1. An Empirical Investigation on Illustrators’ Image Information Needs Hyerim Cho (chohr113@uw.edu)chohr113@uw.edu University of Washington, Information School

2. Image information retrieval A wide variety of available image retrieval techniques and services Lack of studies investigating image users Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) Do current retrieval systems reflect real users’ needs well?

3. My approach: Image professionals This study aims to provide user-centered perspectives to current image information studies, especially “heavy” image users’ perspectives Image professionals: illustrators Beaudoin (2009); Jörgensen & Jörgensen (2005)

4. Study objective Investigate the image information needs of professional illustrators and contribute to creating and evaluating image databases and retrieval systems by offering empirical findings

5. Research questions RQ 1. What are the characteristics of illustrators’ image information needs? What kinds of images do they need, and why and when do they need those images? RQ 2. Do image professionals and non- expert/general users have different information needs? If so, how are they different and for what reason?

6. Study design

7. Demographic information (survey) Dimension Count% Gender Male1812.9 Female12287.1 Total140100.0 Age 19-25 years old2618.6 26-32 years old8057.1 33-39 years old2820.0 40-46 years old64.3 Over 47 years old00.0 Total140100.0 Years of experience Fewer than two years5841.4 2-5 years5640.0 6-8 years2215.7 9-11 years32.1 12 years or more10.7 Total140100.0 Educational background High school graduate42.9 Undergraduate in progress1913.6 Bachelor degree8762.1 Master degree in progress85.7 Master degree128.6 Ph.D. degree in progress10.7 Others96.4 Total140100.0 Academic major Arts11481.4 Humanities75.0 Social Science42.9 Natural Science75.0 Engineering42.9 Others42.9 Total140100.0

8. Demographic information (interview)

9. Findings: use purposes of images Participants show that “to shape and actualize images (73.6%)” and “to get ideas and inspiration (66.4%)” are the primary uses of images Participants show that “to shape and actualize images (73.6%)” and “to get ideas and inspiration (66.4%)” are the primary uses of images --“…it would not be enough if I’d just imagine everything by myself… I want to know every detail and subtle areas…that way I can work on it without any misunderstandings…” (P2) --“…we can generate lots of creative ideas when we browse topic-related images…I make my own creation based on ideas inspired by looking at multiple images…I don’t think that experienced illustrators simply copy others’ creations…” (P3)

10. Findings: relevance criteria While topical matter was the most common criterion at 78.6%, other relevance criteria such as images showing specific angles (51.4%), temporal information of images (25.0%), aesthetic quality (20.7%), and high resolution (15.7%) were also important While topical matter was the most common criterion at 78.6%, other relevance criteria such as images showing specific angles (51.4%), temporal information of images (25.0%), aesthetic quality (20.7%), and high resolution (15.7%) were also important Physical aspects vs. subjective aspects Physical aspects vs. subjective aspects

11. Findings: relevance criteria (physical aspects) --“Having higher resolution is always better. If the image is too small, it’s difficult to know what it is.” (P3) --“I’d like to have a full 360-degree panoramic view when I look at scenery photos. Think about the map these days. You can view the scenery from the top, from the bottom, and we can even turn it around. I would even be willing to pay to use such feature, if it is available.” (P2)

12. Findings: relevance criteria (subjective aspect) Illustrators select certain images thinking that they are “pretty,” “cute,” or “beautiful” Illustrators select certain images thinking that they are “pretty,” “cute,” or “beautiful” Aesthetic quality constitutes more of the illustrators’ personal tastes, instead of something that can be objectively measured Aesthetic quality constitutes more of the illustrators’ personal tastes, instead of something that can be objectively measured -- “Among different images, there are some images that I can feel are going to turn out beautifully if I use them. You can feel it if you have been drawing for years.” (P2)

13. Findings: types of images needed TypeCount% Landscapes (named & unnamed)8157.9 Photography, film, video6848.6 Nature6143.6 People (real or mythological)5438.6 Architecture4733.6 Visual features including color, shape, texture4532.1 Appliances and vehicle4330.7 Art3525.0 Artistic and design processes2517.9 Ad, mass media & popular culture2115.0 Images created by myself2115.0 Other53.6 Total506

14. Findings: image seeking barriers Although irrelevant search results were the most frequently mentioned problem (55.0%), there were other issues such as “hard to search for very specific image (e.g., particular pose of a subject from a particular angle)” (44.3%), “takes too long to browse the results” (42.9%), and “hard to think of appropriate keywords” (38.6%) Although irrelevant search results were the most frequently mentioned problem (55.0%), there were other issues such as “hard to search for very specific image (e.g., particular pose of a subject from a particular angle)” (44.3%), “takes too long to browse the results” (42.9%), and “hard to think of appropriate keywords” (38.6%)

15. Findings: expectations of image retrieval systems Suggestions from the illustrators include: Suggestions from the illustrators include: more detailed classification filtering features, more detailed classification filtering features, metadata that would allow them to sort images by their origins, metadata that would allow them to sort images by their origins, temporal aspect such as the time when the images were created as well as the time period depicted in the images, temporal aspect such as the time when the images were created as well as the time period depicted in the images, different types of layouts and angles, different types of layouts and angles, shapes of objects, and shapes of objects, and genres genres

16. Findings: expectations of image retrieval systems --“It will be very convenient if I can search for images within different groups of images, like images of characters, photos, and images from commercials. For example, let’s say I want to find the images of a palace. If I click ‘photos,’ I would be able to get photos of different palaces, and if I click ‘characters,’ I would see character illustrations or cute images that have a palace theme. Also some advertisement images that have palaces, if I click ‘commercials’.” (an answer for an open-ended survey question)

17. Discussion: general users vs. illustrators General users are likely to use images as objects (Chung (2010); McCay-Peet & Toms (2009); Yoon & Chung (2011)) Illustrators would fall into this category of “In-Between” with a stronger tendency towards using the images as “data” based on the findings in this study --“A graphic artist may want to retrieve pictures of various trees so he can copy some of them in his next designs, and also to explore the variety of tree shapes. The artist will use the information in the images of trees, as well as the images as objects, to create new images of trees” (Fidel, 1997, p. 189).

18. Discussion: illustrators vs. artists Getting inspiration tends to be the most dominant function of image information to artists (Beaudoin (2009)) To illustrators, getting inspiration has relatively less importance than learning Artworks created by artists vs. illustrations requested by clients

19. Illustrators do have a distinctive set of information needs and behaviors, when compared to other types of image users the particular needs and behaviors of the target user population must be taken into consideration in order to design effective image retrieval systems Finding a topical match tends to be more important than discovery An image search feature based on particular angles of the objects or postures Filtering features such as copyright, prices of images, and temporal information Robust description indexes related to the topic of images

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