Art Licensing Editorial: Why some artists are EXTREMELY successful in licensing their art.

Many artists are successful in licensing some of their art but most do not make a living doing it no matter how outstanding the art.  The lower revenue that artists now earn than what was earned ten years ago is due to various reasons such as,
1.The increase of competition among artists in getting deals from manufacturers as more artists join the art licensing industry makes it harder to license art. There are now thousands of artists licensing their work while ten years ago there were only hundreds. To compete with other artists in getting deals, artists now need to create loads of art to submit to manufacturers for possible licensing consideration.  And, most likely only a small fraction of the art will be licensed.

2. The increase of manufacturers that license art in some product industries such as decorative flags has increased the number of images that is available for consumers to purchase.  Thus, the number of each image sold is less, which results in less revenue earned.

3. Even though there are now many Internet retail stores, the number of Mom-and-Pop retail stores has decreased. Mom-and-Pop stores sell a lot of gift products, which is the mainstay in the art licensing industry.  Thus, there are now not as many stores that sell products with licensed art on them.

4. In the last eight or so years there has been a change in consumer buying. Consumers constantly ask for new products resulting in shorter product shelf life in retail stores. Because the products are not available as long, less is sold which causes lower revenue earned.

Even though it is more difficult to license art there are still artists that do make a living licensing their art. And, there are some artists that not only make a living licensing their art but also earn an EXTREMELY large amount of revenue.  WHY???  What do these artists do that makes their art sell more products and earn them more revenue than the majority of artists in the art licensing industry?  Below is a discussion on some of the reasons.

Note: Only a few artists that are extremely successful in licensing their art are mentioned in this article. There are many more!  At the bottom of this post are links to articles about a few of the artists mentioned in this post.

Extremely Successful Artists
Artists including illustrators, carvers, and sculptors that are extremely successful have been licensing their art for many years and are affiliated with many manufacturers that license their art year-after-year.  Manufacturers find that their products sell extremely well with these artists art on them.  Most but not all of these very successful artists have distinctive art that is very unique and emit an emotional response* that a person can relate to. Jody Bergsma, Mary Engelbreit, Susan Lordi’s "Willow Tree®” brand, Jim Shore’s “Heartwood Creek®”brand, and Suzy Spafford’s "Suzy’s Zoo®, Little Suzy’s Zoo®, Wags And Whiskers®” brands are examples of these artists.   Since the art is very recognizable and loved by consumers, it is not surprising that these artists have large followings and their art sells a huge amount of products.

* Emotional response when viewing art is when a person thinks that the art is cute, beautiful, clever, humorous, etc.

Most of these artist's are so busy creating art that they have hired help to take over the [1] book work, [2] make sure contracts are fair, are signed and returned, [3] track the art that has been submitted for licensing consideration and has been licensed, [4] make sure that quarterly reports and revenue are received, etc.

Some artists (example: Susan Winget) partner with topnotch art licensing agencies that have connections with a large number of manufacturers and are very successful in getting deals for their artists work.  Other artists represent themselves or have in-house agents to license their art. And some artists (example: Jody Bergsma) not only represent themselves or have in-house agents but also purchase and sell their art on products made to their specifications.

- Manufacturers
Artists that license their art to manufacturers that have a large distribution earn more than manufacturers that have less because more products are sold.  Examples of artists that license their art to these manufacturers are Susan Lordi and Jim Shore. Susan’s spiritual and family sculptures are licensed with Demdaco who manufacture a large variety of products for gifts, home décor, entertaining, fashion, baby, holiday, and outdoors.  Jim’s decorative carvings are licensed with Enesco who manufactures a large variety of products for giftware, home and garden décor industries.  Through Enesco, Jim also has partnered with Disney, Peanuts, Coca-Cola, Dr. Suess, and The Grinch to create collections of decorative carvings to their specifications. Partnering with these profoundly popular character and corporate brands is VERY lucrative.

Another way for artists to increase revenue in licensing art is to partner with retail chain stores like Susan Winget has done.  Susan has a Studio Shop with a huge variety of her art on all kinds of products in every one of Jo-Ann Fabric 850+ stores.  View the video “Susan Winget Studio Shop in Jo-Anne Fabric & Craft Stores”.  Note:  Retail chain stores have their own preferred vendors that manufacture products with artist’s art.

In 2017, the Walt Disney Company earned $53 billion in global retail sales of licensed products. This includes products and games across Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (DCPI), Studio Entertainment, ABC Television and ESPN. Read an inspiring article "How to be a Disney Artist” by artist Rob Kaz.

 - Marketing and Branding Art
Extremely successful artists market their art and themselves [1] to gain recognition and build their brand to keep consumers interested in purchasing products with their art on them.  There are many ways to gain recognition such as licensing art for products, have a website and blog, advertise in art trade magazines, write press releases, exhibit at trade shows, show art on social media sites (blog, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and youtube.com videos [2]), and participate in demonstrations and artist signings at trade shows and at retail stores [3].

Besides using the staid-and-true methods of marketing art to gain visibility some artists’ market outside-the-box.  In other words, they gain visibility by doing something totally unexpected as illustrator Johanna Basford did when she decided that she wanted to license her illustrations for United Kingdom Starbuck cups.  Johanna bombarded Starbucks with her art on their cups.  Read "Art Licensing: Marketing Art Outside-the-box” about Johanna's amazing journey on how she succeeded in becoming a Starbuck illustrator not for cups but for wallpaper.

[1] In the past, it was believed that only art needs to be marketed but now branding experts believe that the best way to optimize brand recognition is to not only market the art but also market the artist.  The reason is because consumers feel a connection with a person (artist) and that enhances the wish to purchase products with the artist's art on it.  Read marketing expert Linda Mariano’s article “Brand Building with Marketing That Really Counts” to find out how to market yourself.  Also read, "Art Licensing: Achieving Brand Recognition - both art & artist”.

[2] As an example of using youtube .com to gain recognition, view the video "How to Paint a Hummingbird by Jody Bergsma”.

[3] Artist signings are when the manufacturer supply the product with the artist's art on it and the artist signs their name on the product.

• Summary
Extremely successful artists usually have a very unique art style that is easily recognizable. But, not all these artists create art that is so unique that it is “easily” recognizable.  For instance, Susan Winget is extremely successful but her art even though recognizable by consumers that follow her is not unique enough to stand out from other artist’s work that has a similar art style.  However, that does not prevent these artists from being extremely successful. Artists that are prolific and creates an emotional response with their art like Susan’s has an enormous appeal to consumers.

Extremely successful artists license their art to manufacturers that have large distribution of products and thus they earn large revenue. These artists are good at marketing their art and entice consumers to purchase products with their art on them.

It takes years to build brands and generate relationships with manufacturers.  So artists who wish to become successful in licensing their art needs to work hard and not give up. Examples of artists that have worked very hard and are on their way to becoming extremely successful are Patti Gay and her son Noah’s “Two Can Art” brand, Suzy Toronto “Wacky Women” brand, and watercolor artist Lisa Audit.  Patti and Noah’s art is licensed with various manufacturers including Paperproducts Design who is a leading supplier of tabletop paper goods and other home décor products to thousands of upscale retail stores. Suzy has an e-store and licenses her art with various manufacturers including Enesco who sell coffee mugs, photo frames and wall décor with her art on them.  Lisa’s art is licensed with various manufacturers including Kay Dee Designs, Counter Art, Certified International, Cala Home, and Legacy.  At the 2018 January Atlanta Gift Show, Lisa did signings at all five of these major manufacturers.  Note: There are a lot of artist signings at the Atlanta shows but it is unusual for one artist to do that many signings at a show.

