2014 will be a awesome year for new design trends and new photography style. Don’t miss out these new trends and check out our massive list of 50 trends in photography to watch out for in 2014.
50 Stock Photos Trends x 10 Stock Agencies = Pure Awesomeness
We have reached out to our stock photo agency friends and asked them to tell us their thoughts on new trends in 2014. Based on their answers, we have compiled this massive list of 50 trends in stock photography. Now grab yourself a coffee, sit back and check out their thoughts on the these new trends (just click on the name to jump directly to their thoughts and photos): Stocksy, PeopleImages, Fotolia, PantherMedia, Photocase, IngImage, Pixta, Photospin, YayImages, Dreamstime.
Stocksy
Bruce Livingstone’s new stock agency Stocksy is very well known for their stunning style and authentic photos. Let’s see what they think about the new trends for 2014:
Last year’s it word was “authentic” and brought a dawn of striking editorial-like content to stock photography. 2014 continues on this liberating path, with specific key ingredients to make impact.
1. LUXURIOUS TEXTURES & TEXTILES
The go to surface in 2014 will be carerra marble, most notably seen in food & drink photography, complemented with other rich and often luxurious textures such as brass and gold.
2. MIRRORS, WINDOWS & REFLECTIONS
Explorations in visual storytelling will see a theme in reflective and see-through surfaces in order to give meaning to the scene.
3. REBELS
Authentic will see a rebellious tone with hints of controversy as biker, bohemian and gypsy trends emerge in lifestyle shots.
4. LARGE DINNER PARTIES
The slow food and local farming movement will continue to influence a desire to see home cooked meals, especially when displayed on large scale rustic tables with romantic place settings.
5. A FRESH TAKE ON WHITE
Photographers have refined their process of not letting studio and lighting become over-styled, with this mastery we’ll see a resurgence of white space and stark compositions, utilizing natural light, tones and reality.
PeopleImages
Yuri Arcur’s stock agency PeopleImages has stunned us with their superb image selection and different styles for 2014. Hear what Yuri has to say about the trends to watch in this year:
6. “Out with Hipster… In with MadMen!”
An obvious transfer in style is about to unfold… What we will see very shortly is a rejection of the hipster culture and ‘hippy’ elements in commercial images. The slightly ‘snobby’ trend with regards to being ecological and organic is coming to an abrupt end.
We can expect to see a more stylized old-fashioned trendy look with a Vintage twist… however; going straight from hipster to a full tailored classic suit-look would be too much too soon. I expect to see more of the following fashion items making a come-back and spark this trend change: leather shoes, bags, and belts amongst more retro accessories such as key and coin pouches, hats, cufflinks, and suitcases.
7. Waning of ‘Going Green”
Previous demands to showcase environmental concerns in commercial shoots, especially recycling, are showing a decline. This trend will still be an area of concern to portray, but not have a dominating influence. As many green interventions are being implemented, such as replacing fuel engines with electric cars and other clever environmental solutions, ‘Going Green’ is becoming a part of everyday life and is no longer just a trend.
8. Yes for Techno
New innovative emerging technology is driving techno gear and devices to be prominently included in images. Examples of these would be Smart Watches, 3D printers, bendable phones, ( LG Flex) Google glasses, self driving cars as well as other amazing technology advances. These high tech devices will probably be portrayed as functional ‘day to day’ requirements going forward, especially for the young and upcoming consumer. Be cautious when shooting emerging technology as a topic as it will be out-dated as soon as it arrives.
9. Grey and Natural Tones
I predict we will see a gradual move away from the popular bright and colourful fashion look and move towards the more classical, neutral and less ‘noisy’ colour pallets. Grey and natural tones will become more popular in the fashion trends of the near future.
10. New Gear
New flagship cameras from Nikon and Cannon in particular will be something to look forward to and we can expect many enhanced hi-tech features to improve image quality. The same holds true for lenses, with top brands to launch vastly improved quality lenses. Third party manufacturers of lenses are stepping up their game and they might just surprise us with high quality lenses at more competitive pricing this year. Rather sit tight and wait until later this year before investing in new gear to reap the benefits of what is to come.
