04 · 28

How can words stimulate images?

Want an image on your site? Or a new background for your blog? You can’t find it without words. Don’t believe me? Try searching through istockphoto without any words. Doesn’t work very well does it? Problem is, even with words, sometimes finding the right image isn’t easy. So, the better title for this post really should be “how can the right words stimulate images”. The question that follows would then be, how do you find the right words? You have to narrow down what you are looking for. Check out the example below of how I narrowed down the right words to find the image above from istockphoto:
  • I wanted an image of a girl
    • I also wanted it to be a silhouette
      • And a vector so it could be modified
        • But I wanted her to be young
          • And I wanted her to have a bit of arrogance in the pose
            • In a dress
But, you can’t search for all of that! So, how would I find that image? I could search for “girl and silhouette” but that turns back 5055 results, and I certainly don’t want to look through that many. So what do I add to narrow it down? Well, I know I want a vector, so I can go into the settings of search for istock and check off vector. Or, I can add one extra word into the search. The problem is what word? I want her young, in a dress and with arrogance. What type of woman can you imagine that has that? My first thought – a celebrity, a star! So, I enter “girl and silhouette and star” and presto, 55 results and she shows up number 10. The exact image I want, one search, all taken care of! I will warn that it has taken a lot of time to get to the right words for all my images, but it all starts with a little brainstorming and testing. Go ahead, try it!
Kirsten Wright is a freelance blogger and graphic designer from Orange County. Her experience spans social media, traditional marketing and many years in writing/editing. She is active in twitter and can be found @kirstenwright. Her personal and business blog, http://www.wrightcreativity.com focuses on the ways that you can use creativity in business and in life. She writes for numerous other bloggers and offers her services by the hour or by the project.