Our Journey In Art Licensing So Far

© Alessandra Colombo

As mentioned in our first article about Surtex 2013, this particular trade show was a great experience that has given us more direct insights into the art licensing world. So we want to share here some thoughts that might be helpful to newbies that are thinking about joining the ranks.

Art licensing to us isn't just something you learn how to do with time and experience, but rather a constant evolving of creativity and relationships. It can shape and evolve in so many ways, as you progress in it. There is no set way into licensing as many veterans have already said. You can do it through trade shows, online contacts and social media, networking, by being a manufacturer yourself first and then switching sides, you can do it through an agency or solo, and so on.

This industry brings lots of joy to your life when you score a good design that ends up in a profitable contract, as it gives you a rare yet odd sense of accomplishment when you see your art on a product. It's absolutely thrilling!

But it also puts an unkind pressure on your everyday life that builds up over the months, as you go through some wild-ride ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like you lost a major battle, although most of the times it feels like so much fun, too. It's crazy-competitive. It's also really exhausting. It's undoubtedly risky and requires some financial investment upfront. It takes years to build up a both portfolio of art AND contacts, even if you get licenses early on. There are no set rules, only the ones established by yourself and your clients in a confidential agreement, which are put in place to regulate the licensing deal. It's a business based on trust. The licensing community, inclusive of both artists and manufacturers, is one of the most friendly and inspiring bunch of good hearted people I have known in the design industry.

Art licensing should not be viewed as a race against other artists. Many have pioneered the field so well that they know how to keep their licensing deals going for many years and make a good living at it. We can all learn from them, but as they will tell you, they are not experts either.

In short, licensing is a very subjective, entrepreneurial adventure, whether you do it solo or with an agent. If you like to keep doing it despite the tough times, a few serious emotional melt-downs and many sizable mistakes, then you will feel you have reached the top of the world. It's only then that you realize, it's not the top...! It is challenging, unpredictable, and seemingly capricious.

From our point of view, the path into art licensing and the experience and opportunity of a trade show like Surtex can take hundreds of different routes. That is part of what makes this whole field so exciting and dynamic...and difficult to understand! If you like changes and a flexible lifestyle, art licensing is a perfect job for you! From what we've learned so far, though, here are a set of rough guidelines that we've tried to capture for ourselves and which we'll certainly continue to refine the more we learn about this field. We are no experts; remember, we are just learning through this multi-faceted journey and we speak out of our personal experience so far. I am sure we will refine our tales as we move on and get more and more familiar with it all.

The steps below are not in any particular sequence and although we tried to make it somewhat a flow, remember that it's a very fluid, dynamic flow.

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Roughly, a Route into Art Licensing

1. Do a preliminary research of this industry by reading basic art licensing books, trade magazines, forum threads and by walking a show or two. Define for yourself what art licensing literally means, what it is all about, and then honestly set a purpose for yourself: why are you doing art licensing? Hopefully money is not your answer because it might not work out, even if you work really hard.
2. Build your own brand based on a true story that is representative of you and your core values. This might include your brand name and logo.
3. Create beautiful artwork for commercial use, starting from the product and working backwards. Create your own unique look - don't copy or model off of others, be your own self. It will not only create goodwill within the artist community, it will be noticed by manufacturers and that will increase the reputation of your own brand. Commit yourself to creating quality work and high integrity. Have fun with it!
4. With your unique and stunning art tell stories that can be commercially used. Product development is your password! You want to get really good at that - licensing is a land of opportunities and if your art is product-ready through developed product concepts the opportunities to score a contract are higher, providing that your art matches the company's needs and style, and your timing is right. So it takes years to accomplish, because you will need to build up your portfolio, fix it, tweak it and make it better and better and then do more of it!
5. Design a suitable presentation for your art that also promotes your brand and tells your message. This might include your portfolio, website, blog, social media profiles and interactions, press releases, tear-sheets, trade shows, promotion pieces, etc. Maintain a consistent look while you tweak it over and over as you learn more about licensing.
6. Professionally connect to art licensing groups, forums and trade publications; learn more about the many facets of the business and continue to expand your knowledge as you balance your creative work and your business efforts. It's best to not ask for proprietary information from your fellow artists or take some "elements that you like" from their work. Figure out your own interpretation and creative path and look out for free tips. They are published about everywhere, so read up on them. Not just once but many times. The same information will become more clear as you get more experience under your belt.
7. Research out and decide what categories of products and manufacturers you want to license with; by matching your art to their product's styles you have better chances to get a license. We advise to not shoot broadly or just sign up with a rep without understanding what you're doing. By being professional in anything you do and by recognizing that you have to be in it for the long-term you will help your business through the tough times.
8. Brand yourself and your business through effective but sensible marketing. Beware of spamming others and instead provide relevant and value-added contributions to forums. When you help others to grow, they will help you back. This implies that social media and forums is about participation, not just lurking. You have to get involved, and just reading threads doesn't count!
9. Ask for legal advice or read up about legal matters, don't just enter a contract without understanding what you're signing. Make sure you know what you want out of an agreement. It's your art and you want to set the rules.
10. Represented or not, make sure you understand what is being done with your art and licensing contracts. Ask questions, be pro-active and learn the business for yourself. You never know what will happen next. Be willing to experience anything and be ready for any and all future circumstances.
11. If you decide to exhibit solo at a trade show like Surtex (there are other licensing shows to also consider), plan a low-cost design to keep down the overall expenses but keep a high quality presentation that reflects your story and style. Make as many pre-show appointments as you can, by emails or phone calls; if you can't confirm the clients before your show don't worry too much, they might stop by anyway or if they see art they can use for their products.
12. While in the midst of the show, don't forget to smile and try to enjoy the experience and be present in the moment; you never know what the next encounter will bring or how significant it might become. A show is like the land of opportunities, you just need to look out for them and then ethically seize the best ones for you.
13. After it's all over and you've finally torn down your booth, enjoy a great hard-won show!
14. But don't stop now, immediately follow-up on any commitments or opportunities that presented themselves during the show. You want to build relationships and work with companies that like your art and that you like. It's better to have no contracts than bad contracts that tie up your art and time.
15. Hopefully sign lots of good, profitable contracts! Again, makes sure you know what you're signing and if you don't, look for legal advice.
16. And throughout the above steps, work really hard and don't stop! Keep your eye on the horizon and the long-term view of your goal.
17. Remember that until you sign a contract and your design sells on products you won't get paid ...
18. If a design fails to sell or it doesn't work out, find out what went wrong, review the situation, learn from it and try your best again.
19. Creating a partnership with your clients makes this a fun and creative adventure.
20. Relationships, relationships, relationships...

