Quick guide to images

This section helps you find out how others have used images effectively and creatively. It helps you learn how to find, create, edit, share great images, with an emphasis on photographs, comics, maps and simple animated images

You will also find the power of images throughout Message in-a-Box, eg. in websites, blogs, guerilla marketing, video and animation.

 

 

Images add impact to stories, blog posts, websites, posters,brochures, email campaigns - whatever campaigning channels and tools you are using.

What do you need?

Essential: ideas, creativity, imagination, a strategy.

Extra: people to help, internet access, mobile phone
and/or a camera (digital or other), source books/comics/cartoons
collected from anywhere or commissioned.

Where can you use your images?

Once you have your images ready you can use them in a wide variety of channels:

  • Publications - in newsletters, brochures, posters, reports.
  • Online - email campaigns, websites, blogs, e-print brochures, books etc.
  • Video - as still images in a video production. A video can be made almost entirely from still images, which is particularly helpful when you are using archival material.
  • Photo activism -encouraging the grassroots collections and widespread sharing of images (eg. Zimbabwe - Mugabe's Mansion, torture images at...)

Ideas for how to use images

  • Use people and faces to give your campaigns a personal touch.
    It could also introduce your organisation to the people you meet.
  • Complement testimonials: photos of your work and the people involved, giving a ‘human feel’ to what you do.
  • Make an entire campaign focus on one or a series of strong images.
One example of this is The 16 Guidelines materials prepared by Essential Education. They focus on 16 international role models to illustrate each guideline to happiness, from Albert Einstein to Gandhi. In some cases (eg. one face on a poster), powerful images are used, in others (eg. in the book) illustrations of the photographs have been made to avoid copyright infringement.

Illustrations & cartoons

Illustrations and cartoons have been used for communicating ideas,
issues, for political satire, adding visual impact and generally making
waves for an extremely long time. Many reproduce well online and in
print. A simple black line drawing can be photocopied or printed in one
colour.

 

How to find great illustrations & cartoons

  • Ask someone to draw them or let you use one.
  • Search Google Images. Use cartoon or illustration in your search expression.
  • Try dedicated sites like http://www.cartoonstock.com as well as image sharing sites like Flickr that also host illustrations, cartoons and other forms of graphic art.
  • Collect them from magazines, newspapers, by photographing posters.
  • Make your own!
  • Ask your supporters to suggest good resources.

Remember, some of the simplest cartoons are often the best.

Copyright & other legal issues

Don't forget to read our introduction to copyright. You might also need to think about privacy. Be sure you have traced the owner of the copyright before redistributing shared material. In the online world, images travel fast and it is often hard to know where they came from and who owns the copyright. While this might or might not present serious legal impications (eg. you can always remove an image from a website, but not from a poster campaign) there is are ethical questions to consider also. Each organisation will need to look at this on a case by case basis. For more on this issue, look at .......

Sokwanele - interactive violence map

Practical help with images

Don't forget to look at what you can do with the free software included with Message in-a-Box, like GIMP.

GIMP is a really powerful tool for such tasks as photo retouching, image
composition and image authoring. It allows you to many practical and essential things with images including:

  • create graphics and logos
  • resize and crop
    photos
  • combine images
  • remove unwanted image
    features
  • convert between different image formats
  • create animated images
  • prepare images for websites.

Get visual!

Above all else, remember an enduring image, a witty cartoon or an engaging visual can have
the power to engage your audience and promote your campaign. Whether
you want to shock, wake up, amuse or give information - a picture
really can tell a thousand words.

Let's take action with images. More here about finding images, grass roots comics and simple animation - then get started on some mini-projects to develop your skills.

[Emphasis Box]

Have your read our Message in-a-box Strategy Overview yet?
Go there and save your valuable time and resources. Make sure
your images fit with your goals, audience, situation and messages.

 

 

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