Clipart For Sale…But What Kind Of Clipart Is It?

So, something has been on my mind lately that I have been wondering about.

You see, the other day I was thinking about what people search for when they are looking for the art they want to purchase online, especially the type of art I make.  I would describe my handmade clipart as cute and pretty.  Obviously, I make a lot of flower clipart but is that what someone would search for if they were trying to find the type of clipart I make?

So off to Google I went to see if I could figure out what kind of search terms would bring up the type of art I make.

Let me tell you it was interesting!

To start off, it was difficult to categorize what one would call my type of art.  Would someone call it a graphic or clipart or would illustration be a better term.

First, I tried clipart as that seemed to me to be what it would be called because technically it is.  However, what I found out is that the term clipart covers so many types of art.

Really the term clipart just means simple pictures and symbols made available for computer users to add to their documents.  What I found is that a lot of this simple clipart is what shows up when using the search term clipart.  Simply searching “xyz clipart” did not in many cases turn up the kind of clipart that I, and many others, make.

Instead, much of the clipart that turned up in the search results looked like something you would recognize from Windows 95.

So perhaps typing in commercial use clipart graphics may not get you the results you are looking for if you are looking to buy clipart for commercial use.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that old looking but a lot of it was still very simple and cartoonish compared to the handmade clipart that I and many others make.

So back to the drawing board I went and this time started searching for illustrations.  Again, searching for “xzy illustrations” turned out to still be very vague as there are lots of different kinds of illustrations that are considered, well…illustrations.

Continuing on I thought maybe the term graphics would be a better way to describe what I do but low and behold it was just more of the same.

So What Is It?

I think the problem is that this specific type of clipart has not been given a term to describe it.  I mean when you see my art or the art of others like mine it is obvious that it has a certain look.

Now to pause for a moment, I know what you must be thinking.  Why not try the terms “hand drawn” or “watercolor” as descriptors with the main search term?  I thought of that too!

The problem is that not all of the clipart that is for sale is watercolor.  Most of it is hand drawn but lots of other more simple clipart is hand drawn also.

So I was still left, perhaps more confused than when I started, wondering how do you classify the type of clipart I make?  Is it flower clipart, floral clipart, animal clipart or graphic designs for sale?

Usually I try to write something that I think would be helpful to others but today I am asking for your help!

Can we come up with a way to describe what kind of clipart this is that we can call it henceforth?  I would love to hear your suggestions.  Maybe if we can get enough suggestions than certain words will become apparent that we all use to describe what this is.

Anyhow, if you have a minute contact me with your suggestions.

I am going to make this a shorter than usual post today so hurry up and drop me a suggestion and then get back to your projects!

Happy creating!

Kris