Taking Stock Photos to Strange New Places

Joonas Paloheimo has a rare talent to see new possibilities within ordinary stock photos. Peer into his process and see the evolution of one of his amazing photo illustrations.

One look at the website of Joonas Paloheimomakes it clear that this 28-year-old Helsinki-based illustrator takes a playful view of life and design. But underlying the cheeky graphics are solid Photoshop skills and an inventive use of existing image sources, such as stock photography sites.

Paloheimo has a knack for looking beyond a photo’s composed scene and seeing the new possibilities within. He often lets the stock image be his inspiration. Rather than search for a photo that serves a theme, he may see an image and create the subject from it. For example, he came across two images with “fantastic poses [that] were begging for me to create something.”

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2010 in review: The year for creatives

This has been a busy year for creative folk—both for the pros and those right-brained among us whose avocation may be in the creative arts, but who earn their living (or not) in some other way. Adobe and Apple have been in the forefront of the news for most of the year, sometimes together, often clashing. The year 2010 has also seen a heightened consciousness about HTML5, an accelerating popularity of consumer video, the debut of the iPad as a major artistic and publishing platform, a complete overhaul of Pantone’s venerable color system, and, of course (like it or not) Flash.

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