AT 92%, STOCK USE IS HIGHEST EVER
The 19th annual stock visual survey was sent to 1,200 graphic design firms, advertising agencies and corporate, institutional and publishing inhouse departments.
The central finding of the survey is that 92% of creative professionals sometimes use stock photography in their work. This benchmark number is the highest ever in our survey, albeit just by a little, since the past three years have seen the proportion of stock users oscillate around the nine-in-ten mark. Again, for the age-challenged among us who remember the stock industry as a mom-and-pop-shop backwater, the ascent of stock visuals into the communications mainstream and beyond has been fascinating and fun, and a tribute to amazing artists, entrepreneurs and technologists.
Which of the following do you use in your work?
Stock Photography
Stock Illustration
Stock Footage
|
92%
61%
24% |
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Top reasons creatives turn to stock
- Time Pressure
- Budget Constraints
- Quality, Choice, Variety
- Ease and Accessibility
- Idea Generation
- Fits Digital Workflow
- Ethnic and Lifestyle Diversity
- Good for Comping
|
The survey also reveals substantial use of stock illustration and stock footage. With regard to stock illustration, 61% of respondents say they have licensed it for graphic design and publishing applications. This is roughly the moving average of the past few years, though not quite the two-thirds level of illustration-use recorded last year. Stock footage use also eased back slightly to 24%, a figure consistent with other recent GDUSA reader surveys showing that about a quarter of our readers are involved in television, film and motion graphics projects. However, it is a bit curious that, while our readers are increasingly working in web design, the number using stock footage has not grown.
