photography angle for it. 🌟

Now, let's talk about the absolute dream client who brought this shoot to life.

About White Pumpkin: The Cutest Boutique in the Iowa Corridor

Okay, White Pumpkin. Where do we even start?? 🤍

White Pumpkin is a mom-and-daughter-owned modern boutique specializing in thoughtfully curated gifts, party supplies, and unique décor — basically, if you need to make any moment feel a little more magical, they're your people. Owner Shannon Penisten runs the shop alongside her mom Beth Koppes, and their whole vibe is "walk into your best friend's house and find the most adorable gift for every occasion."

Fun fact: the name "White Pumpkin" is a nod to Cinderella's pumpkin carriage from the 1950 Disney movie. Iconic. 👑

Here's what makes them such a big deal in the Iowa City area:

• 🏆 Voted Gold for Best Boutique AND Best Gift Shop in the 2024 Iowa City Community's Choice Awards

• 🏆 Received the Spirit of Rural Prosperity award from Greater Iowa City, Inc. in 2025

• 🛍️ Two gorgeous locations: the original in downtown West Branch (opened in 2020) and the newer Coralville Iowa River Landing location (opened in 2025, right between Anthropologie and J. Jill — talk about prime real estate!)

• 🎨 A constantly-rotating inventory of Jellycat plushies, party supplies, jewelry, candles, bath & body, stationery, pop culture goodies, and more

• 🌸 A create-your-own-fragrance bar at the Iowa River Landing (IRL) Coralville location (we die)

Basically, they're the kind of small business that's made for brand photography — full of color, texture, and genuine magic in every corner.

The Space Jellycat Release: What It Was & Why It Was a Big Deal

For the uninitiated: Jellycat is the beloved British plush toy brand that's taken over the collectible world. Their drops sell out in minutes. There are waitlists. There are dedicated TikTok communities. It's a whole thing. 💅

In March 2026, Jellycat released their highly-anticipated Space Collection in the US — a line that was previously exclusive to a pop-up in Seoul, Korea. We're talking:

• 🪐 Amuseables Planet Mars & Amuseables Comet

• 👽 Zyllan Alien (the fuzzy green MVP)

• 🚀 Amuseables Peanut in a Space Rodeo outfit (the absolute icon)

• 🔭 Amuseables Boiled Egg Scientist (a personal favorite)

• ✨ Zodihop Luxe Bunny (the galaxy-chic dream)

• 🛸 Jellysaucer & Space Comet

• 🖤 Amuseables Black Hole Bag Charm (going for $100+ on resale sites!!)

As an exclusive release retailer, White Pumpkin got to be one of the very few spots in the Iowa Corridor where collectors could actually get their hands on these plushies. And if you know the Jellycat community, you know an event like this is not a quiet Tuesday afternoon — it's a MOMENT.

Enter: Myliu Marketing, cameras in hand. 📸

The Shoot: Capturing the Magic of Release Day

Here's what we love about documenting a special event like the Space Jellycat Release — you're not just capturing products. You're capturing the energy of a launch. The excitement. The community. The little moments that make small business so special.

Here's a breakdown of what we captured for White Pumpkin:

🛍️ Real Customers Shopping

Some of our favorite shots of the entire day came from candidly capturing customers exploring the Space Collection. Little hands reaching for the Zyllan Alien. Friends pointing excitedly at the Jellysaucer. A kid clutching a plush planet like it was the greatest treasure in the galaxy. These shots are pure gold for social media because they do what stock photography never can: they prove that White Pumpkin is a place where real joy happens.

📦 In-Store Product Shots

We styled and captured the Space Collection in its full glory — every plush posed perfectly, every display looking worthy of a magazine spread. These are the shots White Pumpkin can now use on their website, product listings, email marketing, and social media for months to come. Content bank = stocked.

🎉 The Event Atmosphere

Signage, décor, the buzz of release day, the way the afternoon light hit the boutique. We grabbed the wide shots, the detail shots, and everything in between so that even customers who couldn't make it IRL could feel like they were part of the magic.

💖 Staff & Behind-the-Scenes Moments

Shannon, Beth, and the White Pumpkin team are the heart of the brand — and we made sure to capture them doing what they do best: making every customer feel like the most special person in the room.

🪐 Styled Editorial Shots

Because sometimes you just need a dreamy, cinematic shot of a tiny alien plush nestled in starlight-inspired styling for the 'gram. No notes. ✨

Oh, P.S. — We Also Handle White Pumpkin's Branding 🎨

Fun little plot twist: the Space Jellycat Release shoot wasn't our first rodeo with White Pumpkin. We also have the absolute honor of handling their branding, which means we've had the privilege of shaping how this beautiful boutique shows up in the world from the ground up. From visual identity to marketing strategy to brand photography that tells their story — we get to be part of the White Pumpkin magic in a really full-circle way, and we are OBSESSED.

It's the kind of ongoing partnership we dream about: a small business we genuinely love, a brand with a clear point of view, and a whole lot of cute plush animals along the way. 10/10.

READY TO CAPTURE YOUR BIG MOMENT?

Whether you're a small business in Iowa City, Coralville, West Branch, or anywhere in the Iowa Corridor, here's your sign: your special events, product drops, and brand moments deserve professional photography.

Not the "snap a quick pic and hope for the best" kind. The real kind. The kind that makes customers stop scrolling, that fills your content calendar for months, and that tells your brand's story in the most beautiful way possible.

That's what we do at Myliu Marketing — and we'd love to do it for you. ✨

Inquire about a brand shoot →

📍 102 E Main St, West Branch, IA & 920 E 2nd Ave, Coralville, IA · 📞 (319) 321-8602 · shopwhitepumpkin.com