The obvious reason to head to the “People's Choice” voting section of PDN's “Faces Photo Contest” is to, um, vote. However, when I went to do so myself, I quickly realized that the process is very educational. The thumbnails are tiny and numerous, so I found myself thinking about what makes a portrait truly stand out -- pop off a crowed page, whether or not it is stunning in its own right.

We often focus on assessing images individually, even though the reality is that we make images to complete for the attention of people who live in an image-saturated world. Given this, I suggest that you spend a quick minute in “People's Choice” voting section of the Faces Photo Contest. Don't even worry about voting. Just try to observe what thumbnail images grab your attention.

You can apply what you learn to your marketing and promotional efforts.