Royalty free stock image agency Stocksy United rolled out a change to the artist profile/landing pages on the site, and boy, I think buyers are really going to dig this. It really adds a new way to organically move around the site, brainstorming and discovering content you didn’t know you were looking for.
The first big change on the artist page (here’s mine) is that there’s now a huge header background image of the artist’s choice. A great way for the artist to customize for their brand, something which can be backed up by the new short bio or statement under the avatar overlay. Little things like this that let an artist make their “home” page more their own is something we always asked for over on that other site “that must not be named”.
What’s even cooler, though, is the artist’s ability to pick out a selection of their favorite images they want to highlight, and display them at the top of their portfolio, under the aptly named “showcase” sorting.
The artist’s selection is followed up by images that have high “likes” from the community, or have been curated by editors. So, it really is a great overview of the best work from that artist. This is the default sort of a portfolio that a buyer will see upon visiting this page. Previously, images were just presented in order of “latest” which is the second option in the image above.
A buyer can also see the artist’s work separated into “shoots”, which is an internal term for a collection of images that were shot at the same time, or in the same way. Here’s an example:
For example, you can see all of my “ice skating” images by clicking on the second image, or all of my “gym” images from that day with the image in the bottom row. There’s a small number overlaid in the top left of each image to indicate the size of the shoot collection. So, that’s one way to get a quick glance of what a photographer has available in the catalog and it may lead you to explore some topics you weren’t expecting.
Another way is to look at the “gallery” page. A Stocksy “gallery” is a collection around a theme, instead of just a specific stock session. Themes like “backgrounds” or a specific holiday, or “My Business Images”.
These collections are named and maintained by the artist, and the cover image gives a quick peek at what you’ll find inside. Looking at a page full of gallery thumbnails is really inspiring and just makes you want to click down and into every one to see more, but even just looking at the thumbs are pretty tasty. Again, if you like an artist’s style, what a great way to delve further into their collection and move around.
Don’t forget, once you click into an actual image, the shoots and galleries that image is in are listed below the image, so you don’t have to go back to the profile to see more.
Happy Friday, and check back next week as I’ll be “showcasing” a few new stock image series. Thanks!
