How stock art could be harming your brand
2018-05-17
There is no doubt that stock photos are cheap and ever so convenient. However, it’s important to remember that stock art is completely universal and lacks any personality. The same images may also be used by competitors. Generic logos, premade templates for websites and marketing material have no character of their own and are replicated all over the place.
Without a unique brand, you risk losing business – not to mention credibility and money should you be found to be using stock art images without the consent of the artist. Suddenly, the cheap and easy option is neither cheap nor easy!
Stock art will have a number of undesirable effects on your business including:
It takes away from your brand and undermines authenticity
Your brand deserves something unique and eye catching! People need to take one look at your logo and remember it. Stock art takes that away from you! You will want to stand out from your competitors and one of the best ways to do this is through good, authentic branding. Stock art is designed for the masses and designed to fit into a one-size-fits-all category. The more people who buy it, the more money the creator makes. Therefore, the most successful stock art is that which is attractive to the most people! Be consistent with your art and design choices and make sure you really capture the essence of your business. Without the uniqueness and honesty of custom designs, you will undoubtedly lose credibility and authenticity. Try using pictures of your own business instead. This will give you complete control and show your authentic voice. Your visual content should help build relationships by showing real employees doing real jobs.
You will not be able to trademark you logo
Using anything with a stock image in it will prevent you from being able to trademark your logo and seeing that the logo is your identity, this could become a real problem. You need to make sure no one can steal your design and the only legal way to do this is to trademark it!
Your brand might be mistaken for another
Can you imagine if one of your competitors ended up with a similar log to yours and similar branding because you’ve both opted for the same stock images? This is entirely plausible and could be a real problem! Losing your identity will not be the only thing you lose. You risk losing clients as well. If you don’t stand out, people may not even remember which company they opted for in the first place. The clearer the brand is, the more you’ll stand out from the crowd.
You could infringe copyright law
If your aim is to save money by using a stock image, you must make sure you are using the content legally. A lawsuit is not cheap and is no fun. Make sure you don’t violate any of the terms of use and whatever you do, don’t try to trademark it. Finally, even if you legally purchase a stock photo, if it is a stolen image, you could face a legal issue.
The best way to avoid any of this happening is to use legitimate photos from your work place and create a unique logo and visual content. You owe that much to yourself and your business!