For more information about licensing art, read “Art Licensing Editorial: Is There a Formula to Successfully License Art?”

• Resources
Below are inspirational articles about a few very successful artists.

Illustrator Johanna Basford - "Art Licensing: Illustrator Johanna Basford's Success in Marketing Art Outside-the-box"

Artist Mary Engelbreit - "Art Licensing: Mary Engelbreit's Amazing and Continued Licensing Success!"

Sculptor Susan Lordi - "Art Licensing Editorial: What Makes the Willow Tree® Brand Such a Success?”

Artist Susan Winget - "Editorial: An Art Licensing Winning Team: Susan Winget Art Studio"

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address. For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/

Art Licensing Editorial: Tips on Creating Licensable Art for Products

If artists hope to license their art to manufacturers, they need to create art that consumers want to see on products. Therefore, artists in the art licensing industry cannot just create any type of subject matter and expect to be able to license it for any type of product. The art licensing industry is very commercial. Artists that create art subjects that they love do not necessarily mean that it is licensable. Instead an experienced, and savvy licensed artist first researches what art manufacturers need to be able to sell their products AND THEN creates art that fits the manufacturers product line(s). Those are the artists that are successful in licensing their work.

Of course, there are exceptions. For example, flower art is very popular and if the artist loves to paints flowers then of course it will be licensable IF the composition is well arranged and formatted correctly for the product. But, if the artist only paints roses then the possibility of licensing the art is limited because currently roses are not trending except for vintage art. Believe it or not, daisies and flowers that resemble daisies are currently the most popular for the majority of products. But there again, there are exceptions depending on the season or holiday. Poinsettias are popular for Christmas, tulips and other spring flowers for Easter, sunflowers for summer and autumn. That is why it is so important that artists learn what kind of art manufacturers license for their products before creating the art. Submitting art to manufacturers that they will not put on their products is a waste of time for the manufacturers and for the artist.

• Create Licensable Art
As mentioned above, not all art is licensable or the art is limited in the type of products it will be licensed for. Your art may be beautiful and your family, friends, and even other artists may love it but unless it meets the needs of manufacturers selling to the mass or niche markets it may not be licensed.

The following articles discuss more about licensable art and has suggestions on how to make your art licensable if you are struggling to get deals.

– "Not all art is licensable" Make sure you read the comments because not everyone agreed with the title of the article when it was first posted in 2010.

– "Is Your Art Good Enough to License?"

– "Creating Licensable Art: Composition Tips"

• Tips on Size, Shape, and File Format of Art
The size and shape of art that should be created for licensing consideration depends on the type of products that manufacturers produce. It varies between the different product industries and even between the different manufacturers in the same industry. Thus, there is not a standard size and shape used to create art for ALL products. See below for more information about the size, shape, and format in creating art for licensing.

– Shape
As mentioned previously, art should be created for products. That means the shape of the art (vertical, horizontal, round, and square) depends on what type of product it is created for. The basic shape for greeting cards, decorative flags, gift bags, and some wall art is vertical. Doormats & rugs, cutting boards, placemats, jigsaw puzzles, and some wall art are usually horizontal. Coasters, wall clocks, and dishes are usually round. Coasters, dishes, and wall art are sometimes square. And repeating patterns for fabric, gift-wrap, and scrapbooking is usually square or vertical. Although, product shapes depend upon individual manufacturers so it is important for artists to know what shape each manufacturer use on their products before creating and submitting art to them. For example, not all coaster manufacturers produce only square coasters so if you plan to submit coaster art to numerous coaster manufacturers it would be wise to format the coasters not only square but also round.

– Size
Art should be created large enough so that the resolution will not be lost when placed on most products. For instance, if art is painted on a 5 by 7 inch sheet of paper (standard size for greeting cards) the resolution will NOT be good enough when enlarged for a 28 by 40 inch decorative flag. Each artist needs to figure out what size works best for the products they license or hope to license. Read "Art Licensing Tip: Creating the Correct Art Size" to find out more about the size of the art that should be created for products.

– File Format
Most artists scan their art or create their art in Adobe Photoshop at HiRes (high resolution) of 300dpi (dots per inch) because most manufacturers only need 300dpi. However, some manufacturers ask for 600dpi or even 1200dpi when the art is very detailed. The drawback in using a large dpi file is that if the file size is large it takes up a lot of computer space. Also the file takes a long time to transfer to the manufacturer over the Internet especially if the file is a layered Photoshop .psd file. Note: Many manufacturers asked for layered Photoshop .psd or .tiff files so they can adjust the size of the image. Some manufactures also ask that the image have a 0.5 or 1 inch or more bleed. A bleed means that the manufacturer wants the art to extend beyond the cutting edge so that no white area shows after trimming. For example, if the size of the final art will be 28 by 40 inches for a decorative flag, and the manufacturer asks for a one inch bleed, the artist would extend the art an additional one inch on each side and send the manufacturer a 30 by 42 inch image.

When submitting art to manufacturers for licensing consideration, artists normally send LowRes files at 72dpi. Many artists send a LowRes 8-1/2 by 11-inch sell-sheet that has the image(s) and artist contact information on it. Also some artists use sell-sheets to submit a collection of art and product mock-ups illustrating what the art would look like on products.

• Research the Art that Manufacturers License
Manufacturers license art to help sell their products. They are always looking for new art that standout and are popular with consumers. New art does not always mean a new theme but maybe a new refreshed look of a popular theme such as snowmen, lighthouse, or flower gardens. Or, new could mean a new central image(s) in a popular theme such as a mermaid for a coastal theme and elves for a Christmas theme. Or, it could even be a new theme like woodland animals that was introduced several years ago and is still popular.

Successful licensed artists are continually looking at products to find manufacturers that license art and see what kind of art they license. They visit all kinds of brick-and-mortar stores and manufacturer trade shows* that sell to retailers. Searching the Internet is an indispensable method in finding manufactures and checking out the art used on products.  

Note: Finding what art is used on products by looking at manufacturer websites is not always possible because many have their product section(s) and catalogues password protected for use only by retailers. However, by searching the Internet you can find retailer e-stores that show manufacturer products they purchased to sell to consumers.

* Manufacturers exhibit their products at all kinds of trade shows. The most popular trade show that artists attend is the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market held in January and July each year. The Atlanta show has a huge number of manufacturers that exhibit their products (both permanent showrooms and temporary booths) so it is the go-to-place for artists to view products that uses licensed art. There are also many other trade shows besides gift shows that specialize in products such as apparel, outdoor equipment, hardware, textile, home and garden, kitchen and bath. Most trade shows can be found in the "Wholesale Tradeshow Calendar". FYI: This tradeshow calendar is not up-to-date with all the show dates but it does list the trade show websites so that you can get accurate dates and location information.  

Note: Because the purpose of trade shows is for manufacturers to sell their products to retailers, they are normally closed to the public and difficult for artists to attend. Read "Art Licensing: Why Walk Wholesale Trade Shows?" to find out more about trade shows and some ways that artists can attend them.

Related Articles
– "Is There a Formula to Successfully License Art?"

