Art Licensing: Consultant Jeff Grinspan's Perspective on Surtex 2012

The following article by licensing consultant Jeff Grinspan discusses his observations of the 2012 Surtex show and conferences, the value in exhibiting, and tips on what to do after the show. Jeff's company, Grinspan & Co. specializes in consulting with artists and manufactures on the business of art licensing. His over 20 years in the art licensing business includes 13 years at Sakura (dinnerware and tabletop division of Oneida Ltd.) as VP of Licensing and Design, licensing director for Wild Apple Graphics, and for the last six years the responsibility in producing the Surtex conferences.

SURTEX Post show Buzz…and then some
by Jeff Grinspan
Grinspan & Co.
website: www.artmoid.com
e-mail: grinspan@artmoid.com

Admittedly, the SURTEX show is a vital sales and marketing component for any and all artists interested in licensing their art. The post show Linked-In trail grows by the second, it seems. So here are a few take-away thoughts and some additional comments from the inside looking out…

1. Yes and No
With so much invested in the show (preparation of art, display materials, booth, hotel, airfare, meals, comfortable shoes, hand-outs, ipad portfolio uploads just to name a few) it's hard NOT to expect so much in return. The show is important- so YES.. you need to view it as a part of your overall marketing strategy. But, try not to get bogged down in numbers of visitors or immediate ROI (Return on Investment) This process is a 2-3 year cycle.. so NO, you can't evaluate your success on how you did at the show by head count... especially when filtered by the posts of others.. Remember, your art is unique.. so the buzz (or lack of) from others may apply to their work.. not yours..

2. Quality counts
While not the same mathematical value of dog years to human years, there are prospective licensees who are big companies, who rely heavily on licensed art, who don't exaggerate, who move lots of product and in turn generate nice royalties. So keep the quality of your leads in mind when you try and respond to everyone who walked into your booth and wanted every image emailed to them in 24 hours.

3. A creative mind is a terrible thing to waste..
The conference program speaker roster was cram packed with industry professionals who graciously shared their insights, experience and advice. Several blogs have already summarized the salient content of many of the seminars. Knowledge is valuable.. so digest and learn. There were two topics addressed that remain debatable. Should I use an agent or not? Should I try to establish myself as a brand or not? We've covered them in years past but they remain issues that each individual artist has to resolve. But there is one overriding conclusion regardless of which side of the fence you come down on- GREAT art sells… so concentrate on fine tuning your art so it ends up GREAT. And your brand will follow, and whether you go it alone of want to find an agent, your GREAT art will lead the way..

4. New directions:
My opinion- the art displayed at the show this year was the most exciting, refreshing and dynamic in the last 6 years! Some have suggested this is a result of the economy picking up and retailers now willing to take some chances. Others claim that there is a 7 year cycle of art and we've just ended one cycle and ready for the next. Doesn't really matter, does it? See paragraph #3! The great news is that there's excitement back on the floor! It also means we're energized to come up with some new ideas for next year's seminars.. so stay tuned.

5. Leads..
Long after the discussion about traffic, window shopping, booth location, serious buyers fade into the night.. the names and titles and addresses and phone numbers you collected at the show need to be nurtured.. You can't just assume you'll get a contract just because someone came into your both or even raved about how fantastic your art was. You need to continue to develop market intelligence by developing a relationship with your leads ...

and not give up until you actually hear "Please do not call/email/send me anything else because ____________" If you don't get some kind of response in a reasonable amount of time, then move on. If your art is worthwhile, believe me, you will hear from them.

Trade shows - despite the relatively high cost of participation, remain the single most effective way to reach loads of interested prospects in one place, at one time.

The value of SURTEX (or any appropriate trade show) goes beyond head count.

Want to hear more on what Jeff Grinspan has to say about art licensing? He is giving a free "Ask About Art Licensing" teleconference with Tara Reed on 7/18/12. Signup at askaboutartlicensing.com and ask him a question if you wish. Also get a free replay of Jeff's 9/21/11 teleconference from Ask about Art Licensing.

I welcome any comments. Please click on the comments section (below) to write your comment.

Art Licensing: FREE Class on Trade Show Follow-up Tips

Art licensing consultant Jnet Smith is offering a FREE teleconference class + handouts this Wednesday May 30, 2012 at 1 PM PDT (4 PM EDT) on tradeshow follow-up tips.  For more information and the link to sign up, go to All Art Licensing blog "Trade Show Follow-up Techniques.  To find out about future classes and free Friday Ask J'net Q&A teleconferences go to All Art Licensing website.

Art Licensing: A Very Successful 2012 Surtex Show!

When looking at the above promo video of the 2012 Surtex Show, you do not see many overly crowded aisles of manufacturers looking at art. From what I remember about the 2011 show, the traffic was much less than this year.  Although not all exhibitors have the same impression. According to Surtex management attendance was up 32% from last year.

