Laughing Stock: Avoid these stock image tropes at all costs

Stock imagery is a necessary evil of the publishing industry. In its earliest days, it was considered gauche — an insincere substitute for a unique, tailored concept — that instantly branded its media vehicle as cheap. While the truth of that original philosophy may persist, there are thousands of publications that would be otherwise unable to afford imagery at all. The best magazine designers have learned to use stock as a starting point, building upon it to render visual solutions that are distinct, even as their origins are common.

But sadly, those are the exceptions, not the rule. Too many publications insert images straight from the stock vendor with little to no evidence of adjustment or even conceptual suitability. The worst examples typically illustrate the very blandest ideas in business metaphors: teamwork, advancement and creative thought.

Here are three of the most common stock tropes to eliminate from your magazine’s library:

1.     You’re Going the Wrong Way

Boat crews are a time-honored visual metaphor for teamwork. It’s not a bad idea in and of itself: There’s a coxswain, usually sitting in for a CEO or other corporate leader, commanding a team of relative equals to row in unison in order to achieve victory.

However, there’s a widespread error in how many, if not most, of these teams are depicted. See if you can spot the problem…

Yes, that’s right: They’re rowing the wrong way. The corporate leader with the binoculars is pointing dramatically at where the boat has been, not where it’s going. Inattention to detail is rife within the stock image industry. If an error like this finds its way into print, rest assured that someone in the readership will notice. There are worse crimes, but every tiny inaccuracy undermines the authority of your editorial voice. If you wouldn’t take a typo casually, there’s no reason to be any more complacent about a dumb illustration.

2.     Beautiful People

There’s been a welcome proliferation of authentic-styled stock photo vendors in the past few years, featuring real, flawed human beings instead of professional models. But the high volume of model-staffed imagery is still smothering. When searching for photos that demonstrate, for example, employee diversity, you’re as likely as not to be presented with an image like this:

These individuals may check many of the gender, race and ability-themed checkboxes, but they still share a few improbable characteristics: perfect hair, skin and clothing. Nothing screams “inauthentic” louder than a roomful of objectively pretty people. And what a room! Everything about it screams “startup” except its massive assembly of gorgeous human specimens and their comically undersized conference table. The collective implausibility of these details can only be overlooked by readers who scan your magazine as fast as possible — not exactly your target audience.

3.     Cliché Away!

Clichéd images drag down magazine layouts in the same way that tired metaphors drag down a narrative. That said, if used in surprising ways, clichés can be revealing or even humorous. But there’s nothing insightful about this one:

It’s been years, if not decades, since some bright illustrator noticed the potential similarity between a lightbulb filament (an anachronism in our age of LEDs and compact fluorescents) and the human brain. It was a great observation at the time, but the analogy is officially played out. This isn’t a criticism of this particular rendering — indeed, it’s got pleasing linework and is refreshingly unfussy — but of the tiredness of using light bulbs to convey thoughts or ideas. Can this — or any —clichéd metaphor be used in a new and surprising way? Absolutely, and it should be.  But mindlessly grabbing the same ubiquitous illustrations demonstrates one of two things: apathy or banality.

Stock imagery should be thought of as raw material. A superior and original picture can be made from stock sources, if you’re willing to put in the thought and time to alter them to suit your content. Stock photographers and illustrators expect this, and often build in the means for other artists down the line to manipulate their imagery with relative ease.

Remember: If you can place a stock image from off the shelf in your publication, so can a thousand others. Make sure your audience can see that you care.

Need tips on customizing stock? Drop us a line at contact@quartocreative.com.