– "Art Licensing: The Importance in Knowing What Sells at Retail"

– "List of Manufacturers that License Art"

– "Art Licensing Editorial: Tips on Getting Deals"

– "List of Art Trends" The trends mentioned in this article are NOT up-to-date and you will probably see that some trends mentioned are not now seen on products.

• Know Your Competition
Because there are now thousands of extremely talented artists competing with each other, it is imperative that artists know what other artists they are competing against. Recognizing other artists work as similar to yours is important so that you do not waste your time in continuing to submit art to a manufacturer that is already licensing that artists work. For example, if the art style and themes are Americana and a manufacturer is already licensing art from one or more artists with an Americana look than they probably would not be interested in art from another artist with the same look.

Some manufacturers use preferred artists when they have small product lines such as calendar manufacturers that only produce one or two calendars a year per theme (cats, dogs, birds, coastal, etc.). On the other hand manufacturers that have large product lines such as greeting card manufacturers prints hundreds of cards a year and they are always looking for art. Thus, artists have a better chance in getting a deal from them. Researching the art that the manufacturer has licensed to make sure your art is different but still fits their product line(s) will ultimately save you time and give you a better chance in licensing your art.

• Licensing Realities
Being a licensed artist has its pros and cons. Creating and licensing art for products is hard work. It is frustrating when you submit art and seem to wait forever to get a reply that you got a deal OR you never hear back. The more licensable art you create the better chance you have in licensing it but the reality is that most of the art you create will never be licensed. Theoretically art created for numerous types of products should be licensed for those products but in many cases the art may only be licensed for only one type of product. Now products have a shorter shelf life so monies earned from each licensing deal is lower than what was earned ten years ago. And, now more artists are licensing their art so the competition is stiff and each artist is getting fewer deals than before. Therefore, less artists are able to live only on the money earn from licensing their art.

So why do artists continue to create art for products and try to license it if there are so many negatives? Every artist does it for different reasons. Some love to create and getting paid is a bonus to them. Some need to earn any money they can by licensing their art. Some love to see their art on products. Others enjoy the kudos from family, friends, and artists in creating wonderful art and getting deals. And some even enjoy the challenge in creating and licensing their art. Or they love it all! So whatever the reason, enjoy creating art to be licensed for products :) I wish you much success!!!!!

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address. For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/

Art Licensing Editorial: Is There a Formula to Successfully License Art?

Licensing art to manufacturers is a challenge. The competition among artists to license their work is growing as more and more artists enter the licensing industry. Different ways in selling products to consumers is evolving with the advent of Internet E-stores and kiosks in shopping malls as print-on-demand stores. These stores allow the production of popular custom and personalized art on products that has a wide range of art styles and themes. The different generations (Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y/The Millennials, Gen Z) are influencing the type of products sold at retail. Each generation views the world differently and thus they purchase products with a diversity of art on them. As the majority of purchasing power is transitioning from one generation to another there is constant changes in art styles and themes needed to effectively sell products. And because of these fluctuations, there is NO set formula that an artist can follow to successfully license her/his art.

However, there are certain fundamentals that artists can pursue to have a better chance in licensing their work. Below is a discussion on some of them that should help to get deals.

LICENSING FUNDAMENTALS
• Create art that sells product
Artists new to the art licensing industry often make the mistake in creating art with themes that “they” like but may not be what consumers want. The art MUST appeal to the mass market so that manufacturers can entice a profusion of consumers to purchase their products. Even if the art is extraordinary it may not be licensable if the themes or the art style does not appeal to enough consumers. It is difficult to find manufacturers to license art themes that are unlikely to sell products. Thus, artists that want to be successful in licensing art must create art with themes that consumers want.

Get tips on creating beautiful licensable art by reading, "How to Create Art that is Licensable". And read the article "List of Art Trends" for themes that sell products year-after-year.

• Be prolific in creating art
The more licensable art an artist creates, the better chance she/he has in getting deals. Submitting lots of art with a variety of themes gives art directors more choices when selecting art to be licensed. Also, as art licensing agent Jim Marcotte states in his article "10, oops, 17, Things You Need to Learn to Make It in Art Licensing", "The majority of what you create for licensing will never be licensed, so you need to create constantly and keep feeding it into the pipeline."

It is SO true that a lot of the art generated is not licensed. But, do not despair that the art is kaput. Unlicensed images can be refreshed to look new or parts of it can be used in other images.

• Build relationships with art directors (AD)
It is not always possible, but working directly with a manufacture AD is better than just submitting art to a submission committee. By building a relationship with the AD she/he becomes more familiar with the artist work and also enables the artist to ask questions. Learning about the company and what themes are trending and/or big sellers is invaluable for creating new art.

Hint: Being easy to work with, willing to compromise, and willing to alter art helps create a friendly relationship and gives the artist a better chance to get deals.

• Submit art at the right time
Knowing when to submit the correct art themes to manufacturers may determine if the art will be licensed or not. Unfortunately there is no standard time of the year to submit the different art themes. Although, art is usually chosen by manufacturers at least 12 months in advance of the season or holiday.

Each manufacturer tends to have their own deadlines so it is important to contact them. A few manufactures have art licensing guidelines and submission deadlines on their websites but the majority of them will need to be contacted. Some manufacturers periodically send emails to artists that are on their art call-out requests. Ask art directors if they request art by doing call-outs and if they do ask to be put on the list.

• Do not give up
Licensing art is VERY frustrating because getting deals is hard, VERY HARD. Artists can submit a lot of art that they know is perfect for the manufacturer's product line and they never hear back from the AD. However, unless they are persistent in submitting art they never will license their art.

Every successful licensed artist has gone through the frustrating process of submitting art and not getting deals. The one thing they all have in common is that they did not give up. Read artist Barbara Johansen comments on not giving up in the article "Don't give up Your Dreams and Grow a Thick Skin - Part 1" and artist BJ Lantz comments in the article "Don't give up Your Dreams and Grow a Thick Skin - Part 2". Both these articles were written in 2009 and the information the artists shared still applies today.

It is crucial to create, create, create AND submit, submit, submit art to successfully license it. Getting a deal takes time, sometimes M A N Y months, so be patient and do NOT give up!

RESOURCES
Everyone has an opinion on what it takes to become successful in art licensing. Below are opinions by three-experienced agents. But, beware that these articles were not recently written. If the authors are asked today about how to license art their opinions may be different due to the transformation of the art licensing industry.

1. "What Does it Take to Make it in Art Licensing?" by John Haesler of MHS Licensing

2. "Ten Secrets to Success in Art Licensing" by Lance J. Klass of Porterfield's Fine Art Licensing

3. "Break It Down" by Jim Marcotte of Two Town Studios

4. "10, oops, 17, Things You Need to Learn to Make It in Art Licensing" by Jim Marcotte of Two Town Studios

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address. For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/

Art Licensing Editorial - Should Artists Sign Exclusive Agreements?

In the art licensing industry it is often heard that artists should NEVER sign an exclusive agreement because it will restrict them in being able to get licensing deals and earn revenue. However, that may not always be true. Just like so many other things in this industry it depends upon the artist and what she/he hope to achieve in licensing her/his art. The following discusses exclusive and non-exclusive agreements that apply to 1. art licensing agencies that represent artists, and 2. manufacturers that license art for their products.

