What I would do if I were you is try and convince them to use some of the
art they put on display  (even though you said that they didn't want to do
this).  Don't show just the pictures, however, but blend them with the text,
throw them in the background of images, use them to highlight points, for
boarders, etc.  Try and choose a large variety of art  including sculptures,
paintings, digital art, etc.  Personally I think it would be ridiculous for
an art gallery not to incorporate some of it's art into a web page.  You've
got it all right there in front of you, and it wants to be used.

The problem with stock art (not that it isn't a viable alternative), is that
people will recognize it (and the stuff that you have it probably pretty
well known to the art community).  This could make the web page appear
cheesy.

One HUGE thing that you can't forget though, is to make sure that it is okay
to use both art in the gallery and your stock art in a web page.  A
copyright infringement would not be a good thing for your client to deal
with in the future.

People aren't going to judge an artist by whether or not their work was used
in the web site, but it might make them want to pay a visit to the gallery
:)

Donald


-----Original Message-----
From: Anmar To <amt(at)nuteknet.com>
To: hwg-graphics(at)mail.hwg.org <hwg-graphics(at)mail.hwg.org>
Date: Tuesday, July 07, 1998 3:29 PM
Subject: Is "stock art" OK for this client?


>>Hi.  I'm trained as a programmer, not a graphic artist, so I'm kind of
>>"faking it" and "learning as I go".  I realize some of you may be
>>appalled by this, so please forgive me.  I am trying to do this right!
>>
>>Anyway, it looks like my very first client is set to sign a contract on
>>Friday (Yay!).  Wouldn't you know it would be the local arts council,
>>looking to "jazz up" their web page with "graphics that pop".  OK, I'm a
>>little worried (isn't everyone at first?), but they saw my work and are
>>hiring me.
>>
>>They have decided *not* to use any "artwork" for ethical reasons (they
>>don't want to seem to be promoting any artist over any other), and are
>>saying they just want "graphics".  I think they mean simple shapes and
>>text.
>>
>>I haven't approached them with this idea yet, but I'm thinking about
>>trying to sell them on the idea of "stock art".  Not cheesy buttons and
>>bars downloaded for free, but actual stock art that came with my
>>graphics package.  In particular, some pictures of fruit and one scene
>>which I'm thinking about breaking up or cropping into smaller pieces.
>>
>>My main question is this: Is using "stock art" an acceptible,
>>professional practice?  Would it be OK on an "Arts Council"-type web
>>site?  Or would it mark the site as the work of an almost-amateur?
>>
>>If you think it would be OK, any idea on the best way to convince the
>>client that this would be the way to go (I'm not going to put a huge
>>picture up there, just make it look good)?
>>
>>Any thoughts on this situation would be most welcome!  Much thanks in
>>advance,
>>
>>AM
>>
>>--
>>A. M. Thomas
>>
>>http://nuteknet.com/~lizard/
>>I am a member of the HTML Writers' Guild
>>
>

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