Call for Content
Authentic people and personalities
Realistic, accurate, and unfiltered images of diverse people and personalities are more in demand among stock buyers than ever.
Inclusivity
Casting as diverse as our world
Today’s clients work with imagery that represents positive and vibrant lives across all types of identities, ages, body types, communities, and abilities.
- Include varied ages, genders, body types, skin tones, races, religions, backgrounds, and abilities — especially in food, fitness, and at-home beauty imagery.
- Consider diverse family configurations (like single parents, multiple generations, caregivers)
- Include LGBTQ+ representation including families and all ages
- Models with a range of characters, personalities, and emotional expressions
Styling
Let personalities shine
- Wardrobes, hair, makeup, and accessories should be on-trend, realistically reflect the situation and characters, and reflect cultural and/or regional concepts of beauty
- Show fresh faces and natural looks, minimal or no-makeup looks
- Compose images to make it easy for brands to include logos or copy.
- Submit series that offer a range of emotions and POVs.
Portraits
Play with the fourth wall
- Capture people with varying degrees of camera awareness.
- Include bold portraits with models looking at the camera.
- Show candid, nuanced expressions and personal moments: Use fly-on-the wall, reportage-style coverage in which people are engaged in an activity and looking away from the camera
Considerations for your productions
We’re seeing these aspects, themes, and topics consistently in demand with stock buyers, designers, and brand clients. Consider the following when creating:
Locations
Realistic places and spaces
- Stories set in a specific location should offer a window into the world of the subject or character.
- Style and choose locations that reflect social, professional, and personal lives and cultures distinct to a local area, region, or country—especially if they’re unique.
- Choose places that highlight a specific, personal narrative.
Locations
Appealing environments
- Create environments that are appealing or even aspirational but also attainable and realistic. Interiors are more successful when they appear authentically, lightly lived-in and clutter-free.
- The transition from real life to studio should feel seamless. Sets should feel authentic, so bring in simple styling elements like rugs, chairs, and plants to create different moods.
Post-Production
Retouching and composition
Imperfect is the new perfect. Customers across industries are looking for images of people that more accurately represent them. Brands are moving in a more natural direction, committing to limited skin retouching and zero body retouching. Tips:
- Color-correct to enhance the overall look and feel of the image, such as by adjusting brightness and contrast.
- Remove imperfections in areas that don’t affect the individual characteristics of the person
- Remove wrinkles on blouses or backgrounds
- Avoid retouching to change the texture or color of a person’s skin or eye color
- Avoid retouching to manipulate the shape, size, or proportion of a model’s body or specific features.
Themes and Topics
Inclusion and belonging
Inclusive visuals that convey the experience of daily life and connection create profound responses.
Ideas for your productions:
- People showing affection or appreciation for the company they’re with, whether that includes family, friends, colleagues, or bystanders
- Unlikely or rare pairings of people of different backgrounds or physical appearances to show community-building
- Convey understanding and being part of a unit or team through body language
Themes and Topics
Leadership and knowledge
Customers across all sectors request imagery presenting a diverse range of people in positions of power and leadership. Whether you’re showing management or mentorship, making diverse examples of leadership more visible helps build awareness, opportunities, and empowerment for all.
- Feature leaders who demonstrate authority, confidence, and responsibility, including executives, athletes, rescue workers, activists
- Show scenes that focus on the road to achievement of a common goal
- Center individuals from historically underrepresented groups in positions of leadership
Themes and Topics
Nurturing and compassion
Visual storytelling built on connection, compassion, and tender moments resonates deeply, especially as many have been experiencing isolation due to the pandemic and the increased digitization of daily life.
- Stories about physical and emotional connection, led by caregivers and unpretentious, relatable characters
- Tender moments between individuals, including people providing service
- Behind-the-scenes advocacy or healthcare work
- Sets of images that reveal an arc of emotions
Explore more calls for stock content
- https://main--stock--adobecom.hlx.page/pages/artisthub/get-inspired/creative-trends/design-trend-heritage-craft-call-for-stock-content
- https://main--stock--adobecom.hlx.page/pages/artisthub/get-inspired/creative-trends/visual-trend-prioritize-our-planet-call-for-stock-content
- https://main--stock--adobecom.hlx.page/pages/artisthub/learn/research-insights/industry-insights-higher-education