NOTE: To all "been doners" out there. I realize Istockphoto does this in some form but I am talking about a site that has this as its main focus. Just beacause they do it doesn't mean it is done well. This is an easy, under served, user supported idea. Images will go through an approval process to maintain a high standardand like Istock once started will continue to grow and sustain itself.

Sure. What the heck. Easy to implement, fairly clear target market, I'll vote it up.

Finally something solid that appears to be a good idea that serves both users and creators and makes money at the same time. Awesome!

Have you ever used http://www.graphicsfactory.com ?

I am not an artist but found their quality and selection variety very good and you can buy one offs of everything.

Not saying there isn't room for another or a more focused artist submission service though.

That is exactly the kind of krap you get out there. I am not just talking clip art for your newsletter or website. I mean high quality fully realized royalty free vector images, Illustrations and icons by professional artist from all over the world. So when you need an image of a hula girl for your new brochure you can find one that doesn't look like a cartoon.

Anything that gives artists a venue to create and share their work, while benefitting users with high quality illustrations is a good idea.

I support this over the Second Life Investment thing because this creates real value and the SL thing is probably just another flash-in-the-pan for middlemen and marketers.

I'm more comfortable with this idea then the SL Venture one... just not comfortable with SL economics. But it doesn't strike me as a groundbreaking idea. There's no barrier to entry except execution, and existing photo sites could implement easier by extending their platforms.

This is a great idea! This is somethign I could probally make some good coin doing!! Good luck

We all want to come up with an amazingly original idea but the bottom line is that we all really want to make money. Sometimes the best ways to make money is to discovery an unexploited niche market and exploit it. Royalty Points mean nothing if they are no profits behind them. The key to this idea is growth over time as more and more illustrations on all subjects accumulate making us more and more profitable. I am envisioning selling credits to customers in blocks (10 credits for $12.00 - 26 credits for $30.00 - 55 credits for $60.00 etc.) and making income on the front end, then paying the artist in credits, that they can, either use to purchase other illustrations or trade in for cash. Illustration go for 1 to 20 credits depending on the complexity of the artwork. Artists make money as they watch their submitted artwork sold over and over again. A single 10-credit image sold 150 times yields 1500 credits that can be cashed out for $1500.00. A popular image make a staggering amount for the artist and the credits sold can make those Royalty Points generate profits for us all.

JDOG, I appreciate that there's a niche here, its just weird that iStockPhoto or its ilk hasn't moved into the space. Do you have any insight into why that might be? Are there too many vector formats to support? Is the demand too small a slice for them to bother (if they're already doing well with bitmap). Just put yourself in their shoes and give your best guess why this niche exists. I don't know, but I'm not a vector graphics guy so I worry there's a reason and I just don't understand it. I believe there IS money to be made... unless we're overlooking something obvious.

Well, istock does offer some vector images but the selection is limited and it is far from their primary focus. Mostly you slog through hundreds or even thousands of photos to find a small percentage of vector images. Other "stock" image companies have illustrations but most are in an uneditable "rasterized" format. Also .eps and .ai files (the most common vector formats) allow reduce or enlarge an image without quality difference. (no .jpeg pixelization.) you can even pull out a single element of a complex illustration and use it; one small fee and you own it. Flattened .jpg versions can be included with each download for those who don't need or want manipulate the art. Maybe the word "Vector" is putting people off, yet the word "clip art" doesn't seem to cover it either. I do believe there is a market out there in this increasingly visual based society.

Don't limit yourself to "Vector images", there is a need for quality Digital Art, 3D Art, Video segments, Machinima assets, SL assets and now because of the renaissance of Flash, include quality Flash Animations... IStockPhotos got its reputation from photos and moved into art assets... do the inverse... "IStockArt"

go for it. make it very very easy for creative contributors to upload stuff and get paid something for it. if you build it, they will come.

Great idea.

didn't we do this already? I still like it though.

Will you create any mechanism for rating images or similar? I like the idea but I think you'll have to be careful to ensure you maintain high quality standards if that's your main selling point. Good luck with it!

somehow i am skeptical that this has already been done

doable!

PhilipH:The images will of course have to go through an approval to be accepted and a further ranking system once accepted is a great idea. Also the number of downloads is always a good indicator.

Firefox: As far as I can tell from my reasearch there is no illustration only site like this out there. It is often a lesser offshoot of the many stock photography sites out there and most of these offer the illustrations in an uneditable format like .jpg. I want these to be in a fully editable format like .eps so you can cull one element of the illustration if you like.

It seems you know what you are talking about so I give you my points.

A small thought; you could mark each vector-file with how many times it has been sold (if it's non-exclusive sales), what part of the country it has been sold to and in what type of media-segments it was intended for.

This way buyers can avoid competing ads having the same cool graphics..

Best
Torgrot

http://www.openclipart.org/ There's this, though they've had bandwidth issues in the past.

Vector does indeed kick ass, though. I'd recommend the svg format - it's the closest thing to a standard that vector has.

its cool but the name doest represent the idea =)

Check out http://wiki.inkscape.../index.php/Galleries

I'm in I already have some images/logos that I would upload. The name works for people in the know.

hi,
not being in the know about vector-files i have limited input. this might be an advantage though.
if this is a niche market and it hasn't been 'exploited' by Istock etc, you could add an element to the site that would attract general public.
tonnes of people are using their computers for creating media projects, video etc.
it was suggested in a posting on feb 15th that you don't limit yourself to vector images, go with other forms like 3d digital etc.
perhaps by including other forms of quality images you could get joe public interested in the site, which in turn could produce an audience (buying and otherwise) for the artists that are posting their works for sale.

computer arts

Yes, great idea.