I have been working on creative projects for over 20 years and one of the main ingredients to each of these projects has always been the imagery. It could be a photo, an illustration or an artist’s painting. I even worked with a polar bear named “Ganuk.”
A growing stock image library at your fingertips for professional or personal projects is a valuable asset. As it grows it will save you the time of crawling through stock image websites. It will also act as a tool for inspiration. For teams and large organizations having a library readily available can assist with maintaining brand consistency.
Your stock image library can be built using a combination of your own images, hiring a professional photographer or artist, user-generated photos (from your customers), purchasing stock images or using free images. The companies that I have worked with who have created their own images or hired a professional photographer found they were able to create much more powerful images since they were able to include their own products, customers, employees and locations.
Here are the resources I currently use for my stock image library and other digital resources (personal and professional projects):
- Custom artwork: Freelancer (cost varies)
- Stock images and illustrations: Getty Images (high-end and high-cost), iStock (now owned by Getty Images, low to medium cost), Fotolia (now owned by Adobe, low to medium cost), 123RF (low to medium cost), Graphic Stock (low-cost annual fee, also great team packages), Vector Stock (low-cost)
- Envato: A low-cost market for digital assets including stock images, graphics, print templates, website themes, software, plug-ins (they have expanded into creative services and training as well)
- Free images: Wikimedia Commons, New York Public Library Collections
- Fonts: Creative Fabrica (low-cost annual subscription)
- Mighty Deals: Groupon for nerds…photos, graphics, fonts, e-books, memberships, software, plug-ins…you must check it out!
A word about Google image shopping…don’t do it, resist the temptation! I have seen countless PowerPoint presentations in my time built with fuzzy images taken from Google…and each time my body cringes. These images do not belong to you and there is potential you can get sued!
For your next creative project, I encourage you to consider some of the options above. You are welcome to share your experiences with building a stock image library in the comment area below.
A few special notes:
If you decide to create your own images you will need model release forms for the people in your photos.
If you hire a photographer or artist, make sure you have a usage agreement in place.
If you are using photos generated by your customers get their permission.
Be sure to read the license agreement when making a purchases on a stock image website, these agreements will vary from website to website.