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Digital signage graphics: Where to find them

Do you struggle to find new digital signage graphics to keep your communications exciting? You may have graphics at your fingertips and not even know it.

September 11, 2015 by Sean Matthews — President & CEO, Visix, Inc.

Do you struggle to find new digital signage graphics to keep your communications exciting? You may have graphics at your fingertips and not even know it.

Look inside

Marketing teams are rich in presentation materials, and all of those images they've used on your brochures and print materials should be accessible to you upon request. In some cases, they may even have an image library that you didn't know about.

Your online content can also be a great resource. Pull graphics from your Internet or intranet pages, or grab images from the Web with Web page messages. Marketing and design teams can often provide JPEG, GIF and Flash files that make great message additions.

Your department teams work hard to prepare PowerPoint presentations that have valuable information for your audiences. Photos, charts and graphs can be grabbed quickly from presentations.

Human Resources is often a great resource for training and productivity slides. And if you have the latest revenue figures, productivity statistics or new schedules, why not share them?

Go fetch

Microsoft provides an extensive searchable library of clip art. Remember that clip art is no longer limited to goofy cartoons – you can search photos and illustrations in various sizes and categories: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/

One of our favorite sites to purchase images is http://www.shutterstock.com/. Shutterstock subscriptions start at just $49 for 5 photos, but the best deal is a one-month subscription for $249 that allows you to download up to 750 images. The search by color feature is a huge advantage, and the site offers photos, illustrations, and vectors.

Both www.istock.com and www.jupiterimages.com offer excellent royalty-free collections of photos, video and audio.

There are many sites online offering free graphics. Simply search for "free graphics" and make sure that the images you use are also noted as royalty free.

Don't discount your own creativity. Grab a digital camera and take your own photos or use a desktop scanner to scan in flat items and textures.

Make it clear

If you're inserting your graphic onto a message background, make sure it is clear and legible. Contrast is the primary factor for legibility – poor contrast reduces legibility, good contrast improves legibility. Use light graphics on dark backgrounds, and vice versa.

If possible, eliminate any surrounding background around the graphic before importing it or crop it to highlight only the relevant visual material.

If you're working to match brand standards or color themes, select graphics that complement your visual scheme but still add excitement to grab attention.

No matter what, don't let your graphic overpower important text. Consider the complete design.

Work the crowd

Consider your audience and their demographics and preferences when choosing graphics.

If using photos of people, make sure to include various age, race and gender examples.

Factor in cultural differences across geographic and social boundaries. Some images may have inherent symbolism attached to them.

Keep it legal

Never use graphics that don't belong to you. Grabbing an image off Google or someone else's website without permission is illegal. If you're using stock photography, make sure you stay within the limits of your purchase agreement.

(Image courtesy of jscreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)

About Sean Matthews

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A veteran of the visual communications industry, Sean Matthews is the president and CEO of Visix, Inc., a company that provides content management software, award-winning content and room sign solutions to help organizations communicate better.

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