At The Broad, we do not crop any images without obtaining express permission directly from the rights holder and, often, the living artist (our works are all copyrighted). Cropping is usually reserved for promotional exhibition images, and web permission is sought at the same time as rights for the catalogue and any print and digital advertising.
In all other cases, we try to never crop an artwork image. Our collection varies in aspect ratio drastically, but it IS possible to design for variable width and height images. This was very frustrating to several designers we tried to work with. In the end we had to structure our whole design based on that requirement, and I think the site is stronger for it. Even if we could crop, it was unpredictable to allow the website to automatically generate a cropped image. Custom generating thumbnails for every work based on a certain desired aspect ratio to accommodate a website design would have been a far greater investment of staff resources than simply imagining a design that wouldn't require it. Can't wait to see how you handle it! Heather Hart | The Broad 213.232.6239 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Matt Morgan Sent: Monday, December 12, 2016 8:39 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Website image cropping It's a problem, yes! Whoever makes your printed posters can probably tell you how frequently your exh. images need permission/input before cropping. In my experience, on top of the literal rights issues, you also have the personality issues. E.g., when an important person (artist, curator, donor, collector) doesn't like the way something looks, you might not do it even if you're within your rights. Different museums may put different weight on the latter issue. I don't think I've ever cropped an artwork image without a curator having veto power; but that may not be the practice everywhere. Being clear about that ahead of time may save you a lot of effort down the road, if you can get authority to do it within your department. Sometimes the "full view upon click" approach has helped with one or the other kind of issue. But even figuring out what the options are can be a time-sink. On the other hand, if you have a poster/print/advertising design department already securing permission for this kind of work, maybe you can tell them what aspect ratios work for you, and they can handle it. What about resizing for responsive displays ... will the images retain the same shape and details at every size? Or will foreheads potentially get chopped off, etc. That may be important for everyone to understand and plan for. best, Matt On 12/12/2016 11:15 AM, Chris Alexander wrote: > Hello all > > We're currently redesigning our website and a question came up. I'm hoping to > cull some information from the museum community about how other museums > handle the same situation. > > On our exhibition page the redesign relies heavily on landscape image similar > to this - where text floats to the left of a landscape image then switches on > the next exhibit listing. > > ------------ *********** > ----text---- * Image * > ------------ *********** > *********** ------------ > * Image * ----text---- > *********** ------------ > ------------ *********** > ----text---- * Image * > ------------ *********** > > The design requires the images to all be the same size for it to look it's > best, meaning they would be cropped in a lot of cases. We came across a lot > of museum sites with similar requirements during our discovery phase. > > My question is - how are museums handling this? Do you secure rights for > cropping artwork? How difficult has it been if so? Are museums offering a > full image view on click of the cropped image? Are there museums throwing > caution to the wind? > > Very interested in hearing from you all! > > Best regards, > > Chris Alexander > Digital Media Manager > Cantor Arts Center > Stanford University > 328 Lomita Drive<x-apple-data-detectors://0/1> > Stanford, CA 94305-5060<x-apple-data-detectors://0/1> > > 650.723.6114<tel:650.723.6114> | [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > <http://museum.stanford.edu/>http://museum.stanford.edu<http://museum. > stanford.edu/> > <http://cantorcollections.stanford.edu/>http://cantorcollections.stanf > ord.edu<http://cantorcollections.stanford.edu/> > > > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum > Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
