creative class
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Years ago, printed catalogs were the key to success in the stock photography industry. Many new clients who have been introduced to stock photography licensing via the internet have probably never even seen the old-style catalogs, but veteran graphic designers, art directors and photo buyers will all remember the stacks of glossy books that tended to pile up in our offices and studios.
The convenience and speed of online search and distribution have eliminated the need for print catalogs for most agencies, and the trees will probably thank us for not cutting down so many of them any more.
But despite the environmental benefit of online stock, and in the course of corporate consolidation, most agencies have lost a certain degree of their ability to brand and differentiate themselves. With the majority of clients licensing images via large corporate sites, portals, or networks of affiliates, the unique identities and specialties of most agencies are mostly subsumed within the algorithmic recesses of online database applications, despite the valiant efforts of a few industry holdouts such as Getty's Stone brand and Veer.
And now FogStock. Against the prevailing trend in the industry, and in preparation for our June debut at CEPIC (the annual meeting of the largest international association of photography agencies), we have produced our first substantial print-based promotion, also available for download.
Although our intention is to create a physical artifact that attracts customers and promotes strong business alliances among our industry peers, the most valuable outcome of this document is the way that it has made us think outside of the day-to-day mainenance of the image pipeline. It has made us a user of our own product, and forced us to think more like our customers.
But most of all, it has motivated us to act in a very substantial way to express the values that we have been promoting on this blog, to use photographs to make meaning in a way that strives for both adventure and profit.
posted by fogged @ 2:55 PM 0 comments