Could Art Directors be right?
Some art director once boasted that a pix is worth a thousand words and it got picked up and repeated by every art director who has been on this good green globe ever since.
And while I disagree about the exact amount of words a picture is worth -sometimes it’s much less, sometimes it’s much more -it’s hardly worth the effort to try and argue this point with a designer or art director. They’ll just drone on and on and on… wear you right down to the nub, as it were… to where you might as well give them the point just to shut them up and get them back to their magical Land o’ Pixels.
That being said, I put great stock in using imagery -photos and/or illustrations -in my blogs, sales pages, books, videos -heck, everything I create or publish -because photos and drawings not only create visual interest, but they help tell the story.
Or at least help the story along. After all, “In the beginning was the word…” Right?
My favorite place for royalty-free (which means you have purchased non-exclusive rights to use them) spot photos and illustrations is iStockphoto. For as little as a dollar, you can find a perfectly acceptable photo -or find the perfect one from a few hundred variations on that theme -to help make your point.
Like most stock photo houses, iStock offers a choice of sizes -the bigger, the more expensive -but for web work, choosing the smallest option (around 400 x 600 pixels) usually is more than sufficient. F’rinstance I picked up the shot of the sleazy guy illustrating this very post -a shot that was originally selected for our Mojo Guide to Style -and sized it down to 160 x 240 pixels.
If you don’t work with PhotoShop, Gimp or any of the more complicated art/photo programs, might I suggest IrFanView. I don’t know what that stands for but it’s a great free photo viewer program that you can use to easily resize your photos or make minor modifications without having to expend too much brainpower. Just the kind of thing I really like.
Got a favorite resource for stock visuals? Let us know.
