I love to keep an archive of images that inspire me, and I am always looking for places to find new materials. This week, I decided to explore the New York Public Library Digital Collections. This archive is updated daily and has a little bit of everything. Photos, illustrations, maps, prints, etc… There are over 900,000 items in the collection!
On the main page, there are a couple of ways to access content. You can search for keywords, explore featured collections, and browse recently digitized materials. Scrolling further down, there are several topical categories to explore. Fashion collections and collections for designers specifically caught my eye.
I chose one of the fashion illustration collections to explore. Here, I can see an overview of everything in that collection.
Clicking on an item will bring a closer view as well as additional information.
At the bottom of the page, you can see the copyright status of an image. If it is in the public domain, it is free to use in your own art. Public domain images make excellent digital collage materials.
You can also change the settings on the overview page to show only public domain images. This option is located under the filters tab on the left hand side of the page.
Overall, I think this archive is very well organized and is filled with a wide variety of materials across a decent range of subject matters. There are a couple of drawbacks to the platform. For one, I found it frustrating that I was unable to change the size of the images in the overview. The images were small on my screen and I couldn't really see what something was unless I clicked on it. This platform is also somewhat limited in public domain options. It is a little disappointing to find an awesome collection only to realize none of the images are public domain. That said, the wealth of material on this platform, regardless of public domain status, is an excellent source for inspiration.
Rating: 8/10
love this !