Jay-Z called for the Death of Autotune, I'm calling for the death of Stock Imagery.
Yeah right. Stock images are ok I guess because you can find a visual that represents what you're writing about in your blog kind of. Like if you're writing about "social media" you can find a stock image of some little icon people in a circle... you know, to really drive the idea home.
Stock images are easy. But the most memorable blogs and websites in my mind are the ones that create everything from scratch. Obviously I don't practice what I preach... But I just want to give props to these very cool sites that really deliver one of a kind content, because content is really what separates a succesful business blog from an okay one.
IDEO and alistapart.com are two examples that I know of who create custom graphics and illustrations to represent their content. Not an easy task! But it pays off brilliantly. The old design saying goes something like this: you're supposed to design around the content. Chances are a stock image can't express exactly what you wanted to say and also maintain the graphic standards of your brand. Granted not all of us have the budget for such customization, but maybe it's as easy as asking a local art student to pump out some drawings for you. Or asking your buddy the aspiring photographer to get some shots. Whatever it is, wouldn't it make for a much more beautiful internet if each site we visited had it's own unique look and feel, even in the content.
Here's what the heck i'm talking about in case I've lost you.
Exhibit A. Ideo.com's patterns... Awesome illustrations (please don't tell me these are stock or my whole theory is kabosh.)
Exhibit B. Also from Ideo. Notice they have their own style, yet they still speak to the content with the imagery. Even the layout is super unique.
Exhibit C. Alistapart has a darn good illustrator pumping out top notch watercolorings (?) makign each article that much more compelling and interesting.
Exhibit D. See what I'm saying?
It's definitely more time consuming, but again, this customization is another way to make for a more engaging, more memorable experience for visitors to your business blog, which is not an easy task online.
Gracias for the inspiration IDEO and Alistapart.
Yeah right. Stock images are ok I guess because you can find a visual that represents what you're writing about in your blog kind of. Like if you're writing about "social media" you can find a stock image of some little icon people in a circle... you know, to really drive the idea home.
Stock images are easy. But the most memorable blogs and websites in my mind are the ones that create everything from scratch. Obviously I don't practice what I preach... But I just want to give props to these very cool sites that really deliver one of a kind content, because content is really what separates a succesful business blog from an okay one.
IDEO and alistapart.com are two examples that I know of who create custom graphics and illustrations to represent their content. Not an easy task! But it pays off brilliantly. The old design saying goes something like this: you're supposed to design around the content. Chances are a stock image can't express exactly what you wanted to say and also maintain the graphic standards of your brand. Granted not all of us have the budget for such customization, but maybe it's as easy as asking a local art student to pump out some drawings for you. Or asking your buddy the aspiring photographer to get some shots. Whatever it is, wouldn't it make for a much more beautiful internet if each site we visited had it's own unique look and feel, even in the content.
Here's what the heck i'm talking about in case I've lost you.
Exhibit A. Ideo.com's patterns... Awesome illustrations (please don't tell me these are stock or my whole theory is kabosh.)
Exhibit B. Also from Ideo. Notice they have their own style, yet they still speak to the content with the imagery. Even the layout is super unique.
Exhibit C. Alistapart has a darn good illustrator pumping out top notch watercolorings (?) makign each article that much more compelling and interesting.
Exhibit D. See what I'm saying?
It's definitely more time consuming, but again, this customization is another way to make for a more engaging, more memorable experience for visitors to your business blog, which is not an easy task online.
Gracias for the inspiration IDEO and Alistapart.
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