What I’ve noticed is that the longer I’ve been designing, the harder it is to find images for layouts. Over half of my new-layout-for-SF time is just finding an image to work with. I become a fanatic about it: obsessing over not being able to find anything to work.

I’d use my own pics but I only really take pictures of scenery (I don’t have any friends that would pose for me and stuffage; well, Effie would but she is 5 hours away). I’d use images of Emmy but the ones I have either don’t work or are too small. Kairi is too small yet.

So my only other option is to draw something for it. Aelyn is always telling me to use my drawings. And despite what everyone thought, the “Time of Faerie” version (also known as “the purple one”) was not drawn by me. That was Brian Froud, people.

But my drawings don’t work. They are little square or rectangular things that are so realistically heavily shaded that they wouldn’t blend into anything. So I’d have to box them up but that’s not my style. I actually spent the last two hours drawing something for a layout, keeping in mind not to shade as much. It came out cool but did it work? No. My scanner scanned it weird because it is in my sketchbook and it just didn’t work out. I love it on paper but that didn’t transmit well in the scan.

So, where am I? Back where I started again: searching for images and coming up with zip.

But that leads me to something else. I think that as you grow as a designer, you use up all of your image choices that will work for you. As you grow, you become more picky with what images you will use. So your scope gets smaller. And then all the amazing images that would work perfect but the artist’s don’t want them used. *sigh*

Maybe that is why so many of the older designers have image-less layouts. Forget what they say about accessibility; that’s just the excuse for lack of image choices.