Oct - Nov 07 Visuell International
Interview with Stephen Taylor
Visuell International Interview, Page 30 and 31
Pet shop boy
The Specialist Library Animal Photography is one of the oldest in the business. Formed by the late John Thompson, it consists mainly of the thousands of images of dog breeds, cats and horses photographed by his sister Sally Anne Thompson over the last fifty years.
The library has now been taken over by design group Heat Design, who shared a studio with Animal Photography. Stephen Taylor, MD of Heat Design promises an offering to hook designers as well as animal lovers. Sarah Saunders went to find out.
Visuell - I'm not sure how many designers are animal lovers. Why should they think of
using a dog or a cat in their latest piece of design?
Stephen Taylor - We will bring them to it. Designers are always looking for something new. It's our job to put options in front of them. Of course as designers we know how to market to designers and we hope our material will catch their eye. We will do the thinking in the background which will make it easier for them to find something exciting. Our keywording will be done with a design eye.
Visuell - What makes your dogs and cats different from any other animal images?
Stephen Taylor - Sally Anne photographs breeds, and she has had access to the top animals. Her images have been taken to show the best features of the animals. That gives her photography an elegance and purity which many animal images don't have. From the design point of view her images have more scope because she tends to photograph the whole animal, in natural surroundings. Also, as we have access to the out-takes, we have found some stunning images which you wouldn't usually find; the edgy, graphic, offbeat images designers like.
Visuell - Most specialist libraries would agree it's hard to do business in the current climate, with the large libraries taking such a large slice of the cake. What do you think of your chances in this market?
Stephen Taylor - We are like many specialists libraries as we have another line of business. But I think we have a good chance of making ourselves a niche with this collection, which has been very underused in the past.
Visuell - Many design agencies seem to only know about Getty images. What can you do to entice more designers to specialist libraries, yours in particular?
Stephen Taylor - We will apply everything we know about marketing to designers and I think that the fact that we can get into their mindset will help us to communicate effectively. We know a lot of designers are tired with Getty Images and the like. It will be a challenge, but we are confident that we can do it. Being a member of BAPLA helps too.
Visuell - As a relative newcomer to the picture library world, what is your impression of the business and the people in it?
Stephen Taylor - I love it. I love the people and the business. People are very willing to share knowledge and information which when you're a newcomer this is very helpful.