Photography
Photography is a vital element of the MSU brand. It evokes emotion and connects people to the university. Our photography should be beautiful but also authentic and relatable, reflecting our pursuit of excellence for the common good and our welcoming, inclusive community.
Use high-resolution photos so your final marketing piece is clear and of the highest possible quality, especially when used in print. If you use a low-resolution photo it can look pixilated and unprofessional.
Always make sure you have permission to use the photo. You can use a photo you’ve taken yourself or use photos from the public domain that are available royalty-free or under certain conditions under a Creative Commons license. Always read the site license to ensure that you know the criteria for using a photo.
MSU Photos
MSU has a catalog of images for your use. It includes imagery related to students, research, campus locations, events, and more. The instructions on how to browse the image library, as well as who to contact to acquire a download is below.
Link: photos.msu.edu
How to Locate a Photo
To request a specific photo, please contact Andrew Ward (wardand9@msu.edu) in the marketing office, and a copy will be provided to you.
College of Natural Science Flickr:
There is a wide variety of photos available for use and download on the College of Natural Science Flickr page.
College of Natural Science Flickr
Stock Photos
There are many resources available to locate imagery that is already licensed to be free, in the public domain, or usable with attribution. Please pay attention to the terms and conditions of each site to know how it can be used or what information you may need to include.
Note: Searching for an image on Google (or other search engines) and using it is not acceptable and often illegal. Please use a resource listed below or others that provide images that are free to use.
Freeimages (Royalty-free)
Morguefile (Royalty-free)
Commons.wikimedia (Public Domain and Creative Commons)
Pexels (Royalty-free)
Stocksnap (Public Domain)
Ipmimages (Royalty-free)
Pixabay (Royalty-free)
Unsplash (Royalty-free)
NASA (print and digital usage for educational or informational purposes)
Smithsonian Open Access (Royalty-free)