Great post for art licensors today on Seth Godin’s blog called “When was the last time you bought a tie?” Don’t read Seth? If you want to be in this (or any) biz you should, he has clarity of vision about all things business that is hard to match. Here is one quote from the post:

“The challenge, then, is to develop products that match what the market is looking for, and more important, to overtly and aggressively seek out the people in that situation and ignore the rest.”

Sound familiar? If not, read back through this blog…
If you want to make a living in art licensing you need to give your clients what they want, not just what you like to do. I can’t tell you how many times we get wildly abstract art, or inappropriate fine art, or just plain weird designs submitted to us that bear little or no resemblance to what has been selling product on the market. And usually when we suggest that is the case they want to argue with us about it. I love wild and wooly creativity, however take my word for it – like it or not you won’t be creating a new style category anytime soon in this business, and particularly not in this economy. Study what’s out there. The next big thing is likely to look a lot like the last big thing, because that is what sells in the market – and what sells in the market is where your focus should be.

There has been a bit of discourse lately in some of the groups about which trade show is better than the other, and I would have to weigh in thus: any show will be good if you have something fresh and new to display, and any show will be disappointing if you look pretty much the same as all the other people on the show floor.

There is a good little article by John Mariotti on the concept of innovation and stepping outside the box on the Amex Open Forum; you can read it here. New ideas require new ways of looking at the market, not an easy thing to do because we are not built that way, but necessary to make your mark. One of my favorite quotes from a manufacturer was said to us at a Surtex show a few years back – we were discussing what they had been seeing out there on the show floor, and the response was along the lines of “nothing really exciting”…unfortunately often the case…and then she said “I am so tired of artists asking me what I am looking for, because I don’t know what I am looking for. I want them to show me what’s next.”

Think about it. If a licensor wants a snowman, do they really need to go through the time and expense of going to a show to find one? Of course not – ask a few dozen artists and they can have all the snowmen in China (literally). Shows are about showcasing, pun intended, the newest ideas and most innovative art that you can create. Just doing another set of floral tabletop mock-ups or Christmas gift bags isn’t going to stop them in the aisles – instead give ‘em something new and exciting (you know, something to make the other artists think “I wish I had thought of that”). We occasionally hold back some of our best new ideas so we can debut them at an upcoming show, ensuring that we have fresh new art for the floor – because the first question is always “what’s new?” and you really do need to have a memorable answer.

Set aside the templates and start doodling. I’ll see you in Atlanta!

Warren Buffet talks about how investors, particularly fund managers, make their decisions on how to go forward while looking in the rear view mirror to see how things were. It’s the same kind of thinking that we are all guilty of – in so many areas of our lives – but it is definitely a hindrance in the world of art and licensing where much has changed over the last few years (or months…).

Say you wanted to illustrate children’s books – typically you would develop a portfolio or possibly a “dummy” book, get it in front of some literary agents and if you were lucky some editors, hopefully get hooked up with an author or publisher and be on your way. Not so much anymore – in this time of transition you have content streaming into the market through self publishing, blogs, videos, portfolio websites and even spam mail. While the future of paper books is in limbo the digital applications are multiplying every day – along with the questions about how are they distributed, paid for, copy protected and more. Are you looking forward to see how you can work in that world, or backward at the old practice?

Say you wanted a giftware collection for that cute set of characters you created, so you made up a few portfolio pages with mocked up figurines and maybe some other products, brought them to the (pick one) trade show where you hope to meet a manufacturer who would tell you what they will do with them. Not so much anymore – their question to you will likely be “What can/should we do with these?”, and they will want to know the story behind the collection, and how will this connect with their customers? Figurines and collectibles are a weak market now, so you will have to show them more functional products…were you looking forward and saw that coming, or will you be caught by surprise?

Say you bought yourself some coaching, a set of product templates, organized all your designs in the portfolio just like they said you should, and then noticed that your portfolio looks pretty much the same as the hundreds and hundreds of portfolios in the show, and no one is really paying much attention. But hey – those booths with an innovative new twist on product, unique designs, and perhaps an engaging story to tell are busy all day long…can you see what happened? Can you see why doing what everyone has always done may not work anymore?

We are in a business that changes constantly – trends, colors, type of product, clients, retailers – some are constant and some are shifting sand. The result is that we are always playing “catch-up” in art licensing, which is not necessarily a bad thing as long as you realize that IS the name of the game, adjust your attitude accordingly and keep looking down the road for what’s next.