Your client might have a very clear vision of what kind of photography they want in their ads, or they may give you no direction at all. Here are a few tips on how to handle photography in ads with varying types of clients.
Ask the client if they have any high-resolution photos they would like us to use.
This step can easily save the team hours in emails, design work, and back and forths, making it extremely important to start here. Clients may have certain photos that we will need to use to comply with brand standards, specific campaigns, or a correlating landing page.
Client-provided images should always be high-quality. Typically, the larger the image, the better. High quality images help prevent the final graphic from looking pixelated or blurry. If the image looks too small on your monitor, then it is most likely too small for use on a graphic. If you aren’t sure about the size of the image, simply hover over the image and your computer will tell you the size and dimensions of the image.
If the Client does not provide a photo, the Ticket Requester is responsible for providing a photo.
We use www.istockphoto.com for photo selections and the creative team has easy access to almost all of the images on the site. The photo should be an image that corresponds with the content of the ticket in an appealing way. For example, when creating an ad for a heating and cooling company that is intended to run in the winter time, an image of a family looking snug, cozy, and warm in their home may be fitting (depending on the target demographic). Ensure you are taking into account any requests that the client may have made. Feel free to attach multiple options if you cannot decide.
When providing an image from iStock, make sure to include a link to the iStock image or the image ID in your ticket. The image ID is a number assigned to every iStock image. It allows the designer to quickly and easily find the specific image you would like to use for your graphic. The ID can be found next to the image on iStock, labeled as “Stock Photo ID” or “Stock Illustration ID”.
It is important to avoid images that are marked for “Editorial Use Only.” Editorial Use images cannot be used to advertise or promote a product or service.
If the ticket requester is unsure about a specific photo selection, but has an “inspiration photo” to share, the ticket requester may upload this to the ticket.
The ticket requester should upload a Google image or an iStock image that has a similar “feel” to the goal of the ad, but maybe not quite exactly what they are looking for. This helps the Design Team make a photo selection that still resonates with that “feel” and aligns with the direction of the ad. These example images do not have to be high quality as they will not be used in the final graphic. When attaching example images, please be sure to indicate on your ticket that they are examples.
In very rare cases, both the client and the ticket requester may be at a complete loss of direction for photography.
In this case, the design team will select one photo that they feel represents the campaign and the client well and apply it to the ad proof. This will usually be watermarked and will be updated with the unmarked version upon approval. If the client does not approve the ad containing the suggested photo, it is then the responsibility of the client or the ticket requester to provide an image or a series of images for the design team to select from.
What is an iStock Board?
Creating an iStock Board is a great way for the client or the ticket requester to collect images they like and want to easily share with others. An iStock account is not required. Start at www.istockphoto.com > select “Boards” in the top right corner > click “Create New Board.” From here, mousing over any iStock photo on the site will prompt you with “Save” and you can then select what Board to save it to. After you have placed images in the Board, you may share the link with anyone to view the photos.