Why you should be designing collections
What will make my art more desirable to licensees? How can I get the most out of my time spent creating my art? The answer….designing collections. A collection consists of 2-4 main images, 1-2 borders, a repeating stripe, a sampler and 4-6 coordinates. This is a large collection which would be great for a fabric line. You can create smaller collections as well.
Why does designing collections make your art more desirable? Because a potential licensee can visualize an entire line of coordinating products if you have several images to choose from; which will get you closer to a licensing agreement.
Yankee Doodle
©Teresa Kogut, all rights reserved
Pictured above is my "Yankee Doodle" fabric line I created for South Seas Imports many years ago. You can see I have two main images (at the bottom), a border image, small repeating stripe, large repeating stripe, sampler, and five coordinates. Not only is this a complete collection for fabric, but it was also licensed by other companies for gift bags, gift wrap and figurines as shown in the photos below.
For the gift bags, they needed two main images but also used the coordinates for the gussets & bottom of the bag. Looking at the art, you can see many, many ideas for figurines.
This is also true if you paint in other styles and subject matter. Think about a complete collection in order to give the potential licensee options.
As your licensing business grows, you will begin to accumulate a nice collection of coordinates and borders. Keep a file on your computer titled exactly that, "coordinates & borders". You will find that you can pull from past collections in order to fill a request from a licensee that needs additional coordinates or borders. It can also help round out a new collection you are designing, or course, as long as the colors and style match the new collection. You don’t want to overuse past images but there is certainly nothing wrong with bringing life back into some images you designed in previous years.
Now get painting and have fun designing your collections!
Have you ever painted in collections? Does it seem overwhelming? Comment below, I would love to hear from you!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful advice!! You seem to be answering my prayers each time I am asking the Lord for direction of my artworks!! Cre8tvlyYrs, Gina
Glad I can be of help, Gina! Good luck in your art endeavors
What a wonderful find you are!!! I have this little cow figurine sitting on my kitchen window ledge missing an ear and thought I would ‘waste’ time on the computer to try and find his other friend who was taken out one day when the window was opened without moving him first. Didn’t think anything was printed on the cow until I looked closer and saw your name!!! Thank you for doing that as they were soooo cute I didn’t want to loose them. Are you still selling these little 4″ tall figurines and if so where?
PS – I did not ‘waste’ a minute on your website. You have wonderful art, great articles and a lot of knowledge that you are willing to share there that can benefit so many. I will now look at my cow’s missing ear and think of you : )
Lorraine, Thank you for getting in touch with me. I actually licensed my farm animal art to Blossom Bucket. They in turn make and sell the figurines. The best advice I can offer to help you find the cow you are looking for is to do a search on Amazon and Ebay. Type in Teresa Kogut cow in the search and see what comes up. I see my figurines on Ebay all the time. If you don’t see what you are looking for, keep checking back because people add new stuff all the time. Good Luck! Thank you for your kind words regarding my website and art. Blessings to you, Lorraine!
Thank you for posting this! It makes me want to create! Ha! I can also confirm that your advice here is sound! I’m the art director at Brownlow Gifts, and we have licensed your art many times over the years. It, and you are always a joy to work with! I enjoy and appreciate your posts!
What a great collection!
Thanks for sharing!