Getting started with Hail: Photos & Illustrations

Digital publishing, just like print magazines and newspapers, is greatly enhanced by engaging imagery. You would never expect to pick up a glossy magazine and find it full from cover to cover with just text. Likewise it wouldn't be very interesting or unique if the images were all just logos or clip-art.

What the print industry discovered over centuries of publishing is that photography or illustration is the best way to draw the reader in and help tell stories. The same is true online, in fact with web surfers attention spans being famously short it may be even more relevant now.

As a general rule, you're best to choose photography or illustration for a hero image (an article's main featured image) for the following reasons:

• They're more attractive and engaging to the eye, especially if they feature people and/or faces. The best way to think about it is the sort of images you see heading off articles in those glossy print magazines.
  
  
• Generally we're presented with lots of smiling, happy people and if it's a product piece then you're likely to see people using and enjoying it, or at least the product pictured in a familiar or engaging setting. People like to see other people and if the article is trying to sell something it helps the viewer project themselves into the product or situation and see themselves benefiting from it, like the smiling, happy people in the photo.
  
  
• If there's product branding to show, then it's best done as photos of the brand in-situ, for example: business cards on a desk or being handed over, a beer label on the bottle sitting on the bar with patrons in the background, or signage behind the office reception. You'll notice for this article we've chosen an image of a happy Hail user brandishing our logo in a café — we're betting this scenario will create many more meaningful connections in the mind of the viewer than a flat logo would. Flat graphics or charts are best placed in the photo gallery section.
  
  
• Photos are not only more attractive to the eye, they're also more future-proof for the hero imagery, because they're much more flexible and forgiving of cropping in outputs like the Magazine and Yearbook, which make strong use of the focal point feature for mobile views and featured blocks.
  
  
• When it comes to photography, if you’re struggling for an image, your first stop should be sites like freeimages.com. You can create an account there and search and download images for free. You’ll find images at the correct resolution that you can legally use for any online or print application. There are also paid options like istockphoto.com. Many Flickr users have also chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons license, some of which you can legally use, even for commercial work, if you give them credit and link back to them. Finally, Shopify have an excellent list of 22 Free Stock Image Websites.
  
  
• To ensure images are future-proofed for outputs like large computer displays, digital signage and new generation retina screens, they should be uploaded at their original size. Hail will automatically resize them and create all the correct optimised dimensions and thumbnails. Even the most basic phone camera will take photos with more than enough resolution.
  
  
• If you're producing graphics to use in Hail they should be at least 2000 pixels wide for landscape orientations, or 2000 pixels high for portraits. Images taken off webpages will generally be too small and when uploaded will become very pixelated and slow to download.

At Hail we know the added impact that great imagery can bring to your content marketing. With numerous online resources and our phones having ever-higher resolution cameras there's now no excuse not to spice up your articles and publications with unique, engaging photography. 

Questions? just get in touch with our friendly team.