Can anyone shed light on the identity of this man? He appears on literally thousands of websites, and I have even seen his face on ads on the Tube? Whoever he is, I am getting rather sick of him, and he puts me off looking at any website that he appears on.
You can download him in dozens of different poses on istockphoto.com, a website that has revolutionised the web by enabling web designers to download images costing as little as £1-2 for their websites. Previously they had to pay upwards of £75 for a photo, and many web designers simply copied photos illegally from elsewhere rather than pay the price. But with low cost photos, there has also been a price to pay. Such has been the popularity of istockphoto that some photos have become ubiquitous and many websites have been cheapened in the process.
Not only do frequently used stock photos look cheesy and fake, but they make your entire site look like it has recycled content. One writer has described stock photos as being “the new clipart”.
Here are a few tips for choosing the right photos for your website:
- Try and download photos from istockphoto that have not been downloaded before. Photos on istockphotos have an indicator next to them that shows how many times they have been downloaded before. If a photo has only been downloaded a few times previously, it’s a fairly safe bet that someone visiting your site will not have seen this photo before.
- Look for photos that are natural rather than posed. Avoid images with clichéd poses and fake smiles.
- Avoid photos that look like they have models in them. You want photos that show real people.
- Don’t limit your search to istockphoto. Flickr is become an increasingly valuable resource for high quality photos.
- If all else fails, take real photos of real people. There is nothing more natural than having photos of the client and their employees. (We would recommend a professional photographer for this option).
