New Look for PhotoShelter

17/03/08

PHOTOSHELTER INC. INTRODUCES NEW BRAND IDENTITY & UNVEILS THE PHOTOSHELTER COLLECTION 1.0

New Logo and Brand System Coincides With End Of Beta Period For The PhotoShelter Collection; Improved Usability & New Features Added Based On Community Feedback

NEW YORK, NY, March 13, 2007 – PhotoShelter Inc., a provider of archiving, ecommerce solutions and sales opportunities to the world’s fastest growing community of independent photographers, has today introduced an entirely new brand system to coincide with the end of the beta period for its open-but-edited image marketplace, the PhotoShelter Collection. Since the Collection launched in September 2007, the Company has made a number of improvements, based on feedback from photographers and image buyers culled during the beta period. Feature updates include more intuitive navigation, better lightbox capabilities, batch actions, easier access to advanced search features, and new user tutorials. With this official launch, PhotoShelter has also unveiled a new visual identity for its company and brands, including a redesigned logo and icon created by Cinco Design Office of Portland, OR.
As of today’s announcement, approximately 2,000 new photographers and 2,000 new image buyers are joining the PhotoShelter Collection every month, with over 100,000 new images uploaded monthly from photographers in 120 countries across the world. This rapid growth demonstrates a strong endorsement of PhotoShelter’s unique commitment to providing buyers with image freshness and diversity, while sharing 70% of every sale with photographers – the healthiest percentage in the industry.

Introducing the Shelter Icon

The development of a new brand identity marks a milestone for PhotoShelter, which was founded in 2005 by photographers and technologists who sought to empower fellow photographers to succeed independently. The new PhotoShelter icon represents the company’s established position as a trusted partner within the photography community. Cinco Design constructed the icon with photo frame-like windows to convey protection akin to PhotoShelter’s role as an advocate for photographers’ rights, royalties, and creative freedom. The design team selected a lush green as PhotoShelter’s official color to emanate life and the freshness of the company’s products and thinking.

“For us, working with PhotoShelter is an ideal situation,” said Kirk James, Principal and Creative Director of Cinco Design Office. “We not only see them as offering a totally fresh perspective on the image marketplace but we also really believe in the brand. We’re passionate about photography ourselves so the chance to help them tell their story was a nice opportunity for us. What’s great is they came with no preconceived notions of how the new identity should look. They truly were looking only for our best ideas. In the end we think we’ve created an identity that represents the essence of PhotoShelter’s brand concept and positively reflects the vibrant, active community of photographers, supporters, and photo buyers that they serve. We hope the community embraces the result.”

“Cinco has provided a new look that perfectly represents the strength and integrity of our mission to help independent photographers achieve success,” said Allen Murabayashi, CEO of PhotoShelter. “We are most excited about how effectively Cinco’s system has captured our personality; we’re truly a web company so we wanted our brand to reflect a lighthearted and community-based ethos. But we are also building what we hope will become a very significant company and competing against well-funded and entrenched competitors - so we needed the brand to demonstrate the strength of our intentions.”

The new brand system will be rapidly phased in throughout PhotoShelter’s site and communications beginning today. In response to requests from photographers accepted to the PhotoShelter Collection, new Shelter icon HTML badges will be available for download and posting on individual photographers websites with the ability to link directly to each photographer’s PhotoShelter microsite. In addition, PhotoShelter branded merchandise, beginning with very cool t-shirts, will be available through PhotoShelter.

Combining Efficiencies of Technology with Inspiration and Creativity

The PhotoShelter Collection opened in beta to photographers in September of 2007 and buyers in November of 2007 during which PhotoShelter actively sought feedback from members of the community to create the most inspirational and productive experience possible. Photographers now enjoy greater control during the upload and editing process and buyers will benefit from more efficient image searches, easier lightbox creation, and an expedited purchasing experience.

“We are thrilled about the feedback we have received from all corners of the industry since we launched PhotoShelter in 2005,” said Murabayashi. “Our community has grown to more than 20,000 photographers using our Personal Archive, with 14,000 contributors in the Collection. We don’t see growth slowing on either product, and continue to focus on new ways to create opportunities for photographers in our community. Meanwhile, we’ve learned a tremendous amount from buyers who have joined to date, and we’re working hard to optimize their experience and become their primary provider for exceptional images.”

New features for photographers and buyers include:

Advanced Search—Image buyers can now define search parameters immediately creating more accurate results, faster
User Tutorials—Teaches the basics of the PhotoShelter Collection and covers specific features such as image stacking and keywording using PhotoShelter’s controlled vocabulary, known as the Tagonomy™
Batch Image Handling – Buyers can add multiple images into light boxes and shopping carts and downloader tools enable batch download of comp images directly from a lightbox to their desktops.
Image Stacking – Photographers can group together similar images for editing and comparison and now view at full screen size enabling a more efficient approval process;
Keyword Weight and Visual Differentiators – Photographers can flag up to five keywords per image to increase their weighting in search results; visual differentiators have been added to understand the meaning of clarifiers

“Exiting the beta period marks a significant, positive milestone for the company and so it is appropriate that we simultaneously launch our more sophisticated brand identity,” continued Murabayashi. “We look forward to continued communication with photographers and buyers to improve our offerings and grow as a community.”

The SWPP 2008 Convention was an outstanding success,
we have 92 days to get ready for the 2009 convention - which starts on January 14, 2009

Photo Quote: A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. Diane Arbus