GDUSA 22ND STOCK VISUAL SURVEY

PREVIEW SPONSORED BY MOODBOARD

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

For 22 years, GDUSA has been following the evolution of stock visual use among creative professionals, and chronicled its use from marginal to mainstream to more or less indispensable. The reason, of course, is that it’s value proposition fits neatly into this era of tight budgets, short turnarounds, digital workflows, challenging assignments, cross-media projects and demanding clients that now shape the graphic design business. Simply put, stock imagery has helped designers walk the tightrope between art and commerce with as much grace and dignity as contemporary circumstances allow. Here is a brief online preview of our 22nd Annual Stock Visual Survey, sponsored by Moodboard, an innovative newcomer to the marketplace. The full report — addressing issues such as online search and delivery, licensing methods, micropayments, subscription sites, and some possible dark clouds on the horizon — will appear in the September 2008 magazine.

— Gordon Kaye

THE PERFECT WAVE

I have never surfed. I don’t even like to swim in the ocean; the water’s too cold here in the Northeast and the sand gets into some inconvenient places.

Still, it struck us, in thinking about the state of stock visuals for graphic designers, that the metaphor of the perfect wave — the convergence of just the right conditions and circumstances to create the ideal swell, with a majestic peak and clean tube, held aloft by an ocean breeze to prolong its beauty and utility — is useful, even illuminating.

Without drowning in labored analogies, suffice it to say that the imagery available collectively from stock visual providers shares the characteristics of the perfect wave. Many powerful forces that have been years in the making — economic, technological, cultural, behavorial — have dovetailed in seemingly unforseen ways to generate an unprecedented swell of supply and options.

And creatives are riding the tidal wave of choice, convenience, affordability, speed and responsiveness.

NINE-IN-TEN

The central finding of the 22nd Annual Stock Visual Survey is this: 91% of creatives use stock photography in their work. That is a big number by historical standards though consistent with the past couple of years. The survey also reveals a substantial and growing use of other stock imagery, including illustration, footage, flash and animation.

HISTORIC HIGH

On the question of whether stock usage is increasing or decreasing, fully 56% of respondents — compared to last year’s 50% — say they are using more stock now than a year ago. A mere 3% — compared with 9% last year — are using stock less often.

Consistent with this result, the survey also finds that creatives are using stock imagery at record-high frequencies. Most notably, this time around, 38% of respondents report using stock imagery more than 50 times during the past year — up from 31% last year — and 55% say they have used it more than 20 times — up from 51% last year. Across the board, the findings are modestly higher than in the recent past, but that is enough to drive the numbers to an historic high.

PEOPLE WHO NEED PEOPLE

What categories of imagery are most popular in 2008? People, Lifestyle and Business/Industry have vied with one other for the top spot for the past several years. This year “People led the results, followed closely by Business/Industry and Lifestyle in third. Below those perennials, respondents reported using an extremely broad range of categories and subjects — from Medical/Scientific to Food/Beverages, Fine Art to Travel/Transportation, Nature/Wildlife/Agriculture to Sports/Games to Homes/Interiors and Military/Space, and on and on. Abstracts/Backgrounds/Concepts showed a particularly big jump up this year; otherwise, the order of frequency remained reasonably steady.

MORE TO COME

The September 2008 magazine will contain the full report — addressing issues such as online search and delivery, comparative licensing methods, micropayment and subscription site trends, and the possibility of The Perfect Storm for some in the industry.

PREVIEW SPONSORED BY MOODBOARD

moodboard is a new alternative in stock photography where you can buy or sell images at a range of prices to suit your needs. You can even set your own price with the launch of the latest collection ,moodboard unlimited http://www.moodboard.com