Houston-based Inmagine has announced an upmarket addition to its microstock property,
123rf.com. EVO is a new image label that will market the work of top 123rf contributors at midstock prices.
Vice president of sales and marketing Stephanie Sitt described EVO's launch as "the dawning of a new breed of imagery that is especially relevant to the dynamic and changing needs of clients." The new label will be marketed alongside the existing micro-priced inventory on 123rf.com. EVO image thumbnails will be marked with its logo to distinguish them from other search results. The pricing system will be four-tiered, beginning with Silver per-image pricing of 5 to 20 credits. Gold, Titanium and Platinum tiers have price tags ranging from 10 to 160 credits per image.
Contributions to EVO are by invitation only. Approved contributors can submit up to 20 images per day, though the approval process will be more stringent than for micro-priced imagery. The collection aims to grow by adding 500 to 1,000 new images daily. In the future, Inmagine plans to integrate compatible third-party libraries into the EVO collection.
Sitt said that the brand targets clients who seek affordable imagery with some level of exclusivity, which warrants a small premium. She expects EVO to attract new, more sophisticated customers.
This launch comes less than a month after Inmagine added IRIS, an individual-photographers submission service, to its traditional stock offering. Project manager Alex P'ing said the company was looking to market fresher, professionally produced content. He added that IRIS offered pro shooters an opportunity to get their images to market substantially quicker than the six-month waiting period typical to traditional agencies.
With over 2 million images and some 5,000 contributors, 123rf has counted among the top microstock Web sites since its launch in 2005. The launches of IRIS and EVO suggest that Inmagine is intent on retaining this position in the micro segment, often prophesized to be the future of image licensing by industry insiders. Professional photographers should note that 123rf offers a higher-than-usual 50% contributor commission. With EVO's midstock pricing and the promise of a new distribution channel, the microstock Web site could offer pro shooters an opportunity to diversify.