iStockphoto Relaunches Website with a Modern Look, Improved Navigation
and Strong Focus on the Customer
CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iStockphoto today unveiled a redesigned version of the world?s most
popular stock multimedia marketplace, www.istockphoto.com.
The new site offers a clean, contemporary look and feel, and reflects
more than a year of customer-focused usability research and design. The
new site was built using an innovative back-end architecture laying the
framework for several future enhancements including a new search
interface being unveiled before the end of the year.
?iStockphoto has experienced exceptional growth since our inception?
The new site structure has been designed specifically around each type
of audience that frequents the site, allowing faster, easier access to
content. A
revised navigation scheme, with a renewed focus on the customer,
divides the site into three distinct segments: shop, participate and
help. The work of exclusive contributors will be more prominently
featured throughout the site via large ?hero images.? iStockphoto has
also noted this will be the last version of the site to support Internet
Explorer® 6.
?iStockphoto has experienced exceptional growth since our inception,?
said Kelly Thompson, COO of iStockphoto. ?We?ve grown to over 6 million
members, expanded globally and introduced many new products such as
video, audio and our popular Vetta Collection. The new site not only
meets the needs of our rapidly growing community, but will also grow
with us in the future, supporting features and enhancements planned
through the next several years.?
To celebrate the launch, iStock is offering its members 25% off all
credit-pack purchases starting Monday, August 9th until
Sunday, August 15th, 2010 (coupon code iLOVEF5).
Shopping
The shopping portion of the site has been organized by file type with
separate landing pages for photography, illustrations, video, audio and
Flash® files. Each landing page features topics specific to
that file type. For example, the photography
page contains items such as the photo of the week, photographer of
the week, links to photography and design-related articles, FAQs and the
free photo of the week. With a dynamic new search interface in the
works, the redesigned site has launched with what many industry experts
consider to be the most accurate search in the business.
Participate
The international community of more than six million contributors and
customers has been the driving force behind iStockphoto?s decade of
explosive growth and is the reason for the company?s continued success.
The ?Participate?
section of the new site is where the various members of the iStock
family can congregate and interact. The iStock Forums, Design Spotlight,
Steel Cage and Article pages from the previous site are housed in this
section. A newly created area specifically for contributing artists,
called the Contributor
Lounge, is where iStock artists can get up-to-date news, keep up
with trends and stats and access resources, including training manuals
and software downloads.
Help
The ?Help?
section contains a library of articles and FAQs for designers and
customers, as well as information on how to get additional customer
support.
By Members, For Members
Both the design and key features were created based on significant input
from iStockphoto?s active international community members. One of the
most requested enhancements was easier access to personal account
information. To satisfy this request, iStock has included a static
toolbar that provides quick access to critical account information
including credit balance, shopping cart and lightboxes, and puts
additional information a mouse click away.
?For designers like me who use iStock every day, time equals money and
the new site design allows me to get in, get what I need and get out,?
said Jan-Kristof Lipp, art director of de:bug
magazine.
About iStockphoto
iStockphoto offers easy, affordable inspiration with millions of vetted,
royalty-free photos, illustrations, video, audio and Flash®
files. Using the most advanced search in the business, customers
download a file every second from a collection of more than seven
million files for business, marketing and personal projects. iStockphoto
started in 2000, pioneering the micropayment photography business model,
and has become one of the most successful and profitable user-generated
content sites in the world. iStockphoto pays out more than $1.7 million
weekly in artist royalties. iStockphoto is headquartered in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Getty Images.
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