image
a concrete representation, as in art, literature, or music, that is expressive or evocative of something else
a little bit of white space
Stock Images
More often than not I receive emails or phone calls from potential clients that need help only with their images, most of the time people selling products online. Their usual complaints are: "My images are not crisp enough, can you change that?" or even worse, "My products look bad on the web".
The answer is: Yes and no. Yes, that can be changed if you have the originals. No, I can not improve the ones that are already online if they are pixelated or too small.
Some designers are still preparing images for dialup internet connections. Back in the 90's it was just important to show images fast, no matter the quality. Those days are long gone. We are now moving into the video era so it's time to stop worrying about making images weigh less than 2kb.
I am not suggesting you should make your images unnecessarily heavy, but there is a good balance in web design. All you need to know are the right numbers when exporting your images. And yes, I know them!
And this is where stock images come into play. Start with a good photo so the results are the best you can get. Most people can't afford a good photographer when they need their images taken. If that's your case, consider using stock images. They are not expensive and the result will be 10 times better.
And if you need a suggestion, I recommend Shutterstock.
