The best graphic to put into your proposal is one that is custom made to address the client’s needs. We all know that.
However, sometimes we can either use a little help getting started or find ourselves looking for some stock solutions.
Here are five places you can find stock imagery and graphics for your proposals. This list comes to you courtesy of the fine people from the Proposal Development and Writing Secrets Linkedin Group.
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Brilliant list. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Couple of great sources – thank you for sharing
That’s just what we do around here…help everybody everyday! 🙂
Thanks for posting this list and links. Very helpful!
This is a good list. I would also add Flickr and Slideshare.
John using other people’s photos from Flickr in your own bids is illegal. As a graphic designer in my earlier years I strongly believe in honouring other people’s intellectual property, be it artwork, images, photography, research or stories.
I agree. Do not use someone else’s images/content without consent.
Tara – It depends on the permission stated iin the copyright permission section.. Many people will allow you to use their photos for free provided you credit the source. In these cases, the photo will have, “some rights reserved.”
If the photo says, “All Rights Reserved” ithen the photographer does not permit you to use the photo. and it shouldn’t be used without permission.
The law in almost all countries is that no copyright permission is needed to protect the image/content from reuse. By default, the image/content is always “All Rights Reserved.” BUT, as you wrote, if the creator explicitly grants rights of reuse, go for it. 🙂 Limited rights are just that–limited. It does not necessarily include reuse in some media / situations.
There are a lot of people posting to Flickr who are willing to share their pictures for free includng myself. You have to check out their terms. If it says, “some rights reserved” review their terms carefully.
I would be careful about any use of photography in a proposal. The legal implications are better left to the advice of an attorney.
Certainly, you can use a photo you took while standing in a public location. You can also purchase a license to use a photo from someone who can grant you that license.
Other than that, I would look to the advice of counsel (just to be safe). Photographers, rightfully, like to protect their work from being misused.
I can’t argue with getting “advice of counsel.” I would never want anyone to get in trouble with copyright violations, but check out the terms on Flickr There are many people willing to share their work for free provided they get credited. en you see, “some rights reserved”, check out there terms, and definitely. have an attorney review it if you’re not comfortable.
HEre is a good blog post regarding which Flickr photos (with permission) are permitted to be used) and which aren’t. http://www.seosmarty.com/flickr-creative-commons/
Thanks for sharing, Matt. Our Proposal group wishes to go through InDesign training to be more efficient and not mess up our graphic designer’s hard work. Any insight on some InDesign training skills every Proposal writer should know??
Lindsey,
Believe it or not, I’m one of those rare QuarkXpress users out there (yes, it’s still around).
But Adobe and Quark both make software that allows writers and designers to work on the same documents without “messing things up.”
Here is Adobe’s:
http://www.adobe.com/products/incopy.html
I learned how to use Adobe products with the “Classroom in a Book” series. It is self-directed, but I still think it’s the best training out there.
I think it’s hard to get what you need to know for these programs without training that is hands on.
Great resource. Graphics are typically both under-used and poorly used, which is a shame, because they can make such a big difference in a great proposal.
Colourbox is another good resource for images: http://www.colourbox.com/ It’s not as robust as other stock sites, but I can usually find something that fits the bill.
Great addition to the list. Thank you.