New iStock study: 94% of respondents believe mental and physical health are equally important

In recognition of World Mental Health Day, iStock, a leading ecommerce platform providing premium visual content to SMBs, SMEs, creatives and students everywhere, has released guidelines on the use of imagery to effectively communicate mental health issues without stereotyping or triggering those suffering.  New data from iStock’s research platform Visual GPS shows that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on people’s mental health with 1 in 5 people globally stating their biggest source of worry is their continued feelings of discomfort or anxiety and their mental health. The research shows that 94% of respondents believe that it is equally important…

Read More

iStock Tips for Visualising Authentic Representation of People with Disabilities for SMBs and SMEs

Today, on Global Accessibility Awareness Day, iStock celebrates the three-year anniversary of The Disability Collection, launched in partnership with Verizon Media and the National Disability Leadership Alliance (NDLA) to depict authentic, diverse representations of people with disabilities in media, marketing and advertising.   According to iStock Visual GPS research, nearly 8 in 10 people globally expect that the businesses they engage with are consistently committed to inclusivity and diversity in their visual communications. The data also reveals that 6 out of 10 people prefer to buy from businesses that are…

Read More

New data from iStock shows an increase in UK businesses supporting Ramadan in 2021

As the Holy Month of Ramadan ends, iStock, a leading global source of visual content, can reveal more UK businesses are searching for content for advertising campaigns in support of “Ramadan” and “Eid”. Year on year iStock customers increased searches by 20% for visuals of “Ramadan” and an increase of over 80% for searches of the traditional Arabic greeting “Eid Mubarak”. UK businesses are also increasing their searches for visual content that represents the UK Muslim community as a whole. From 2019 to 2020 iStock saw an increase in searches…

Read More

Visualizing Sustainability in our More Empathetic World By Rebecca Rom-Frank, Creative Insights Researcher, iStock

We don’t often do Guest Posts but we thought that this post from Rebecca Rom-Frank, the Creative Insights Researcher at iStock would be of interest and value to our readers, thanks to Rebecca: This year, Earth Day, celebrated globally on April 22, took place in a changed world. After a year of a global pandemic and social justice movements, consumers now expect brands to communicate with greater empathy than ever before. At iStock, global customer searches for “solar panels on roof” and “sustainable finance” rose significantly in 2020, along with…

Read More

iStock data reveals UK brands and businesses used images of mothers home-schooling three times more than fathers in visualising life in the pandemic

iStock, a leading global source of visual content, has revealed customer download data which shows that UK brands and businesses are relying on old gender stereotypes when visualising life in the pandemic.  The data shows that in the last year, iStock customers in the UK downloaded visuals of mothers home-schooling children over three times more than visuals of fathers doing home-schooling. The data also details that in 2020 the top selling image relating to home-schooling in the UK is an image of a father working on a laptop, while a mother sits on the same kitchen table helping her son with homework, which further reinforces outdated and harmful gender stereotypes.    Additionally,…

Read More