BrightQube, a new Web-based stock-licensing business located in New York, has officially launched with 2 million images. The collection features 22 brands, including Blend, Corbis RF and PhotoAlto, among others.
The Ajax-based search engine, dubbed Dynamic Mosaic, is as impressive as promised during beta testing. It presents up to 60 pages of images simultaneously, enabling the buyer to pan, zoom and review details of multiple images at once. Images can be sorted by 37 collections, using over 40 million title keywords and 100 million keyword searches.
Though some skeptics may dismiss BrightQube as just another distributor, the company is banking on presenting the image buyer with an entirely new, user-centric search experience. Beyond the basic keyword and thumbnail previews offered by most agencies, the layout of BrightQube's search results capitalizes on a visual artist's ability to review dozens of concepts at once. Also, users don't have to load multiple pages, and the search is controlled by intuitive, drag-handle filters that allows you to tweak criteria, such as resolution and price.
BrightQube also offers the standard trimmings, including lightboxes, prices from micro to traditional and e-commerce capabilities that honor PayPal among other payment methods. Finally, buyers don't have to sign up to make purchases, though a membership facility that helps to personalize the service is readily available.
Industry veteran Lee Corkran, BrightQube founder and CEO, says that the Dynamic Mosaic taps into an image inventory that was largely unseen until now.