• Exclusive agreement with an agency
The majority of art licensing agencies in the United States require that their artists agree to an exclusive representation. That means the artists use only one agency to get them licensing deals in ALL product industries worldwide. Although, if the agency does not license art to foreign manufacturers, the artist may hire another agent to only represent her/him in foreign countries. Note: The reason agents want to do exclusive representation is to avoid the confusion if several agents submit an artist art to manufacturers. Not only do the manufacturers think it is a waste of their time to view the same art shown by several agents but if they are interested in licensing any of the art they would not know which agent to contact.

Some agencies do non-exclusive representation because they concentrate only on particular products such as fabric or wall art. Thus, some artists do have several agents. However, it can get sticky if one of the agents decides to license the art for products that they were not hired to.

• Exclusive agreement with a manufacturer for a specific product industry
Some industries are very competitive and want to use artist brands to sell their products. For instance, many fabric companies that sell their products to the quilt industry require their artists to be exclusive to them since they are showcasing and promoting the artists. That means those artists are not allowed to license their designs to other fabric companies. As artist Tara Reed points out in "5 Things to Consider Before Signing an Exclusive Art Licensing Agreement", an artist may decide to enter an exclusive agreement if they will ". . . guarantee a certain amount of sales per year (hard to come by at the moment), guarantee that they will bring out a certain number of products, promote you and your brand in specific ways… you want something in return for cutting off other opportunities for a few years." Also read art licensing agent Maria Brophy's article "Should you Sign an Exclusive Agreement - What to Consider". It has excellent examples on when Maria DOES NOT and when she DOES sign exclusive agreements.

• Exclusive agreement with a manufacturer for a specific image(s)
The most common exclusive agreement in the art licensing industry is when manufacturers license an image for their products. In fact, most product licensing contracts have this stipulation in it. The agreement requires that the artist NOT license the SAME image to other manufacturers in the SAME industry until after the contract expiration. The purpose of this exclusivity is so that the manufacturer is not competing with other manufacturers that are selling to the same consumer base. An exception is in the wall décor industry where non-exclusive agreements are offered. That is why the same image for posters and prints may be in many print-on-demand wall décor Internet stores.

However, the same image may be licensed to different manufacturers at the same time and for the same product if their customer bases are different. For example if the image was licensed to a manufacturer that sells only to general retailers it may be okay to license the same image to a manufacturer that sells to the mass channel (chain stores) and to non-profit companies. Of course, you should inform the companies that are involved to make sure they have no objections in licensing the art to another manufacturer. If you do not inform them, you may be infringing on contracts since you may not be aware that besides selling to general retailers the manufacturer also sells to chain stores.

Note: A difficult situation could occur if an artist license VERY similar looking images to different manufacturers that produce the same products. Manufacturers want to sell art that is different from their competition. They would be unhappy if the images are so similar that customers would mistake them for the same art. It is always wise to inform the companies involved to make sure there is no conflict.

• Contracts/Agreements
Read all contracts and agreements closely and make sure you understand all the terms and clauses in it including "exclusive". If you are unsure, I recommend that you hire an attorney experienced in art licensing legislation to look it over before you sign it. It is less expensive to pay an attorney to make sure the contract is fair to you than to find out later that you signed a contract with clauses unfair to you.

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address. For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/

Art Licensing Editorial: Do artists need to create collections?

In the art licensing industry, the most heard answer to questions asked is "it depends". And that is also the answer to the question on whether artists need to create art collections. A collection has many meanings and the following discusses the reason why some types of collections should be created while others may not be needed.

• What is a collection?
A collection can be images that are organized in various ways, or complimentary images created for a specific product, or complementary images and associated designs created for use on multiple products. All these type of collections are useful when submitting to manufacturer art directors (ADs) for licensing consideration and for placing on websites so that ADs can easily find the art they are interested it.

#A - images organized by themes etc.
The advantage in organizing art into collections of themes, seasons, holidays, or occasions is that it is easier for ADs to find art they are interested in licensing and thus the more often they will visit the artist/agent website. Also ADs request art for particular seasons, holidays, and themes. So if the art is already organized into those collections it is easier for the artist to find and submit the art.

The following are possible ways to organize art into collections.
1. Themes - coastal, beaches, nautical; patriotic; birds, birdhouses; butterflies and insects; flowers and gardens; food and wine; inspirational sayings; Lodge
2. Seasons - fall, winter, spring, summer
3. Holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July
4. Occasions - anniversary, baby birth/shower, back to school, birthday, graduation, wedding

#B - images organized by product type
Some artists organize their art on their website into collections by the type of product that it was created for. For example, the product collections could be greeting cards, gift bags and wrap, decorative flags, fabrics, and tableware.

#C - images formatted various ways
A collection can be one main image that is formatted various ways such as vertical, horizontal, square, and round. Formatting an image different ways takes time but it could increase the likelihood in being licensed. For instance, the greeting card industry produces cards that are vertical, horizontal and sometimes square and round although vertical images significantly out number horizontal images. And, many decorative flag companies sell doormats and mailbox wraps besides vertical flags so they need both vertical and horizontal images. By submitting various formatted art to card companies may mean getting a deal or not. For instance, if the image was submitted only as a vertical format and the AD decided that the image would look better as horizontal then it may not be licensed. And, by submitting images in both formats to flag companies, additional products (mat, mailbox wrap) have a better chance in being licensed instead of only a flag.

Artists typically create art that is vertical since it is the most used format for products. It is true that companies sometimes ask for changes when they are considering licensing an image. But not all companies have the time to wait for images to be reformatted and instead they license art that has already been formatted numerous ways. Also, if the art is already formatted it is ready to go when artists wish to submit art for coasters, plates, etc. (square and round), OR placemats, serving trays, cutting mats, rugs, etc. (horizontal). Thus, having art formatted several ways can be a time saver in the long run and also increase the possibility in licensing the art.

#D - series of complimentary images for a product
This type of collection is two or more images that compliment each other. It is created for one or more specific type of products such as boxed greeting cards, calendars, fabric for the quilting industry, dinnerware, coaster sets, paper party ware, wall décor, gift bags, etc. Creating this type of collection is time consuming and since it is created for a specific type of product(s) it may not be usable to be licensed for other products.

#E - series of images with complimentary images for use on multiple products
When art collections are discussed in the art licensing industry, this is the type of collection that is often implied. It is a series of images including patterns, icons and borders that compliment the images for use on multiple products. Some successful licensed artists recommend that the collection consist of 1. at least four central images; 2. one rectangular, circular, oval, and square frame; 3. at least three borders with different widths; 4. at least several repeating patterns; 5. several backgrounds; 6. at least six or more supplemental icons, 7. text if it is appropriate. The intention on creating this type of collection is that most of the art is already finished before submitting to ADs so the art is ready for multiple products with minor editing needed. And, the art has a better chance in being licensed because the AD can choose from a selection of looks instead of only one.

The drawback in creating this type of art collection is that it is VERY time consuming resulting in artists not being able to create as many different images and have less art to submit for licensing consideration. Also, not all of the recommended components in the collection as listed above can be used on all products. It is a waste of time in creating them if they will not be used. Thus, I recommend that if you want to do this type of collection you create a modified version of it depending on the kind of products the collection are intended for.

• Are collections necessary?
As discussed in #A and #B, it is very useful to organize art into collections. Thus, I recommend that art be organized into at least #A collection.

