Friday, August 10, 2012

Brief Tips & Tricks in Art Licensing


Sometime ago I read an interesting thread about "Everyday" art that I thought would be interesting to new licensing artists; so what's "Everyday" art? 

If you wish to share your views about this topic, please feel free to leave us a comment.

Jane McCoy Maday • Generally, "Everyday" refers to art that is not for a specific holiday (or sometimes season). For example, a birthday card would be an "Everyday" design, whereas a Mother's Day card would not. Some winter designs do not fall into the Everyday category, because there is a "Winter Holiday" category that covers the whole general season (more than just Christmas). So if a client asks you to submit only Everyday art, you would send art that could apply any day of the year, for products that could be used any day.

Suzanne Cruise • For card companies, and many product companies, the year is divided into 4 categories: spring, summer, fall and winter, then they categorize from there. 
Generally, cards fall into Everyday and Seasonal categories. Birth days, deaths, weddings, baby arrivals, etc. all happen 365 days a year so are all considered Everyday. The sentiment on an Everyday piece can also be thinking of you, missing you, glad you are my friend/sis/mom/dad, thank you for....., congrats, etc. Seasonal consists of Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, Fall/Harvest, Halloween, but some companies include 4th of July, St. Patrick's, Valentine, Easter, etc. as Seasonal. It is a good idea to divide your work within these categories. And I would put all snowmen together, Santas together, Halloween together, we even group our Florals by specific flowers.

Bob Giordano • Can the design sell "Everyday" 365 a year? That's the question to ask as you view your files. And as stated above an Everyday design can cross-over. Particularly Mother's Day, Father's Day, Val and to a lesser extent Easter/Spring. In today's digital world it's only a few clicks to take an Everyday to an Occasional if verse alone can't swing the theme. Add hearts, Easter eggs, you get the idea I'm sure. 

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