The words the industry uses to describe appearance: runway model, photo model, junior, character, ethnic, new face, supermodel — plus the casting slang for faces, from baby face to strange look.
What they actually are
Not a judgement and not a hierarchy, but working categories for finding people. A client sends a brief and the agency searches its board — the categories exist so that search takes minutes rather than days.
From which something important follows: “not right for the type” means you did not match a particular task, not that something is wrong with you. The same face is turned down one season and sought out the next.
How to use this
Work out which category you fall into and build the book for it, rather than for some general idea of “model pictures”. A character face does not need the frames a runway face needs — they only level it with people whose proportions are better.
What to read here first
“New face” — how a first season works and why the second is harder. “Character model” — a market that is less competitive and more stable. “Photo model” — the segment where careers last longest.
What to read next
«Measurements and Myths: What Actually Matters Per Genre» — why the requirements of one segment do not apply in the next.
How a category changes over time
It is not fixed: a junior grows into the main board, a new face stops being new after a season, and a look considered unremarkable at twenty becomes sought after in advertising at thirty-five. A book for a category is rebuilt, not topped up with old frames.