To increase the opportunity in licensing art for more products, it is probably a good idea to create collections as discussed in #C unless there is no need to format art in various ways. For instance, surface designs are created as repeating patterns for fabrics, scrapbooking and other paper products. There are few opportunities to license repeating pattern designs for products that require formats other than square and maybe vertical so it is not necessary to format the designs as round or horizontal.

Many artists think that all the art they create will be suitable to be licensed for ANY kind of product. Unfortunately that may not be true. Art that is licensable depends on whether it incorporates the current trends, themes and art styles wanted by consumers. Not every product or even each manufacturer in the same product industry uses the same specifications so the art may be only licensable for one, a few, or many types of products. For instance, intricate and collage styled art that was created for jigsaw puzzles (i.e. a bunch of children playing in the snow) would not be licensable for many other products such as decorative flags, tableware, shower curtains and bathroom accessories. Therefore, there is no reason to create a collection of art as described in #E if the art is not licensable for a wide range of products.

However, collections are necessary if the artist wishes to license their art to manufactures that sell products as collections that are listed in collection #D.

• Conclusion
As mentioned in this article, it depends on whether artists should create collections of their art. Some should be created such as #A while others like #E may not be needed; at leased for all art. Creating collections, especially for #E, is very time consuming and if the art is not suitable for a wide variety of products it is a waste of time creating them.

Some artists intentionally begin their licensing career by creating art for only one product industry such as greeting cards, or fabrics. Others may discover by accident that their art tends to be more licensable for one industry than others. So there is no need to create collections #D or #E. However, once they are successful in licensing their art for the one product and decide to branch out into other industries, it may be time to create collections for art that is suitable for a variety of products.

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address. For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/

Art Licensing Editorial: How to Create Art that is Licensable

Artists that are new to the art licensing industry are often frustrated that they have not been able to license their art to manufacturers (licensees). They may have been successful in selling their art at street fairs, in art galleries, or e-stores like Etsy. But, the art licensing industry is very different than these types of venues since licensees do not just sell to individuals but to the mass market through retail via multiple channels of distribution. Thus, art must appeal to a wide range of consumers.

In the art licensing industry, the reason why licensees license art to be placed on their products is to entice consumers to purchase them. So licensees look for well executed art with themes that are popular with consumers. Each licensee has specific art needs that often change with the fluctuation in economy, technology and trends. Even in the different product industries such as greeting cards, or decorative flags or fabrics each licensee tends to license art with a certain art style(s). It is a MUST that artists make sure their art style(s) and themes fit the licensee product line(s) BEFORE submitting art to them so that they do not waste their own time and the time of licensees.

A good resource on manufacturers in various industries that license art can be found in the article "List of Manufacturers that License Art".

Note: The title of this article is somewhat misleading because it insinuates that the information given in the article provides a full-proof way to get licensing deals. Unfortunately, there is no formula that will achieve that result. But this article does discuss what is required so that images submitted to licensees have a better chance in being licensed.

Why isn't all art licensable?
The art licensing industry has hundreds of artists that are successful in licensing their art because 1) the art technique is well executed, and 2) the art style(s), and 3) themes are wanted by licensees for their products. If any of these key components are missing, the art is not licensable or is difficult to license. The following discusses the art techniques that makes art well executed, art styles used for products, and art themes that are popular with consumers and licensed by licensees. Read the related article, "Editorial: Not all art is licensable"

• Well-Executed Art
Agents do not want to represent an artist and licensees will not license the art if the artist's work is not good enough. In other words, the art technique is not well- executed and the main reason why artists have difficulty in licensing their work.

Well-executed art has pleasing colors and the objects, and colors in the art is well balanced so that the viewer's eyes moves all over it. Below is information on art techniques (composition, color saturation, color combinations) that are important in well-executed art.

A. Color Saturation

Saturation of color depicts how pure or intense the color is; not diluted with white or gray or black. Unsaturated/de-saturated color can become dull if too much white or muddy if too much black is added to a saturated color. For example, the paint colors cadmium yellow, cadmium red, and ultramarine are highly saturated while yellow ochre, venetian red, and indigo are dark and unsaturated.  For more information about color saturation read, "What is Saturation?”

Using a variation of color saturation in the art gives contrast to images so that they standout. If TOO MUCH color saturation is used in the image, there is a loss in shading and contrast in the images. While TOO MUCH unsaturated color makes the art dull or muddy looking. Thus, a good balance between saturated and unsaturated colors should be used in achieving well-executed art for products.

However, some industries such as wall décor tend to license art that has moderately dark de-saturated colors. And, licensees that sell baby clothing and accessories mainly use art with light de-saturated colors (pastels). Although, more saturated art and designs for baby products is now trending. In Photoshop, using the Hue/Saturation or Curves functions can easily alter the color saturation of images.

B. Color Combinations
Using pleasing and popular color combinations in art is important for the art to be licensed. As is stated in "Basic color schemes - Introduction to Color Theory" . . . "With colors you can set a mood, attract attention, or make a statement. By selecting the right color scheme, you can create an ambiance of elegance, warmth or tranquility, or you can convey an image of playful youthfulness. Color can be your most powerful design element if you learn to use it effectively." Read the above article to learn more about color theory and get links to websites with apps to create color combinations. Also check-out the article, "100 Brilliant Color Combinations and How to Apply Them to Your Designs."

Certain color combinations are popular and expected to be used on art for holidays and certain themes. For instance, Valentine's Day art should have red and white; baby and Easter - pastel colors; Halloween - black and orange; Christmas - traditional dark red and green; Saint Patrick's Day - greens; nautical - blues; patriotic - red white and blue.

Although, often these traditional color combinations may vary depending on type of products, trends, art styles and demographics. Currently colors for Halloween are bright fluorescent looking shades of orange, blue, green, pink, and yellow with black besides the traditional orange and black. Un-saturated colors of red, white and blue with a distressed art style are being used for some nautical art. And, bright red and chartreuse green with a whimsical art style is used for youthful and fun Christmas images.

For the last several years, a black background was used for many art themes but now not as much. Duo toned (red/black, white/black, grey/black, turquoise/white, etc.) graphic and flower patterns are now trending for home decor, clothing and accessories, kitchen, paper products and more.

C. Art Compositions
The correct placement of motifs AND color in a design or painting is an important aspect in achieving a good composition. Design principles like the Rule of Thirds creates balance in the composition. The Rule of Odds makes a composition more dynamic and interesting. And, the Rule of Simplification eliminates the clutter in the composition so the viewer can concentrate on primary objects. There are many more design principles so read, "Creating Licensable Art: Composition Tips" for more information about them and links to other articles that have more in depth explanations and examples.

• Art Styles
Not all art styles (traditional/realistic, whimsical, abstract, cartoon, stylized, graphic, distressed, etc.) are licensable for ALL product industries, or even by licensees in the same industry. That is because of the kind of products licensees sell, the demographics of their customers, and their distribution channel. For instance, abstract art may be licensable for fabric and wall décor but not for many other industries. And, humor and cartoon art styles and themes may be licensed by some licensees in the greeting card industry but not by other licensees in the card industry.

Art styles used on products change over time depending on trends and other factors. So styles that were predominate five years ago for certain product industries are gradually being replaced by other art styles. For example, in the greeting card industry whimsical and stylized styles are now more prevalent than the traditional realistic art styles. And, instead of using mainly traditional and SOME whimsical styles, the decorative flag industry now uses whimsical, stylized, distressed and SOME realistic art styles.

