There are two common ways of working with big brands. The beauty of art licensing is that you can license the same artwork to be used by multiple brands on different products – it allows you to maximize your earning to its highest potential. Art LicensingĬontracts can widely vary from one company to another depending on the type of licensing deal. Why Negotiation is Important: Buyouts vs. They pitched it to Target, Target liked my work, and I’ve been partnering with them ever since! Deny Designs was browsing Society6 for artwork they could pitch to big brands, and came across my designs. In my case, I landed my first partnership with Target in 2016 because my artwork was discovered on Society6 by Deny Designs, which is Society6’s sister company for in-store collaborations. For example, my favorite POD site, Society6, can feel a little saturated for selling artwork, but having a portfolio of designs on there has been the key for many artists (including me!) to be discovered by big brands. If done right, it can be your ticket to getting noticed by large companies who want to license your artwork. And the answer is – through print-on-demand!Ī lot of artists get frustrated with print-on-demand since it’s become very saturated with content creators which makes it challenging to gain traction and make sales.īut keep in mind that there’s more to print on demand than just selling products. Target is one of my biggest collaborators to date and I always get asked about how I landed a deal with them.
There are several ways to get into the art licensing business, but working with Print On Demand (POD) platforms and building a portfolio within these websites is a good entry point to the art licensing industry. How Print on Demand Can Lead to Licensing Opportunities: How I got my artwork in Target Share your work on different platforms including (but not limited to) social media, print-on-demand sites, your very own website, and more! You need to make it easy for companies to contact you. With that in mind, one of the top things that you need to focus on is building up your visibility. They were able to easily contact me because my contact information was in my bio. I was discovered by an Urban Outfitters Art Director when they found my work on Society6. My portfolio was my Society6 shop and Instagram. When I was first starting out, I didn’t have a fancy portfolio or website. You may be wondering how to even begin to dip your toe into this daunting industry. The Importance of Visibility: How I landed my first licensing deal with Urban OutfittersĪrt licensing can be overwhelming and seemingly complicated. You create the design once and you can potentially earn for years to come. But it goes to show the power that one piece can have. The best part of all this is that I can use the same artwork and license it out to other companies to earn more! The caveat here is that the Retro Sunshine happens to be the most popular piece in my portfolio at the time.
My Creative Business Bundle is chock-full of industry insights including trend forecasting tips, email templates, marketing resources, and much more! Download it for free here! And in this post, I’ll share the best practices that you can implement to start getting noticed by large companies!īefore we dive in, I wanted to share a free resource to help guide as you’re building your creative business. One of the questions I’m asked most often is how I land those big partnerships. Now, I partner with big brands like Target, Anthropologie, HomeGoods, and more to license my artwork so that they can sell it on their products. But my whole outlook changed when I landed my first art licensing deal with Urban Outfittersand learned that I could create passive income through art licensing. I thought artists made money by selling their work at craft fairs or on Etsy. When I first started my art career in 2014, I had no idea that this industry even existed. Every product you see with a design on it from greeting cards, to clothing, to wrapping paper, to planners, all have been created in partnership with an artist. You may be wondering, “What is art licensing?” So before we dive in, I want to share a little background about this industry and how I’ve used art licensing to build my career as an artist.Īrt licensing is when an artist sells or “licenses” a design for a third party company to sell on their products. If you want to learn how to become a surface designer and license your artwork with large brands, this post is for you! One of the best ways for artists to make a living is through art licensing.