Photos on the web
The best web pages include some photos, however, there are a number of reasons why photos need to be controlled by the marketing department.
Photos are complicated
The most important reason we can't just allow anyone to add photos is that photos on the web are complicated. Most photos on our website need to be a particular size to work well in the elements where they are used. Web administrators have access to Photoshop and all the dimensions right at their finger tips (or in their brains). Also, photos are added to a particular place (the images folder) in each web section and require a slightly different publishing process than a regular web page.
No, you may not use that image/graphic/cool thing you got from Google Images.
EMU can (and has) gotten into serious copyright infringement issues by using photos without proper permission. One program was forced to pay $500 for a postage stamp-sized picture of bacon. If you need to illustrate specific concepts, we can create a photo like you found online. Or we can look into purchasing the rights to the photo. But you cannot just copy and paste it into the website. It’s a financial liability to you and your program.
What makes a good photo? Please ask.
What makes a dynamic photo may not always be obvious. Photos of a ceremony, speaker, or lunch might be nice for posterity’s sake, but they don’t make great marketing photos for web. Opportunities that focus on student-professor interaction and students working in the field are best. If you’re not sure, ask the photographer before they come take photos. Trust them - they want to make you and your program look its best!
I already have a photo I want to use.
Great! Use the web request form to send it to the web administrators with the page where you want it.
Can I see what photos you have?
Talk to marketing about getting access to our photos and digital assets. Email marketing@emu.edu to request access. If can't find the photo you want, you can use the photo request form. We try to keep our photo files up to date with relevent options, but if you don't see what you need the photo request form is also a good place to make a request about a new photo option.
We have excellent professional photographers on staff, and they are trained by our own VACA department. With a little careful thought and planning, we can usually get photos that will be beautiful and useful.
I want to change a photo on a visual element of the website.
If the photo is already in use elsewhere on the website, and you're comfortable with advanced editing, you may attempt to put it on yourself. If it is a photo not used elsewhere on the website, or you're not comfortable with advanced editing, use the web request form to send it to the web administrators.
