Amela
VividStock Co., Ltd. Platform Build Story
ℹ︎ For confidentiality, company names, project names, and system images have been replaced with pseudonyms and mockups.

A place to search, sell, and buy photos, built in-house from scratch.

Pixory is a stock photo marketplace where creators list their work and users search across tags to buy and download photos. With over 500,000 registered stock images, works can be explored through thousands of tags.

Search, sell, buy, connect — the story of launching a new platform, built in-house from scratch in 9 months, that satisfies all four axes a stock photo business needs at once.

View the build story Try the demo View overview
Registered stock images
500,000+
High-resolution photo posted by a creator
Tag search
Thousands tags
Discover instantly with cross-search
Monetization model
2 types
Standard/extended license sales
Purchase → download
Instant delivery
Download right after payment
app.pixory.example.jp
All #Sunset #Tokyo #Minimal
¥3,500
¥5,000
¥3,000
¥4,500
¥4,000
¥2,500
01
CLIENT
About the client

VividStock Co., Ltd., one of Japan's leading players driving the stock photo market.

VividStock Co., Ltd. operates a stock marketplace for photos and images. It aimed to integrate the full search-sell-buy cycle—where creators, professional or amateur, list their work and businesses or individuals purchase it under a commercial license—into a single platform.

The business model is a marketplace where creators share their sales revenue with the platform. The design had to optimize all three sides at once—buyers, sellers, and operators—spanning cross-tag discovery, secure payments and licensing, and a community for photo lovers (likes, follows, rankings).

500,000+
Registered stock images
Thousands
Classification tags
7
Key categories
BUSINESS FLOW
①
STEP 1 · List
Creators post
Set tags, price, and license
②
STEP 2 · Discover
Discover across tags
Search by category and trending
③
STEP 3 · Purchase
Buy and download via cart
License choice → payment → instant download
④
STEP 4 · Payout
Share revenue
Sales revenue to creators
02
CHALLENGE
Design challenges to solve

The four structural requirements demanded of the platform.

None of these were technology-selection issues; they were business requirements tied directly to discoverability, monetization, trust, and community. Building anew from scratch required a design that made them all hold true at once.

If users can't reach the photo they want quickly, they drop off
Without designing discoverability across hundreds of thousands of items, users can't find the exact photo and drift to competitors.
Without a motive to list, works won't accumulate
Without a mechanism for creators to sell and monetize,supply won't take off the market won't turn.
If payments and licensing are unclear, buyers can't purchase with confidence
Without designing use-case-based licensing and instant post-purchase delivery,hesitate to buy users grow.
Get the space for interaction wrong, and retention won't emerge
Get the likes, follows, and rankings wrong, andthe motive to return doesn't grow ends up as one-off use.
03
ARCHITECTURE
The architecture we built together

Turning discovery, monetization, transactions, and interaction into a 'foundation that supports growth' across four domains.

We built the four domains a stock photo marketplace needs from scratch and in-house on a WordPress foundation. Discovery, listing, transactions, and community are integrated into one platform so buyers, sellers, and operators all gain value at once.

Amela
EXECUTION
9 months
Duration
60 person-months
Total effort
Domain ①
Cross-tag discovery
✕Challenge
Need to design a discovery experience that spans thousands of tags and categories to quickly reach the exact photo.
✓Solution
Filter instantly with tag/category chips
Multiple sections—trending, new arrivals, featured creators, and categories—boost discovery.
Domain ②
Creator monetization
✕Challenge
Need to provide listing through sales to revenue sharing in a form creators can run on their own.
✓Solution
Upload, pricing, and sales management on one screen
Visualize revenue with sales, earnings, followers, and total-download KPIs plus a payout summary.
Domain ③
Transactions & licensing
✕Challenge
Need to reliably run use-case-based licensing and a delivery flow that is usable right after purchase.
✓Solution
A seamless path from cart checkout → instant download
Seamlessly offers standard/extended license choice through purchase and download history.
Domain ④
Community
✕Challenge
Need to design mechanisms for photo lovers to interact, driving repeat visits and retention.
✓Solution
Surface popularity through likes, follows, and rankings
Trending exposure and creator follows form a loop of discovery and repeat visits.
PLATFORM
WordPress PHP MySQL
FRONTEND
Bootstrap Sass jQuery
04
IMPACT
The value the platform creates

VividStock Co., Ltd.'s search-sell-buy cycle accelerates.

This foundation continuously produces business outcomes—not technical metrics—such as the discovery experience, creator revenue, secure transactions, and community retention.

A discovery foundation for finding the exact photo
Cross-search across thousands of tags and multiple sections reaches the desired photo by the shortest path.
A design that lets creators monetize
Bring listing, pricing, and sales management in-house to grow supply on its own.
Transactions you can purchase and download with confidence
License choice and instant delivery minimize the barrier to purchase.
A community that drives repeat visits
Likes, follows, and rankings maximize the loop of discovery and retention.
🔍
STAKEHOLDER
Buyers
Photo seekers
✕Typically
Users can't find the photo they want among the vast catalog, tire of searching, and easily drop off.
✓At VividStock,
Cross-tag search and multiple sections reach the desired photo fastest.
📈
Higher search completion rate
Curb drop-off and deliver a discovery experience that leads to purchase
📷
STAKEHOLDER
Creators
Sellers
✕Typically
Without a way to sell and monetize their work, creators struggle to sustain their motivation.
✓At VividStock,
Run everything from upload to sales management to payouts on a single screen.
📈
Continuous monetization
Supply grows on its own and the market keeps turning
🏢
STAKEHOLDER
Operators
Platform
✕Typically
Without a way to surface popular works, it is hard to grow browsing and repeat visits.
✓At VividStock,
Trending and ranking exposure visualize popularity and let you design user flow.
📈
Maximize browsing and repeat visits
Raise platform value through exposure design
05
DEMO
Three scenarios

Experience Pixory through a working demo.