Vanishing Point: Sales Image Guidelines

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Gallery Appearances and Client Recommendations

Sales Image Guidelines
Effective from February, 2006

At Vanishing Point, we are in the process of developing a professional standard style of artwork. In order to maintain our standards, we ask that the merchants follow these guidelines when creating sales images.

The main objective of any sales image is to inspire the customer to purchase the product. When you are designing your images, ask yourself if the image would convince a potential customer to purchase your product. Granted, some images (such as showing the product againt a white background) are meant to show the product's detail, but these images should be balanced with more colorful, artistic images.

Text:
The only text allowed on any image will be titles. The text must be discrete and not overpower the image. No directional arrows or other graphical pointers are allowed on the image. You are encouraged to make a note of other products used in your image (see below).

For a good example of allowable text, please see the sales images for the Coalville Store #1.

Focus:
Your product should be the main focus of your artwork. Remember, it is your product you are selling, not someone else's.

Other Products:
You are encouraged to use other Vanishing Point products in your sales images. You should feel free to add a one-line note at the bottom of your image to say which products are available separately. These products will also be listed in the "Related Products" section, beneath the product description.

For a good example of "other product" text, please see the sales images for the Train Set 2.

NOTE: Making a note about other products is for the express purpose of cross-promoting other products sold at Vanishing Point. Do NOT list products which are available at other sites unless absolutely necessary: the customer is shopping at Vanishing Point and we do not want to give his business to another site.

Post-work:
Post-work is permitted for any product; however, excessive post-work is not allowed if it dramatically alters the color or appearance of your product.

Backgrounds:
If you decide to use background images, these should be the same high quality as your product.

Try to avoid using freeware backgrounds because of potential licensing and copyright issues. If you use a commercial product, be sure to check the license file for any usage restrictions: most background products will allow for use in an image.

Nudity and Violence:
At this time, we do not allow nudity of any kind on any sales images or thumbnails. We do not currently sell any products (such as characters or texture sets) that would require a nude image to show off the product.

Images with graphic or extreme violence are also not allowed.

File Types:
JPG: When using JPG files, please use some compression to reduce the file size. As you increase the compression, the file size will decrease... but the quality of the image will also decrease. Usually, a setting of "85% Quality" will lower the file size and still keep the image sharp.

GIF: When using GIF images, you may want to consider placing a rounded border around the image. If you do this, you have the added option of removing the color outside the border and saving the image as a transparent gif. Please do not use animated gifs as your sales images.

Other Media: If you would like to use animation to show off your product, please contact use and we'll be happy to add an avi or other media file to your product's detail page. The animation will be uploaded to YouTube and will be "embedded" in the product description page. This gives you the additional option of promoting your animation at YouTube.

Here are some approaches to making sales images:

Tell a Story
Arrange your product with other items to tell a one-page story. Though the "story" could simply be "Some people are standing at a train station."

For a good example of a one-page story, please see the third sales image for the Pirahna Enforcer.

Photo-realism
This kind of image shows your product in a photo-realistic setting.

Wireframe
This kind of image is good for showing the mesh of your model or to color-code the moving parts.