"Everything good that comes to you is a direct result of your taking responsibility mixed in with a healthy smattering of actually doing." by Alex Mather, Red Lemon Club

So here's to an even better year!

An Art Licensing True Story - Artist Tamara Serrao

I am learning how to show my artwork on product mock-ups by using Illustrator or Photoshop. It makes a big difference to see patterns and colors applied to potential merchandise. It also makes me feel I've reached the end of a creative cycle. It's a good feeling, like the process has come full circle - although it is also sparking new ideas that are exciting to pursue!

Artist Tamara Serrao uses Illustrator for her beautiful work. Here is her story: "I have loved just about every form of visual creativity for as long as I can remember. I was raised in a very creative family. My mother sews, embroiders, quilts and hooks rugs, my father is a genius technical draftsman and my sisters paint, make jewelry and knit."

© Tamara Serrano-Ed Garn and 1st Aid

She would like to think she has inherited a generous amount of each of their creative energies, she says. She studied Weaving, Graphic Design and Art History at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design back when computers were barely being used to teach graphics, "so I am definitely self-taught where computer graphics is concerned," Tamara adds.

She has a day job designing packaging, catalogues and such for a Canadian manufacturing company, Mano Verde. They design horticultural kits for the gift industry. As the chief designer for the company, Tamara has a lot of creative freedom, but her work there is definitely limited by the parameters of the job. "In the past year, however, I have discovered spoonflower.com and I can easily say that fabric design has become a passion. As I have always loved fabric, this should have been a no-brainer, yet it took me all these years to finally get there," Tamara says.

© Tamara Serrano-Pansy and Capucine

"The texture of the fabric brings more to so many designs than simply printing them on paper. I love seeing my work on fabric, and then turning it into a garment, cushion, bag or wall hanging. The human tactile connection we have with fabric, the interaction with it, is so rich," she concludes.

Tamara has made it a goal to attempt to enter as many weekly design contests on spoonflower.com as she possibly can (and have won a few of them), in order to exercise her creativity and to get her name out there." As a result, my work was noticed by a children’s clothing designer with whom I have signed a licensing deal for a few upcoming seasons’ fabric designs."

© Tamara Serrano-Up and Up and Away

Tamara also says: "I try not to get stuck in a rut with my designing. While there is certainly a common thread that runs through most of my work, I try to push my own boundaries. Having spent my youth in the Caribbean plays a large part in my design aesthetic. I am hugely inspired by nature, colour and pattern." Pattern is such a stimulus. Pattern in the urban landscape, traditional patterns, pattern in nature, modern minimalist pattern… Tamara loves it all –  "While I greatly admire simplicity, it can be a real struggle for me. I adore embellishment and often get carried away with excessive detail."

Style, Theme and Technique - Whimsy Retro-Chic

I have been more and more intrigued by art created with a theme in mind - a theme seems to be a vital part of the overall communication in an illustration or a design. Many great masters painted by theme, successful architects and designers have created thematic pieces, and most popular music follows a similar formula. 

