Squarespace with Unsplash, a very handy combination
Unsplash, a free crossover of stock photography and social media, was integrated into the Squarespace admin area with little fanfare back in November.
We feel this is a big deal on two fronts; it will heavily feature as part of our one-day workshops and online Squarespace online courses (launching early 2019), as well as being an extremely handy resource for our sample layouts and prototypes.
Since the joining up of Unsplash and Squarespace, we have made great use of the photography provided, however, the vast majority of images have been used as placeholders to give a client a more accurate reflection of the direction the project is heading. We have subscribed to Adobe Stock for a number of years and the wider selection of professional shots give us a suitable alternative to planned photo shoots.
“When it comes to creating a memorable online presence, adding fresh, professional imagery is absolutely crucial. However, we frequently hear from our customers that finding the right imagery is one of the biggest challenges to launching a new website. After all, you just came up with your big idea. You may not have a ton of visuals that support it just yet. ”
The PixelHaze view
With the rise of image driven social media (looking at you Instagram), there is a growing concern of yet another seismic shift in the professional photography industry (the last major change was with the switchover to digital). There are even a handful of ‘the end is nigh’ placard waring doom merchants claiming the end of the industry as we know it. Our view is slightly different.
Unsplash and other photo-driven social media channels have offered us an extra (and very handy) solution for projects, but in many cases they can not provide a like-for-like solution. The majority of of graphic and web designers I have worked with will always choose a professional photo shoot over stock photography. They provide solutions that are more inline with your project brief and the resulting photos really take your website or design literature up a notch. I have been very fortunate to work with a number of outstanding photographer in Wales over the past 15 or so years and have no plans for any change in approach soon.
Having said that, we are delighted that Unsplash has been added to our ever-growing toolkit, especially for our clients and start-ups on a budget.
