| I license my art and teach artists how licensing works | | | | is also a delay between getting the deal and getting |
| and if they are interested, how to go about it. | | | | the cash. Sometimes that delay can be as long as |
| "Licensing" your art basically means you are granting | | | | 12-18 months. (This is why you should ask for an |
| the right to someone (a manufacturer) to use your | | | | advance on royalties - but the decision to pay them |
| art on something (their product) in exchange for | | | | or not is up to the individual manufacturer.) |
| royalties based on sales. | | | | Let's look at the five reasons I think companies |
| The beauty of this system is that you can license | | | | choose to license art: |
| the same art to many different companies, as long | | | | |
| as they are putting the art on different products. | | | | 1. In-house designers cost money. The manufacturer |
| That allows you to earn income from several | | | | has to pay the designer a salary, payroll taxes, |
| companies, over time, instead of getting one upfront | | | | benefits, vacation days, etc. No one person or small |
| amount for selling the art outright. | | | | group of people can do all styles of art so they will |
| Licensing is one of three basic ways companies get | | | | be limited by the skill-sets of their designers. |
| art to put on their products. There is no 'right' or | | | | 2. Buying art outright may be less expensive on the |
| 'wrong' way - it all depends on the preference of the | | | | surface but there are hidden costs. The |
| manufacturer. The three basic methods are: | | | | manufacturer has to have someone to manipulate |
| | | | the art, fit it to templates, adjust colors, etc. This is |
| 1. They have in-house designers who are paid a | | | | sometimes done by artists who license their art. |
| salary to design art for products. | | | | 3. There are no salary, benefits or vacation days to |
| 2. They buy art out-right. Many artists prefer to sell a | | | | pay. Royalties are paid based on sales so the |
| piece of art upfront and let manufacturers do | | | | payments due will be based on the success of the |
| whatever they want with it. They usually get a | | | | product. If the product sells well, they pay you more. |
| physical, sometimes digital, piece of art and the | | | | Not as well, they pay you less. |
| manufacturer has to adapt it to their product. The | | | | 4. Variety of Art Licensing allows a company to work |
| artist cashes the check and starts a new piece of | | | | with many different artists without having them on |
| art. | | | | payroll. It is a cost-effective way to get a wide |
| 3. They license art. | | | | variety of styles and techniques. |
| In my opinion, licensing is a way for artists and | | | | 5. Name Recognition If an artist has name recognition |
| manufacturers to share the risk and reward of the | | | | in the marketplace, at the retail and/or consumer |
| product. If the product does well, the artist stands to | | | | level, a manufacturer can use that to their advantage |
| make a nice amount of money in royalties, but if it | | | | by offering products with a known following. |
| doesn't their income can be low. With licensing there | | | | |