But no matter if attendance was up or not, it did not matter because art directors were definitely looking at art to license and they knew what they wanted. Exhibitors reported that there was a steady stream of traffic looking not only at the art on the booth walls but flipping through binders and iPads, and requesting images be sent for licensing consideration. On Linkedin's Art of Licensing group page, exhibitors said that art director's showed up for their appointments (not always the case) and that they visited the booths at the back of the showroom (not always the case). Several licensors even reported that some art directors were ready to sign contracts at the show instead of the normal wait time of months. Another licensor said that she had art directors follow-up with her before she even had a chance to do any follow-ups. No wonder blog articles describing the show had adjectives such as amazing and fabulous! If the positive response exhibitors experienced at Surtex is any indication, this should be a great year in licensing art.

Many blog articles about 2012 Surtex and National Stationery Show have already been posted online. And, I am sure more will soon appear. Below are a slew of posts that I found including two very informative ones including notes on what the artists learned while attending the excellent conferences at Surtex. This year Surtex again offered a whopping ten conferences by licensing experts who volunteered their knowledge and time. Also listed are exhibitors describing their Surtex experience, and artists walking the show describing their impressions and the trends they saw.

Conference Notes
• Natalie Timmons "Surtex Conference Recap"

• Shelley Brown "Surtex: a learning experience"

Attendees walking the shows
• Liz Sacks consultant for artists and branding managers "2012 Surtex/Stationery Show Recap"

• Louis Gale "An afternoon at Surtex: Selling & Licensing Original Art & Design Show in New York City"

• Marilyn MacGregor " Trending towards the Warm - Surtex and Letterpress Printing"

• Shell Rummel "Impressions from Surtex & National Stationery Show -"

Exhibitors
• Beverly Dyer "Surtex 2012 New York City!!"

• Carol Van Zandt "Surtex 2012 It was a good one!"

• Jen Griggs Sebastian "Surtex 2012 was Amazing"

• Jim Marcotte agent for Two Town Studios "Surtex: the Good, the Bad"

• John Chester agent for Wild Apple "Surtex Report"

• Kathy Weller "Another Surtex in the books"

• Sharon Sowell "My art goes to the Big City"

• Ronnie Walter artist/agent for Two Town Studios "Back from the fabulous Surtex"

• Tara Reed "Surtex 2012 - adventures, impressions and more"

• Vita Mechachonis "Surtex 2012 recap"

I welcome any comments. Please click on the comments section (below) to write your comment.

Licensing Art for Coffee Mugs

Coffee mugs with art on them are sold in all sorts of retail stores but not much of the art is licensed to companies that make the mugs. With the advent of dye-sublimation printers and the ease in printing art on various products including straight-sided mugs, print-on-demand stores have sprung up everywhere on the internet. Most mug manufacturers no long license art and sell their mugs to retailers. Instead they either sell mugs with custom art supplied by individual consumers or to companies that purchase or license art. Note: In the art licensing industry, the name "manufacturer" is really a misnomer because most "manufacturers" that license art is really product converters since they do not actually make the products. Instead they purchase or license the art and outsource the manufacturing of products to other companies.

Mugs are NOT usually the major product that product converters sell to retailers. It is part of their product lines and many times these companies want to license art to go on multiple products. Thus, an artist needs to create art that is suitable for many of the products the company sells. And that means before submitting art, the artist should do her/his homework and look at the company website to see the type of products and make sure the art fits. For instance, Lang company sells calendars, cards, stationery, jigsaw puzzles, tote bags, flags, melamine dinnerware beside mugs. Therefore, when submitting art for licensing consideration it may help in getting a contract if the art is already formatted to approximately fit the product shapes the company sells. So for Lang, an artist should submit a tearsheet with a collection of art that is formatted vertically and horizontally & various icons and borders.

Different processes are used to place art on a mug depending on its shape. The following links show two methods.

• Straight sided mugs: "Art Print on Mug"

• Curved sided mugs and products: "Transfer Printing Process on Promotional Mugs"

Product converters (manufacturers) that sell mugs want art that:

1. fits their product lines. If they are selling mugs with only slogans or inspirational words and messages, then they probably are not interested in licensing art with iconic images. Or if they are using only graphic styled art on their products they probably are not interested in licensing realistic fine art images.

2. is formatted horizontally.  The company usually wants art twice the size of the mug.  Thus, a 4 inch high mug with a circumference of 12 inches and art placed on only 9 inches of the circumference should be 8 by 18 inches.

3. has different themes than what they already have. But be aware of the type of themes they carry.  For instance, if all they carry is Christmas art on mugs they probably will not license everyday themes.

Companies that License Art for Mugs:

• Burton + Burton

• C.R. Gibson

• Demdaco

• Enesco

• Evergreen / Cypress Home

• Lang

• Leanin' Tree

• Mug World Inc. (Manufacturer of mugs and coasters.  Contact them to see IF they still license art)

• Tervs

Read more articles about Manufacturers and the products they license under the Topics section on the side bar.

I welcome any comments and additions to the mug company list. Please click on the comments section (below) to write your comment.