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Free
Graphics Archive - Mission Statement |
The Archive was created in response to
a need that I encountered when I was first immersing myself in digital image manipulation.
The need was for "ingredients," graphical elements that could be mixed in to a
larger graphic. I began scouring the web for image archives that contained public domain
images. It didn't take long to come to the realization that it was often surprisingly
difficult to find a quality image of a specific object - a cigarette, for example, or a
pine cone. While it was true that clip art galleries offered a wide variety of images,
often categorized, I had problems with clip art: it is usually quite stylized and also
usually in gif format (a poor format for mixing into a high-resolution graphic). As I
continued to surf and search, I developed a keen eye for spotting elements that could be
easily isolated from their context - a loaf of bread from a 15th century Flemish painting
of a royal feast, a rain-streaked bust from a tourist's photo of an English university. I
began to collect these ingredients and categorize them for my own use.
A little later on, I started working on my own web page. Naturally, I needed icons
and tiles. Archives and galleries of ready-to-use web page graphics are certainly
plentiful, and I visited a lot of them. As I looked around, I noticed that the really good
stuff usually came with strings attached and I also noticed that there was much mundane
dreck - how many brick backgrounds can you usefully use? More clouds? What I wanted but
didn't see a lot of was quality, original elements that were unusual, quirky, or
innovative. I began to make my own.
It didn't take long for me to put these two threads together and realize that I
could make and offer something different and original. The result is this Archive. I don't
pretend that it is the most extensive, complete, or useful collection of images out
there. Far from it. But I do try to fill it with images that are hard to find or unusual.
It is a work in progress, with some categories juicier than others and new categories
added as they occur to me.
If you have any comments, suggestions, criticisms, or otherwise, please feel free
to contact me at justus_hayes@bc.sympatico.ca.
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