That Dang Photo
The rise of online stock resources has made the designer and art director’s job far easier. Virtually any image is just a few clicks away.
It’s also made some super lazy.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when a designer immediately goes hunting and gathering for a concept on stock image sites. Newsflash folks: That’s not where concepts live. That’s problem one. Problem two: You don’t create a distinct, clear visual message for your client. It’s not “ownable”. Meaning others can (and will) use the same image, lessening your client’s impact. And theirs too, for that matter. See what I mean with the many uses of this one image.
When convenience outweighs craft we do a disservice.
Comments
This is hilarious and shameful. I swear I saw that same picture at a conference last month on a brochure for a marketing communications firm. I remember because I thought to myself, that guy looks exactly like my old room mate, Daniel.
I couldn't agree more with you Todd. It desensitizes us when we discover these things.
We need to start submitting images to the stock image sites that have subliminal messages in it. Then when people use our images, our subliminal message is propagated. I figure all we need are some heart warming pictures that come up when people search for photos of "smiles" "happiness" and "puppies".
Holy crap - same photo for Immodium and Home Financing.
Bonus creep-out points for putting an image of a man with a little girl on an ad for Singles Exchange.
That's right Paul. When I saw the Immodium packet I thought, "This is the peak of absurdity." Strangely, I think it can go further.
Pedophile Busters?
Father Daughter Dance Lessons?
I'm an Art Director who hates stock photos. But what do you do when your AE gives you no choice due to budget constraints? Does that make the Art Director lazy or the AE whose not willing to push for the extra budget??
Stock illustration and photo resources are a great convenience. Unfortunately, they are often one size fits all.
What I try to do is take a different route and create a new image that incorporates stock. We've used this approach for our Darticles since that comes from my marketing budget.
You can check out some here:
www.capstrat.com
Let me know what you think.
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