Barracudas and Dandelions: Clipart and Small Business Finance

class="googleright">prey, dandelions, and wind—we have hit on just
Business is like a barracuda—swift and silvery,a small sampling of online clipart.
sliding through the water and cutting past its prey.Free clipart isn’t just a business, though; free
Business is also like a dandelion, quick to take root andclipart is a gift to businesses, especially small
swift to blow away; unless that dandelion grants abusinesses. Letterhead, checks, logos, signs, and
wish, it may vanish on the wind. But whether animal orwebsites all benefit from free clip art. Whereas
vegetable, in the water or on the land, can businessextensive design work once had to go into even the
be—free? As in, can a business providemost mediocre of media, free clipart has helped build
something for free? Well, free clipart is part of a broadup the reservoir of design opportunities, affording
history of online distribution services aimed to increaseentrepreneurs yet another way to take hold of some
the public domain and enable the small businessperson.stopgap measures.
Even in our metaphors—barracudas, water,