Art Licensing: Our Favorite Secret Income Stream for Artists & Designers | The Typecast Episode 9
In this episode, Katie and Ilana discuss art licensing and how artists can license their work for products like greeting cards, apparel, and home goods. They talk about how licensing differs from freelancing, how royalties work, tips for building a licensing portfolio, and the pros and cons of working with an art licensing agent.
While licensing can be a lucrative income stream, it requires patience and persistence as the process from creating artwork to seeing it on products takes a long time. They demystify the licensing industry and help more artists tap into this powerful (and potentially passive) income stream.
Here's what you'll discover in this episode:
What licensing means, and how you can get paid to rent or sell a license to your work
What it means to be paid in royalties, and how to weigh the risk and reward.
How having an art licensing agent can help manage contracts and outreach — helping artists land or manage their opportunities
Thinking about the context and products where the artwork could fit well, like greeting cards, fabrics, home goods, etc. — considering scale, colors, and themes
How trend shopping and looking at what's already selling can help in identifying themes and prompts to create new artwork for licensing (and putting your own spin on them!)
The importance of contracts and licensing terms to understand the scope of how clients can use the artwork
Why licensing requires a ton of patience (it’s a slow game!) and why it’s worth it for artists
Mentioned in the episode:
Free Training: Three steps to turn your art into Passive Income with Art Licensing
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Grab your tea, coffee, or drink of choice, kick back, and let's get down to business!