Since we already defined the word Theme and explored a bit about the Whimsical and Folk styles in past articles, today I want to introduce a new concept with two additional terms. According to the New Oxford American dictionary:

Retro - imitative of a style, fashion, or design from the recent past. 

Chic - elegantly and stylishly fashionable.

Artist Monica Lee and her dog

Hmmm ... what would be a whimsy retro-chic style? And how would a thematic design apply to such style? What are the techniques that make it so popular and so well loved? Well, all these questions are answered by a very fun and fashionista artist, who will help illustrate the point: Monica Lee! - She is an illustrator, licensed artist and textile designer. Her sources of inspiration - books, interior design and fashion - are sources which are also close to my heart. She has done a fabulous job creating around these concepts. She says, "my main source of inspiration are books - I have so many! Interior design and fashion get ideas going. I am also inspired by the joy of everyday life, the small things that make it beautiful. The aroma of fresh coffee, a curious child, the sound of laughter. I am an eternal optimist, I think the world is bright and everyday is worth enjoying!"

Monica defines her artistic style as clean, fresh and feminine. She likes to use expressive line work and she tends to use a clear color palette. She thinks that it comes from her background as a watercolorist - "No muddy colors allowed!".

© Monica Lee

Monica paints, blogs, and gabs over at her little spot of sunshine on the web, she says. She also enjoys watching trends in all sorts of areas from publishing, to fashion, to craft, to the gift market and interpreting them into her art. Incorporating writing and encouragement in her art has become a passion of hers.

"I suppose my underlying artistic theme has to do with femininity. Whether I am designing something sophisticated or childlike the line work has a delicate hand to it. I do really enjoy chic girly art. I have illustrated book covers for several tween book series. I surround myself with interesting women and was a flight attendant for years so I think I appreciate what makes women tick" - Monica says.

© Monica Lee

Everything she does is hand drawn. She creates art by hand and then goes into Photoshop and paints it. Digital color is bright and offers a lot of options but she also watercolors some of her collections and then scans it all. She says she has become a master at scanning watercolor. She even paints the work in pieces, scans it, then merges it in Photoshop, which keeps everything clean and crisp.

I asked Monica what is exciting about her creative work and she said, " the end result is always the most exciting part. I love when the art resonates with someone, makes them smile or laugh. As much as I get a kick out of the process of creating, I am really creating for others. I am not the 'art for arts sake' kind of person like so many others. I am more of an 'art for people' sake. I am coming to realize that that statement doesn't just mean I am a commercial artist, it means that I am offering my skills, ideas and vision to share with others. In the end I want to bring beauty and hope as well as some fun into the world."

© Monica Lee

Fabric collections are always exciting for Monica because she feels like she is setting a mood, telling a story though line and color. She likes that other people can take the fabric and create their own masterpieces with them. She also is trying to carve out time to load up art prints onto her etsy site - "I have my fabrics and a few pieces of art there now but I want to add more fine art prints as well as 3-D art. I am just trying to figure out how to make the time and space for it in my brain (and in my studio!)" - Monica says. "Years ago (and I mean years) I owned my own greeting card company, Monica Lee Studios so I was involved with the gift industry and even though I went on to be a mom and to work on other art, a few licensing contracts found me. I felt pretty comfortable in the gift arena because A) I am a shopper (believe it or not some artist are NOT shoppers and don’t frequent gift stores! and B) I was a greeting card sales rep for a short while (one of my past lives)." 

© Monica Lee

A couple of years ago, maybe 2 or 3 she says, Monica got serious and really geared her portfolio towards licensing. She still enjoys doing work for publishing but licensing requires a monstrous amount of work in her portfolio so it has taken over her life. "I enjoy this type of work since I tend to gear my art towards the consumer anyway." As far as trade shows go, Monica got around; she has attended CHA and she attends the NYC gift shows. She has attended the International Quilt Market and she also exhibits at Surtex in NYC and Atlanta. It has been several years since she has been but she will be attending in January 2012, she says. "Trade shows revive me! Although it may be seeing and mingling with people that revive me. I am very much a people person which may be a bit odd for an artist who spends a large amount of time working alone."

© Monica Lee

One piece of advice from Monica to other artists is this: "I think one of the best tips I can give is not to compare yourself or your work to others. You really need to run your own race." She started a series on her blog called the Care and Feeding of a Dream; this is a series based on an essay she wrote some time ago but as she revisits it, she is reapplying all the lessons to herself, she says, even though she is at a different stage in her career.

Her goals? She always has so many, she says. In fact Monica is in the process of trying to prioritize them right now. She has two books that she would like to get published and has plans to design and sell embroidery patterns and maybe even a couple of sewing patterns.

