Shutterstock Transforms Stock Photos into Iconic Anniversary Posters

Stock photography platform Shutterstock celebrated their 15th birthday earlier this month - and to mark the milestone anniversary, they've released a unique set of posters commemorating the most iconic moments from the past decade and a half. 

A team of in-house designers were enlisted to select one historical moment from each of the past 15 years. The twist? Only images from Shutterstock's own stock library could be used - but luckily for the designers, that meant over 200 million images to choose from.  

Ranging from the 2010 Gulf Oil spill to the birth of the #MeToo movement last year, the posters pay tribute to the profound political, scientific, and technological changes that the creative community behind Shutterstock has witnessed and captured in the past years. 

shots caught up with designers Rose-Ann Reynolds, Jenny Forrest, Brenda Luu and Alice Lee to find out more.

Rose-Ann Reynolds: Germany Wins World Cup in Brazil (2014)

How did you choose this particular moment?

From the options that I had, I wanted to do a poster on such an important moment for Germany since they have not won the World Cup since 1990 prior to 2014. Also, soccer balls have a geometric shape so that already gave me an idea for a design strategy.

Tell us a bit about the design process and your creative inspirations.

I wanted to create something that was abstract and geometric with elements within the poster relevant to the topic. Since Germany won, I put the top portion of the poster with the German flag colours. The game was held in Brazil, so the bottom half of the poster had the colours of the Brazilian flag. I included stylized elements of figures such as the Christ the Redeemer, a popular statue in Rio de Janeiro because it can easily be associated with the location along with other tropical elements. I also wanted to illustrate a very abstract version of the jersey the German team wore to the World Cup match in 2014 when they won. Lastly, my goal was to maintain a very restricted colour palette for the project.

What do you hope people will take away from the poster?

I wanted to communicate Germany’s well-deserved triumph in winning their fourth World Cup Championship. I wanted the viewers to recognize both very distinct cultures and the beauty of this sport bringing them and many other countries together. This is another reason I put the soccer ball in the center of the poster and divided the color palette for both countries to represent them coming together.

Jenny Forrest: Angela Merkel (2005) / Gulf Oil Spill (2010)

Why did you choose these two very different moments?

This project provided me with a unique opportunity to learn more about two events I had lived through but knew little about. Both the Gulf Oil Spill and Angela Merkel’s election were challenging to illustrate but rewarding to discover in detail.

Tell us a bit about your creative process and what motivates and inspires your creative ideas?

Design is all about solving problems and finding effective ways to communicate complex ideas to the audience at hand. This is at the heart of my creative process, no matter the project, medium, or industry.

Were there any particular challenges that you faced in creating the poster?

The biggest challenge was finding a way to illustrate the devastating effects of the Gulf Oil Spill. This moment was perhaps the least uplifting of the bunch, and given that this campaign was supporting Shutterstock’s milestone anniversary, finding a balance was tough. 

Brenda Luu: Metoo Movement (2017)

Why did you choose this moment and what did you want to communicate through this poster?

I chose the MeToo movement as one of my posters because the topic meant a lot to me as a first generation Chinese Canadian. It makes me proud to see the progression that China is making on women rights. I want more people to be aware of China’s turn in the right direction. It’s great to see a younger generation driving movements like MeToo.

Tell us about your creative process and what motivates and inspires you.

My poster was originally going to focus on the MeToo movement in America, since that’s where it went viral. I had originally wanted to create a photomontage style poster with an array of women raising their hands. It wasn’t until after the first creative review where our art director asked if I knew about the MeToo movement in China. This sparked my interest in China’s contributions to the campaign. After looking into the movement, the significance it played made me change direction. I had tried to do an army of bunnies, which didn’t portray the message I was looking for. I decided to isolate one bunny but wanted to continue with the theme of the raised hand. I played around with the flexibility of a bunny’s ear, which led to the image on the poster. The illusion that the bunny is ‘raising her hand’ with her ears. 

Alice Lee: US Rover Curiosity Lands on Mars (2012) 

How did you choose this particular moment?

I picked this topic because I originally wanted to incorporate some cute alien illustrations which I thought would be a fun addition to my poster.

What motivates and inspires your creative ideas?

I always sketch out one or two rough ideas that first come to my mind. Then I look for design inspiration on sites like Pinterest. I had a lot of fun playing around with different layouts and colors for this poster. I enjoy the process of trying out various styles and approaches. It motivates me to come up with a better visual solution for whatever it is that I am creating.

Were there any particular challenges that you faced in creating the poster?

Since there were so many design treatments that I could have implemented for this particular poster, it took me a little while to decide on the final choice. It turned out to be something a little different than what I had originally pictured, in a good way. Besides that, picking a good colour combination and keeping the hierarchy of the typography were the other challenges.

What do you wish to communicate to people who are viewing your poster?

Curiosity was a huge event after Spirit and Opportunity in our quest for life or finding suitable conditions for life on Mars. I wanted to highlight Curiosity's ability to collect raw data for us to research and learn more about the red planet. I used bright colors close to how Mars appears in photos to create a poster that’s easily relatable. I also used fun hand lettering, a picture of the rover that I found on Shutterstock, and doodles to illustrate the excitement of the moment. These elements turned the poster into an event flyer with the actual landing date.