Global Design Trends 2013: Decline In Photo Use

Posted on 3/28/2013 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (0)

Shutterstock has released an infographic that forecasts several design trends for the year ahead. In 2012 Shutterstock delivered 76 million image downloads giving them a wealth of data from which to draw conclusions.

For photographers, one of the most interesting insights is the trend toward less use of photos relative to illustration.

  2005 2012
Photos 89% 61%
Illustrations 6% 29%
Vectors 5% 10%



Based on Shutterstock downloads designer seem to be relying much more on illustration and scalable vectors to meet the demands of mobile and web design. Consider the top 50 downloads for 2012. Only 11 of them were photographs. Everything else was a vector or illustration.

Also take a look at a current Wired Magazine story about how “Hyper-Realistic CGI is Killing Photographers, Thrilling Product Designers.” There are still a lot of photos being used, but it in coming years it may become harder and harder to sell them.

The trendiest keywords for the year are: Vintage, Social Media, Retro, Infographic, Green, Icon, Dogs, Cats, Macro, Global, Minimalism, Hipster, Tattoo and App.



Some of the broader trends are Green, Nostalgia and Geometric. Keywords associated with these trends include:
    Green (with keywords Green, Environmental, Organic, Eco, Sustainable)
    Nostalgia (with keywords Antiques, vintage, heritage, classic, retro)
    Geometric (with keywords Pixel Art, Digital, Geographical, Patterns, 8 bit)
Here's a comparison of the number of images in the Shutterstock collection on some of these subjects and the number of downloads in 2012 of the subjects.



    2012
  Images Downloads
Green 4.6 million 13.7 million
Nostalgia 2.7 million 12 million
Macro 2.9 million 7.9 million
Global 710,000 3.5 million
Minimalism 410,000 1.8 million
Geometric 5.6 million 1.4 million

In 2012 compared to 2011 there was increased use by designers of imagery for Apps, Packaging and Infographics.
    Apps – a 134% increase in downloads of buttons and icons by mobile developers
    Packaging – a 60% increase in the use prize worthy ribbons and stamps for labels
    Infographics – a 525% increase in elements and templates that could be used along with data to create compelling infographics
For the video shooters there is a lot of interest in: Stop Motion, Action POV, Slow Motion and 3D.

Check out these links for sample images of Green, Geometric and Minimalism. Note how few photographs appear among these selections.

For more insights be sure to review the infographic.


Copyright © 2013 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

Comments

Be the first to comment below.

Post Comment

Please log in or create an account to post comments.

Stay Connected

Sign up to receive email notification when new stories are posted.

Follow Us

Free Stuff

Stock Photo Pricing: The Future
In the last two years I have written a lot about stock photo pricing and its downward slide. If you have time over the holidays you may want to review some of these stories as you plan your strategy ...
Read More
Future Of Stock Photography
If you’re a photographer that counts on the licensing of stock images to provide a portion of your annual income the following are a few stories you should read. In the past decade stock photography ...
Read More
Blockchain Stories
The opening session at this year’s CEPIC Congress in Berlin on May 30, 2018 is entitled “Can Blockchain be applied to the Photo Industry?” For those who would like to know more about the existing blo...
Read More
2017 Stories Worth Reviewing
The following are links to some 2017 and early 2018 stories that might be worth reviewing as we move into the new year.
Read More
Stories Related To Stock Photo Pricing
The following are links to stories that deal with stock photo pricing trends. Probably the biggest problem the industry has faced in recent years has been the steady decline in prices for the use of ...
Read More
Stock Photo Prices: The Future
This story is FREE. Feel free to pass it along to anyone interested in licensing their work as stock photography. On October 23rd at the DMLA 2017 Conference in New York there will be a panel discuss...
Read More
Important Stock Photo Industry Issues
Here are links to recent stories that deal with three major issues for the stock photo industry – Revenue Growth Potential, Setting Bottom Line On Pricing and Future Production Sources.
Read More
Recent Stories – Summer 2016
If you’ve been shooting all summer and haven’t had time to keep up with your reading here are links to a few stories you might want to check out as we move into the fall. To begin, be sure to complet...
Read More
Corbis Acquisition by VCG/Getty Images
This story provides links to several stories that relate to the Visual China Group (VCG) acquisition of Corbis and the role Getty Images has been assigned in the transfer of Corbis assets to the Gett...
Read More
Finding The Right Image
Many think search will be solved with better Metadata. While metadata is important, there are limits to how far it can take the customer toward finding the right piece of content. This story provides...
Read More

More from Free Stuff