• Themes
Some artists create art with a theme they like and then try to find a manufacturer that will license it. But successful licensed artists create art to be put on products with themes for the mass market or niche market that they know is popular with the consumers for those markets.

Knowledge is power. Knowing what kind of images that a licensee want is crucial in being able to get deals. For example, most licensees in the greeting card industry want art that gives a meaningful and sentimental feeling. And, the decorative flag licensees want art that is colorful with central images that can be distinguished 20 feet away.

Although licensees say that you want new art, many are not willing to take a chance on introducing themes that may not sell. So they tend to license art with themes that are popular with consumers and proven sellers of their products. Hint: Art with popular themes and have a fresh new look are often licensed.

Below is a list of some popular art themes.
– Nature - flowers (sunflowers, daisies, geraniums, etc.) birdhouses, butterflies, garden birds, dragonflies, frogs, roosters, etc.
– Coastal and Beach scenes - seashells, lighthouses, sea birds, flip-flops, umbrellas, beach chairs, etc.
– Patriotic - American flags, patriotic colored flowers, stars, fireworks, etc.
– Easter - eggs, bunnies, flowers, religious crosses and scenes, etc.
– Christmas - Santa, snowmen, cardinals, poinsettias, pinecones, snowflakes, reindeer, religious scenes, etc.
– Halloween - pumpkins, scarecrows, spider webs, crows, non-scary witches and monsters, etc.

The concept "less is more" of simple duo colored patterns has replaced art themes on many products such as gift bags, gift wrap, totes, plastic tumblers, etc. Read "Art Licensing Editorial - 2016 January Atlanta Market Trends" for more information and pictures about this art trend and other trends seen at the 2016 January Atlanta gift show.

How to recognize if your art is good enough
Just because your family and friends love your art and you get accolades from other artists does not necessarily mean that the art you create is licensable. Of course, if you are getting contracts you know your art is good enough to get licensed. But if you are not, then maybe your art technique needs improving or you are not creating the right themes. So, how do you find out?

It is better to get input from persons that are known experts in the art licensing industry such as art licensing coaches/consultants than from family and friends. But even coaches will not be helpful if they do not give constructive criticism and are not able to give suggestions on how to improve the art. Coaches may be experts in the art licensing industry but art direction or giving constructive criticism is not always their forte. So if at all possible, get recommendations or ask the coach before you hire her/him. Some art licensing coaches are listed in the article "On Art Licensing Coaches (consultants)".

Another way to determine if your art is good enough is to be IMPARTIAL and compare your art with art that has already been licensed. Study the art that has a similar art style as yours. Ask yourself questions like: What makes the licensed art outstanding; colors, placement of icons? Is my art as good as the licensed art or does it need to be improved? Hint: This method in recognizing that your art is not good enough will NOT work unless you are brutally honest when comparing your art with the licensed art. Note: An excellent e-store to compare decorative flag art with licensed flag art is Flagsrus. And, the Leanin' Tree website is a great site for comparing your art to licensed greeting card art.

Read my (Joan Beiriger) journey on improving my art to make it licensable in "Editorial: Is Your Art Good Enough to License?" The article also discusses more ways to find out if your art is good enough to be licensable.

Conclusion
Creating art for products for the art licensing industry is NOT a hobby. It cannot be a hobby if you want to be successful in getting licensing deals and continue to get deals. It is not a couple of hours a week job but for some artists a 12 hour or more a day job. Artists are willing to spend countless hours because they are passionate in creating art for products, seeing their art on them, and hopefully earn enough money to make the hard work worthwhile.

Successful licensed artists are prolific in creating art. They are constantly looking for inspiration for art to create and are continually improving the quality of their art. They are very observant wherever they are and look at designs and colors on products in retail stores, on e-stores, social media, and the clothing people are wearing to see what is trending. Researching for manufacturers that license art to see what type of art styles and themes they are licensing is a MUST if an artist does not have an art licensing agent to represent them. Note: It is well known that the more prolific artists are in creating licensable art, the more licensing deals they will get.

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address. For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/

Art Licensing: The Reality AFTER Getting a Deal

So you licensed your art and now the money will roll in! Well, not always OR right away OR maybe you do not receive any revenue. First of all, the products must be produced, then they must sell, and then you must wait for the quarterly report and check from the manufacturer. Believe it or not, after the licensing contract is signed, it can take 18 months or more before you can start earning revenue. Although, if the contract is for a flat fee or the contract includes an advance toward royalties, the fee will usually be paid within a month after the contract is signed and the art transferred to the manufacturer.

It is wonderful when a contract yields a substantial amount of revenue but it does not always happen. And worse, sometimes the contract does not yield any revenue because the products do not sell and/or the contract is cancelled. Below is a discussion about the causes of low licensing revenue and some contract statements that artists/agents may have difficulty enforcing.

Licensing Revenue
Ten years ago many artists could live on the money they earned by licensing their work. It is different now and fewer artists can live on the earnings of their licensed art. Consumers no longer purchase as many non-essentials as they use to. They continually want new products at a low price resulting in manufacturers limiting the production of their products, charging retailers less for the products, and retailers leave the products on their shelves for a shorter time. Thus, artists earn less licensing revenue.

• Reasons why low revenue
Art that is created with popular art styles and themes for the mass market usually sell more products than those that are better suited for niche markets. For instance, images of realistic African animals usually earn lower revenue than whimsical birds and butterflies with flowers because they are not as popular to a wide range of consumers. Below are more reasons why licensed art may receive low revenue.

– Niche market and themes
As mentioned above some themes are suited for a niche market and do not sell as well as themes for the mass market. Also art that can be used on products for everyday use earns more revenue than art for minor holiday themes such as Mardi Gras, Valentine's Day, and Saint Patrick's Day. The amount of revenue also depends upon the type of product. For instance, Valentine's Day art is more popular on greeting cards than on decorative flags.

– Type and number of products
Successfully selling different types of products (ceramic figurines, greeting cards, decorative flags, jig-saw puzzles, coloring books, calendars, etc.) often change as consumer interests change. So revenue earned from certain products is less than from other products.

For instance, collectable figurines were very popular 10-15 year ago but not so much now so the amount earned from a contract for figurines may be small. And, even though getting a contract for wall art has a large royalty rate of 10-15%, the amount of revenue received is normally small. The reason is because the amount of each image produced is not very large. Also, even if the wall art is framed, the artist often only earns royalties for the print and not the entire product.

Other products that are purchased as a collection such as dishes and associated tabletop items earns more revenue because more SKUs (stock keeping units) are sold.

– Use of text on products
Words on products can help sell the products but they can also limit the selling power that reduces the revenue artists earn. For instance, if a greeting card is aimed at a specific person and for example uses the word grandmother on it, the amount of cards sold will be low and thus the artist earns a lower revenue than cards that do not mention a specific person. Unfortunately, what words placed on cards and sometimes other products is out of the control of the artist because most manufacturers choose them and not the artist. The same is true if the art is used for a blank greeting card or another occasion instead of the more popular birthday occasion. Fewer cards will be sold and therefore less revenue earned.

– Mistakes made in art selection
Sometimes the manufacturer art director makes mistakes when selecting art to be put on products. The consumer may not purchase it if the art is not popular, the art is not well executed, or the art is too similar to other art all ready seen on the same products. Thus, the artist earns low or no revenue.