© Monica Lee

She also has some new licensors on board that she is super excited about. Since she has become passionate about blogging, she is pretty dedicated to keeping her blog fresh and interesting. "Those are all my business goals, and my art goals are to create more space (physically as well as emotionally) to create larger textile art that marry line, stitching and fibers," Monica says.

Your comments are welcomed. Please enter them in the below comment section.

Inspired by Nature - Licensed Artist Bambi Papais

I have now blogged for almost two months about my adventures in the art licensing field. I've been reading up on blogs, following forums, going to local licensing meetings, and also networking with several helpful and friendly artists who have shared with me some of their experiences. I'll continue to publish their advice, tips & tricks as part of my new series of editorials called Art Licensing Tips & Tricks - the first article came out a couple of days ago in case you missed it. 

It appears that two major underlying threads to be successful in this profession are creating art for products and research. Whether one decides to have an agent or venture alone into the industry, it seems that those two factors are key. And this is also what our talented guest artist Bambi Papais tells us today.

Artist Bambi Papais

The Moon from My Attic: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your art? I've had an interest in art as long as I can remember.  As a child, I remember coloring and doodling as a big part of growing up. Through the years, art has always been  a part of my life. I started painting with watercolors in the early eighties and have continued with it ever since. I'm basically self taught with a handful of workshops over the years. Though I do dabble with colored pencil, acrylic and a few other mediums, I really prefer watercolor as I know it so well and I love the look you can get from it.
 

TMFMA:  What is exciting about your creative work? Vivid color and fun patterns!! My work ranges from serious, realistic botanicals to whimsical fun crazy colored flowers with frogs. I tend to paint loads of tulips with vibrant multicolored patterns on their petals and usually a frog (maybe even a fairy) or bug hanging around. These types of paintings often make people do a double take to see what it is that is catching their eye. It might be a frog with a party hat hiding in the flowers. And the flowers aren't always your traditional colors.  

© Bambi Papais

TMFMA: Is there a person or thing that has influenced you in your artistic efforts? What inspires you? I have several favorite artists both past and present whose work I love and have been influenced by. Even though I certainly don't paint like them, their artwork is just so delicious I hope little bits of it are imprinted in my brain for reference. There are so many good artists around, it's hard just to name a few but ... Past: Cicely Mary Barker, Kate Greenaway, Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish. And present: Daniel Merriman, Patience Brewster, Marjolein Bastin (there are tons more, but these a few off the top of my head). I'm inspired with the whimsy and the imaginary aspect that many of these artists present while still offering a realistic approach. I'm inspired by nature. I LOVE flowers and gardens and things growing. Birds and butterflies are amazing!!!  A hummingbird flitting by or a shy bluebird, what a treat!
 

TMFMA: Tell us your experience as an art licensing artist - In the early 90's there were some trade shows called "Art Buyers Caravan." I exhibited in Southern California and San Francisco with the ABC shows. That was some good exposure at the time. Artists were just starting to get in the licensing business. About the same time a small card company licensed my work for his card line. That card company was represented at several gift shows (which was my first exposure to the Gift Show business). Though that card company is no longer in business, he had such good exposure at the time, that a larger company, Bentley Publishing Group contacted me and I worked with them for several years both in the print department and licensing. The Bentley Group acted as my agent in licensing for many years.

© Bambi Papais

They were able to get my work on many products such as throws, rugs, stationery, fabric, figurines, puzzles, gift bags, stitchery and other  items. In working with them, they "matched" my artwork to the right manufacturers and there was always a discussion to make sure we were all in agreement. I was a guest with the Bentley Group at a licensing show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York a few years ago. It was very exciting to walk the show and see what was going on in the world of licensing. It was an eye opener to see how big the licensing business is now. It was also very gracious of them to let me be their guest! I would say if anyone was thinking about exhibiting in a trade show, go visit one first, even if you have to pay a fee it would be worth it. Exhibiting in any trade show is very costly, so do some research first. Now, since there are helpful licensing groups such as found on Linkedin, an artist can get tons of help from fellow artists for all kinds of information.  

© Bambi Papais

TMFMA: What would be your most fundamental advice to new aspiring licensing artists? Keep researching and reading (oh, and creating, too). There is so much good information out there. Persevere!! Trends come and go, don't get hurt when they go, be ready for the next something good around the corner. 

TMFMA: What are your future aspirations and goals? It was a wonderful experience to work with the Bentley Publishing Group but I have decided to give it a try on my own.  Sooo ... if the right agent came along ... I don’t know ... maybe. Even though I am not actually new at this, I feel new due to the fact that I'm trying it on my own. We’ll see and I'm very excited. I have some great opportunities happening!!!  

 

Visit Bambi's website and shop or find her on Facebook.