Fotolia
European market leader Fotolia hast just announced a new Fotolia Instant App and a new mobile collection. Watch out, their trends are not only european-style…
11. Multi-ethnic content and diversity
Think global, act local. Designers, advertisers and marketers everywhere are looking to drop the clichés and stereotypes, and are looking for photos of regular people, doing regular things, around the world.
12. Technology
We now live in a networked world, and people are looking for photos of new wearable gadgets, networks, mobile phones and photos or illustrations that represent these concepts.
13. The Future
Creating a better life for future generations, investing in education, and the green economy – signs that the world is changing. Images that give us hope for a better world
14. Sports
Fotolia is in it to win! With the Sochi Olympics around the corner in 2014, and the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil, sports and action shots are hot.
15. Living in the moment
Fotolia’s new mobile photo collection, Instant, is an instant hit! Just a few months in, and the collection already has over 3000 images that were shot candidly. Increasingly, people are looking for spontaneous, in-the-moment shots. Instant contributor says I never imagined this “snapshot” would be one of my best selling images on Fotolia,” about his best-selling image.
16. Fotolia’s Extra Tip:
Styles: Retro images with filters, bright colors, and a more instagram-like feel piquing the interest of designers. Mixed styles, retro or vintage feel, and anything hipster will make its way to the top of the list.
Panthermedia
No worries, Munich based Panthermedia will not show you any Wheatbeer and Oktoberfest photos but a very distinguished selection on trends for 2014:
Flat design has shaped the web in 2013 and has emerged from the “innovators stage” into the “majority stage”. So, a lot of design components will be sold into that category, e.g. vectors, icons, backgrounds, pure images with a lot of copy space and blurred backgrounds. Producing for this kind of design helps you sell images and illustrations.
But what’s beyond flat design and what are other ways to produce artistic work that sells? From our perspective, we see these five trends:
17. Regional
Producing for the mass market is fine, but think of regional photography and design. Examples: road signs, electronic equipment like plugs, fashion, construction work, architecture…everything looks different all around the planet. It has never been more crucial to offer and display local stuff.
18. Conceptual
Come on, type in “USP” for “unique selling proposition”. That is something that every presenter needs in his company presentations. Nevertheless, there is a lot of room for improvement in the search results.
19. Football
Hey, it’s the year of the worldcup…
20. Backgrounds
Industries are changing. Some years ago we had the trend to print photos on canvas (print on demand), so what’s next? Think of design-focused companies (fab.com was trending in 2013, who will shape the market in 2014 and what products will that be?)
21. Mobile street photography
A lot of images are now sourced directly from the street, and with the rise of the mobile photography, it will become part of websites and blogs.
Photocase
Well, there is a reason why Photocase is based in Berlin. They deliver authentic and real people since years and are well known for having “non-stocky” images. Let’s see if they are still in style with their trends for 2014.
Predicting upcoming trends is like with all trends. It’s hard to guess what people will like, buy or shoot in 2014. But, at Photocase, we’re in a unique position to watch the changes happening and we are sure the overall trend towards “real photos” of people will continue. Clients want more authenticity in photos. Real feelings, real emotions, real people. We’ve got plenty of photos that tick those boxes, and we get more every day.
22. Real People
Normen Gadiel / photocase.com
23. Older People
SickRick / photocase.com
24. Collection of things
Bratscher / photocase.com
25. Reality and Fiction
kallejipp / photocase.com
26. Privacy
complize / photocase.com
IngImage
The London based stock agency IngImage (which offers a 7-day free trial as well) has a very well collected database of high-end stock images. Let’s see if they meet your taste with their choice of image trends:
27. Real Cooking
With gourmet home cooking on the up, we expect a increase of photos celebrating the imperfections of real cooking and the process itself.
28. Local Insights
With so many outstanding travel portfolios out there it’s increasingly hard for photographers to get their images to the top of general searches like ‘tropical beach’ or ‘seaside town’. We predict more image of highly specific destinations, catering for local markets.
29. Immaculate 3d
Regulations surrounding copyright on designer items have becoming tighter after a few high profile cases. 3d renders other a safe alternative for artists, we expect to see a greater range of digitally rendered interiors and also further progress in the realism of these images.
30. Animal Behavior
With so many options to choose from customers expect more and more from their stock images, in addition to traditional animal photography we expect to see more challenging photos that capture unique moments & interactions.
31. Creative Work Places
The classic ‘business stock image’ is no longer the reality in many work places. We encourage forward thinking photographers will try to capture real offices with real characters.