– Manufacturer's distribution small
If the manufacturer has a small distribution of their products, not many products are sold and hence the artist earns a small royalty fee. That is why many artists prefer getting a flat licensing fee when the manufacturer is a start-up and their distribution is not yet very large.

– Short shelf life
At the present, consumers are constantly demanding new products. Thus, products often have a short shelf life especially in chain stores resulting in less royalty revenue for artists than they use to earn. In large chain stores, the products may have a shelf life of three months or less and then the products are put on sale. In the past getting a licensing deal that places the product into large chain stores meant the artist received more revenue even though the royalty was smaller than if it was placed into "mom and pop" retail stores. The reason why is that large chain stores can sell more product because of the larger distribution. Now because of the shorter shelf life in large chain stores that may not always be true.

– Limited production of product
Many manufacturers produce products to sell for only one season even if the contract is for two years. The second year may include a sell off period of the products or to give the manufacturer time to reproduce the product if it is exceptionally popular. Thus, artists usually get the majority of revenue for the first year of the contract and maybe a little or none the second year.

– POD
Print on Demand (POD) licensing deals often earn low revenue for artists but of course there are exceptions. Many POD manufacturers depend upon consumers purchasing their products from their Internet website while others sell only wholesale to retailers. In any case, the artist does not earn any revenue unless the product is sold and the amount earned depends upon how the manufacturer markets their products, how large their distribution, and whom they sell to (consumer or retailer).

• Reasons why no revenue
– Products do not sell
Sometimes products just do not sell and the artist does not receive any revenue unless the manufacturer gives an advance toward royalties. Also, some manufacturers license art either for their catalogs to be shown to retail stores OR to present to their key accounts. If art is licensed for key accounts and the manufacturer is unable to sell the product(s) to them, then the products are not produced and the chance in earning revenue is dead.

– Test the market
Some manufacturers license the art, makes a small production run of the product, and then tests the market to see if it sells. If it does not, further production runs are not made and the product is dropped.

– Cancelled contract
Sometimes manufacturers change their mind for whatever reason and decide to cancel the contract. Or sometimes the art was licensed for a manufacturer's key account client and the client decided they do not want it and thus, the contract is dead.

Unfortunately, manufacturers do not always inform the artist/agent that they are not going forward in producing the product. Thus, the contract is not cancelled so that the artist can try to license the art to another manufacturer that sells the same type of product. Artists/agents need to be vigilant when the quarterly royalty statement does not arrive and should find out why. It may be that the manufacturer is not going ahead in producing the product.

Difficulty Enforcing Some Contract Statements
• Samples
Most artists love to have products of the art they license. However, not all manufacturers offer artist free samples of the products such as manufacturers who produce products for fund raising organizations or POD. And, sometimes it is like "pulling teeth" or impossible to get the samples from manufacturers even when the contract states the artist will receive samples. Not all manufacturers automatically send the samples and the artist/agent must ask for them. But even asking for them does not always mean they will be received. For instance, if the manufacturer produced the product for a key account and forgets to include the number of samples the artist should receive in the amount being produced then the artist will not get any samples.

• Royalty statements and payments
Royalty statements and payments are usually quarterly and sent the month after the end of quarter. However, they are not always sent on time because the manufacturer is waiting for its clients to pay for the products they purchased. Sometimes it takes months before the manufacturer is able to pay the royalty fees. Or, the manufacturer has major cash flow problems and eventually files for bankruptcy.

Note: The above discussion is not meant to discourage you in licensing your art but to inform you on the reality that as in every business not everything is a bed-of-roses. 

Artist Comments About Licensing Contract Realities
Artist Jill Meyer
"Once again, Joan, spot on with every point! Art Licensing is by no means a straight path. I think I have had all or most of the situations mentioned in the article happen to me. One learns, from these things to be sure. Often licensing is a question of a "good news" bad news" sceanario. I just received word that one of my paintings had been licensed with Walmart for Halloween, 2016. That is the good news, the bad news is that it will be almost an entire year before the painting is on the shelves, and as Joan points out, it is a seasonal painting, so although the distribution is large, the shelf life will be short! In licensing, you always need to adopt the long view as your perspective, keep your sense of humor, and definitely be prepared to take the "bitter with the better"! Off my soapbox now! :-)"

Artist Collene Kennedy
"Joan! Great article if not a very pragmatic perception! It's a loooong lead business and when it works, it works well. But one thing that can also happen and did to me when I was doing very well with greeting cards is a company can mismanage their funds and therefore not pay out royalties! Yikes! I learned a lesson... tooo late of not allowing so many eggs in one basket! Live n' learn ...n' create!"

Artist Sue Zipkin
"I think it’s great that you are sharing so many realities of the art licensing industry. So often new artists don’t know some of these things and are very shocked and become discouraged when they learn that things do not always unfold according to the way a contract is written.   A perfect example is when an artist creates a lot of artwork for a project, then samples are made and shown at a trade show and to store buyers.   The artist automatically assumes that the products will go into production and then sold in stores. Unfortunately when it’s time to get paid they wonder what’s going on when they see no income. Then they find out that their project was killed on the vine. If an artist is aware of these realities ahead of time they won’t be as discouraged. No matter what level you are in the industry  It’s still frustrating when this happens.  I find it happens often with some products and companies more then others."

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address. For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/ ).

Art Licensing Editorial: Tips on Getting Deals

On social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs) artists periodically post that they are frustrated because they have not been successful in licensing their work while other artists continue to post comments and pictures about their licensing success. Why is it that some artists are successful and others not?

There are many reasons. But basically the reason why some artists are successful is that their work is very well done and can compete with other artists in the industry, have themes that consumers want on products, and has a lot of art that is licensable.

The following discusses the importance in knowing if your art is good enough, knowing what art styles and themes that manufacturers license for their products, and building a relationship with manufacturer art directors.

• Is your art good enough?
How do you know if your art is good enough (executed well, have the right themes, colors, composition, etc.) to be able to compete against other artists in the licensing industry? Below are tips on what you can do to figure out why you are having trouble getting deals and how to improve the chance in licensing your art.

– Hire a consultant
It is difficult for an artist to recognize why her/his art is not being licensed. Getting kudos from family, friends, and fellow artists will not help to get deals if the art is not licensable. And, one way to find out is to hire an art-licensing consultant. A consultant can tell you if you need to have more art, what themes you need, and suggest what manufacturers to approach. But, most importantly you need a consultant that will be very forthcoming and tell you the truth IF your art is not good enough to compete with other artists.

Unfortunately not all consultants are capable in telling an artist the truth about their art since it is difficult for many people including consultants to hurt an artist's feelings. Thus, when choosing an art licensing consultant make sure you stress that you want to know if your art is good enough to be licensed. If the consultant says your art is not, ask why and ask for suggestions on how to improve your art. Read "On Art Licensing Coaches (consultants)" for links to some art-licensing consultants.

– Compare art
Another way to determine if your art can compete in the art licensing industry is to compare your art with art that has already been licensed. Licensed art on products can be seen in gift stores like Hallmark, at trade gift shows like the Atlanta Gift Market, on manufacturer websites, and on e-store websites.

When comparing your art to art that is already licensed the purpose is not to copy the licensed art but to look at the art and determine what it has that makes a manufacturer license it and what your art lacks. This is not very easy to do since it is hard to accept that your art may not be good enough. Thus, you need to be open-minded and willing to admit to yourself that your art could stand improvement.

