If you are putting together a blog post, newsletter, or presentation, you probably know how tedious it can be to find good quality stock images for visual appeal.
To break up the monotony, here is a fun game you can play. Give yourself 1 point every time you come across one of these images, and 2 extra points if you get the bonus. Reach 100 and you get the rest of the day off! (Ok, maybe not, but you can at least get a good chuckle out of it.)
- People in suits shaking hands – bonus points if they are multi-cultural. 2018 update: Fist bumps are also allowed.
- Overly happy co-workers – bonus points if they are all using one computer or also include a handshake
- Hands holding the earth or a plant – bonus points if there are both
- Anything with an “@” sign – bonus points for a techy-looking grid or numbers in the background
- Faceless 3D blob people – bonus points if they are holding 3D objects like pencils
- Jigsaw puzzles – bonus points if they use business jargon
- Graphics with goofy fonts – bonus points if it's comic sans or a 90s computer font
- Thumbs up for any reason – bonus points if there is maniacal smile behind it
- Anything with the word “success” or “quality” in it – bonus points if the word “teamwork” is also included
- Silhouette people – bonus points if any of the above are also included!
On a more serious note, please do avoid these types of images for your business marketing. They are cliched and unprofessional. The content you are presenting should be your focus, so if you can't find an appropriate image, just leave it out. See below for some suggestions on other ways to give your content visual appeal.
Tips & Tricks
If you are short on time or budget to find good quality stock images, consider these options instead:
- Use numbers or bullet lists icons in a decorative way
- Use larger or bolder fonts for titles as your focal point
- Add pulled quotes to break up a page of text
- Give section headings a colored background or border
- Use parts of images stylistically, rather than a whole image
- Use white space and margins to give your content some breathing room.
Image source: Pixabay.com has plenty of free, good quality images, but the images included in this post are a few of the duds I found while making this list.