Pixtastock
Let’s move east…. a little bit more…. to Japan based agency Pixta – well known for Asian stock photos and one of the market leader in Japan is offering their Pan-Asian content now worldwide as well. Grab 5 free credits via this special offer before you head over to their photo trends:
32. Authentic
Unnatural “Stocky” photos are out of date.
Images with higher quality and more reality will go mainstream.
33. Pan Asia
Asian ad market has been rapidly growing in these years. This potential market, consisted of a variety of races, needs more Asian images of their diverse lifestyles.
34. Asian Family
Family contents and life style contents will be needed because of the economic development in Asia.
35. Global Business
The global images will be important, which can be used across the world regardless of races or areas.
36. 3DCG
People dream many things. They will choose 3DCG because it can cast their freewheeling thinking into shape.
Photospin
Well know subscription based stock database PhotoSpin offers some of the cheapest stock photos in a subscription. Let’s ask Val, CEO of PhotoSpin what he thinks are the new photography trends in 2014:
“This year we are asking our artists to push themselves, not to follow but to look for new trends. We don’t want them to repurpose the same old concept with new models. Our goal has never been to have the biggest collection of images. Our goal is to have a higher percentage of relevant images for our customers,”
said Val Gelineau, CEO PhotoSpin, Inc.
37. Clean Images
Today clean web designs beat out overly complex designs. Thus, we’re continuing to see a strong demand for clean images that allow for type or simply the ability to drop into a design.
38. Ethnically Diverse People in Real Life Situations
2. Another trend we are seeing in 2014 are photos of ethnically diverse people in real life situations, blue collar workers, and business people dressed in casual attire.
39. Unique Concept Imagery
There is an increase in demand for unique and concept imagery. These images will command a premium price that will limit the number of customers who can afford or use a specific image.
40. Politics
Global and domestic politics will play a roll in the creation of new images, effecting mostly editorial content.
41. Art
Art imitates reality so expect to see this come up in stock imagery as well.
Yay Images
The new established image streaming agency Yay Images has provided following 3 trends they see for 2014. These images are actually “streamed” from their servers directly into this post.
42. Infographics + Flat design + Fewer colors
43. Realism
44. Streaming
Dreamstime
Well know microstock agency Dreamstime has collected not only new image trends but also market trends. Their predictions for 2014 are very futuristic and remind us that drones, 3D printing and Justin Bieber are real in 2014.
45. Search marketing trends & personalization
2014 is the year of content, so designers must create the best experiences around it and get the best of it. Designers need to avoid ignoring search marketing trends, hence there will be more demand for content. Project managers will rethink websites’ construction as the request for an easier navigation has been already demanded for some years. It’s time for users to find fast and easy what they’re looking for. Moreover, 2014 is the year of mobile devices. Websites will probably be overcome by the usage of mobile apps so we have to smooth the path for designers.
46. 3D Printing
A new star is born: 3D printing. With small steps, it will become a mainstream that companies and agencies will try to get the best of. Not fully accessible or top performance, but this is a new experience that can be provided to watchers.
47. Justin Bieber
You heard it right, 2014 will show more news from Justin Bieber. For good or for worse, his carreer appears to have some hickkups and 2014 will be a year of change for him. The female star of the year is Miley Cyrus who’s made some not-so-flattering waves in 2013.
48. Commercial Space Flights
Virgin Galactic is expected to enter suborbital space by launching commercial space flight in 2014. Expect Richard Branson to make an announcement that will make this niche industry interesting for more companies and investors. Expect Richard Branson to put on an astronaut costume and fly to the Great Space himself. Wave hands!
49. Drones
The revolution of technology will continue with the use of drones. They will become more widespread from government, to commerce, to personal use and controversy will continue to grow around them as well. High performance is the keyword.
50. Extra Trend – Sochi Olympics
Winter Olympics will begin soon in one of the most controversial event in the history. Controversies were sparked by Russia’s protection towards Edward Snowden, its support for Syria’s government or laws that forbid promoting “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors but there was little success to threaten the Olympics with a boycott from Western Governments. It’s worth mentioning that neither Barack Obama, Joseph Biden, François Hollande nor Joachim Gauck will attend.
All images provided and © by certain stock agencies