Below are some questions to ask yourself when comparing your art to licensed art.
1. Is your art style licensable? Not all art styles are licensable for products in all product industries. For instance, some forms of fine art appear like the paint was slapped on haphazardly and has not well defined motifs. Is that your art style? You probably will not find many products other than home décor prints with this art style because it does not appeal to the mass market. Read the article "Editorial: Not all art is licensable" for information on why not all art is licensable even if it is well executed.

2. Is the composition of your art pleasing and the motifs well arranged? For information about art composition read "Creating Licensable Art: Composition Tips".

3. Do you have enough or too many motifs in your image? For instance, if you have a painting of one flower with a bird and the manufacturer is licensing art with a multiple number of flowers and several birds in the image then you probably will not be able to license that image because your image is too simple. But on the other hand, if your art is very busy with a lot of motifs and the manufacturer is licensing art that is simple with only a few motifs then you would have difficulty in licensing the art to that manufacturer. Closely look at licensed art in the different industries (fabric, decorative flags, greeting cards, jig-saw puzzles) and the different manufacturers in each industry to determine what they want.

4. Does the licensed art for a particular manufacture have a bright and pleasing color combination while your art is dark and drab looking (unsaturated colors)? You probably need to pump up the color saturation if you want to license the art to that manufacturer. Or, is the manufacturer licensing pastel colored art and you don't use pastel colors. Then, probably that is not the manufacturer for your art.

• Learn what art manufacturers want
It is REALLY important for artists to create art specifically to be licensed for products in the industry(s) they target. And because the art themes must be popular in the mass or niche markets, it is REALLY important to know what art styles and themes the licensees need to be able to sell their products. Thus, it is REALLY important to research what art styles and themes the manufacturers license.

As pointed out in "Changes in Art Styles Used on Products" each industry (decorative flags, greeting cards, fabrics, calendars, jigsaw puzzles, table top, etc.) and even different manufacturers in the same industry have different criteria when selecting art to license. The criteria depend upon the manufacturer's customer base and how they wish to differentiate themselves from their competition. Learning what kind of art they have licensed is a MUST before submitting art to them.

For example, since I am interested in licensing my art for decorative flags, I have spent many hours on my computer researching flag images on the e-store flagsrus.org to determine what are popular themes, what makes some art on flags standout more than others, are the designs simple or detailed, what art style(s) are used, do they use borders, do they use words, etc.

I now know what art themes are used by individual flag manufacturers. And I have discovered that some flag manufacturers tend to license pretty and more pastel looking art while other manufacturers license images with contrasting and bold colors. The most used word on flags is "welcome". Some manufacturers use words on the majority of their flags, and others only have words on a few of their flags. Applying that information when creating my art has helped me get deals with six decorative flag manufacturers. Thus, researching manufacturers in the industry you decide to target like the example above and applying that information to your art can increase the likelihood in licensing your work.

• Build relationships with art directors
The art licensing industry is all about building relationships. Building relationships with manufacturer art directors is important because if your art sells their products and you are easy to work with then they will continue to license your work.

In order to build a good relationship you need to remember that it is not what an art director can do for you but what you can do for the art director. So being willing to edit your art to their specifications, willing to compromise, being flexible, being prolific in creating art, being reliable, and showing your appreciation helps to build a strong relationship.

• Summary
Licensing art is very commercial and competitive. And to be successful, artists need to create for a commercial purpose and not just whatever they desire. The art needs to be well executed in an art style that is popular for the different mass and niche markets. And, artists need to learn what manufacturers license art, the products they sell, and what art styles and themes they need for their products. Read "Finding Manufacturers that License Art" for more information about the manufacturers.

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address). For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/ ).

Art Licensing Editorial: Do you need to be a brand to successfully license art?

Note: The following is an editorial and are my opinions so not everyone will agree with them. But, I do welcome all comments (positive and negative) to give everyone a well rounded perceptive on other opinions.

There are many opinions on whether art is a brand or not. And, an often-asked question is if an artist's work needs to be a brand to be successful in the licensing industry. The short answer to these questions is that art can be a brand under certain conditions but art does NOT have to be a brand for an artist to be successful in licensing their work. Read the following to find out why I believe this.

Definition of an Art Brand
According to Wikipedia, "A brand is a name, term, design or other feature that distinguishes one seller's product from those of others". Brands in today’s market are associated with product trademarks (Coke Cola, Harley, Kenmore, Rice Crispy, Vera Bradley), sports, entertainment (Disney, Sesame Street), well-known personalities (HGTV "stars", Donnie Osmond), some artists, and many others. Theoretically any creation of an artist is a brand because every artist incorporates into their art their own style, color combinations, and composition. But, unless the art is VERY different from other art, it is not usually licensed "as a brand".

Art directors and others in the art licensing industry are very familiar with artists work and can easily distinguish whose work it is. However, most consumers cannot recognize small differences between different artists art. Thus, art must be very distinct and unique for it to be considered a brand in the art licensing industry.

Art That are Brands
Licensing an art brand is valuable to manufacturers because brands tend to sell more products. Consumers purchase not just one product but continue to purchase products of a brand they desire. Manufacturers such as Demdaco and Enesco license many brands and produce a huge variety of products specifically tailored for each brand. Sculpture artist Susan Lordi (Willow Tree® brand), artist Kelly Rae Roberts, and artist Kathy Weller (Yoga Pals brand) work is licensed to Demdaco as a brand. And, carver Jim Shore, and artist Suzy Toronto work is licensed to Enesco as a brand. All of these artists are very successful since their art are very much sought after by consumers. Look at the art of the artists mentioned above and notice how unique they are. Also read, "What Makes the Willow Tree® Brand Such a Success?"

Art That are not Brands
Not all manufacturer business-model depend upon licensing art brands. Most manufactures license work based upon the style and theme of the art and not necessarily art by a recognizable brand. Although some manufacturers license both art brands and none art brands. Artists Paul Brent, Hautman Brothers, Susan Winget, and many others earn good money by licensing their art but not as a brand.

Not every person will agree that the artists mentioned above do not have art brands because all three of them do have a consumer following. And, some manufacturers do license collections of their work and showcase them in their catalogs with their name, picture, and biography. However, each of these artists art style is somewhat similar to other artist's art style so consumers may not recognize who created the art until they look at the artists name on the product. That is why they are not considered a brand according to the definition stated in Wikipedia.

But, does it matter the above artist's work is considered a brand or not? NO! It does not because they are very successful in licensing their work. And, the reason why is because these artists have acquired a relationship with many manufacturer art directors and the credibility that they know what art consumers want on products. Thus, they continue to get many licensing contracts. But, it has taken them years of hard work, research, and trial-and-error to become established, and their work sought-after. To learn about Susan Winget and her licensing success, read "An Art Licensing Winning Team: Susan Winget Art Studio."

Conclusion
An artist does not have to have an art brand to be successful in licensing her/his art. What it takes is hard work, learning what kind of art and themes consumers want on products, being prolific in creating art, creating relationships and submitting lots of art to manufacturers for licensing consideration, being willing to compromise, being realistic that it takes a long time to get revenue, and do NOT give up!

Your comments are welcome. Click on the comments section (below) to write your comment. Note: Some people have a problem in leaving a comment. The most successful method is to comment as Name/URL (your name and website or blog with a "complete" URL address. For example: http://www.joanbeiriger.com/ ).