Kate Harper's Blog: 7/17/11

Article Worth Reading. Here is an excerpt. To read complete article go to blog post.
-Kate

Not Getting Anywhere with your art submissions?
Author: Lance Klass

I'm always amazed when artists thank me effusively for responding to their art submissions, especially when I turn them down. They seem to be just so very glad that someone actually took the time to respond to them, because with most submissions they never ever hear back. Not a positive, not a negative, not a form letter in the mail and definitely not the return of their artwork that may have been mailed. Not even a simple email rejection. Nothing, nada, zip.

For those artists who are used to hearing nothing back (can you ever actually get used to that?), let me shine some light on that murky area. You see, I have the same thing happen to me when I submit my artists' work. And believe me, I send out a whole lot or artwork to companies that are good active licensees, so-so licensees, or just prospective licensees and most of the time I hear nothing back. If it's a good licensee or if I find myself getting a bit annoyed or am just in a pleasantly feisty mood, I'll email them again and ask "Did you receive those materials from (blank) that I sent you two weeks ago? I wonder if the email went through?"

That's a very legitimate question because we've all had emails not go through, or wind up in a junk mail folder or spam filter and get discarded without ever having been opened. Or I might re-send the original email, as that often helps get a response. What I've discovered over the years is that most often, it isn't about the artist or licensor, and it isn't even about the artwork. Rather, it's something going on, or not going on, on the other end of the conversation that you're trying to move along. You see, the reaction to art of any kind isn't rational and it isn't logical. The fact is, it's totally subjective.

If I showed the same piece of artwork to 100 people, a certain number would like it a whole lot, a certain number would hate it a whole lot, some would be interested, some would be uninterested, and some would be totally out to lunch. The last are the "have no opinion" people you see listed in big surveys. If you think about it, this is what retailers experience every day. Imagine the typical store in a mall or on the street. There are attractive displays of items in the windows, and every day hundreds of people walk by the store, glance at the windows, and never slow down. That's a rejection, as there was nothing in the windows, no product, no piece of art reproduced on a product to make it more attractive, no nothing that so much as slows them down.

continued....To read complete article go to blog post.

BOOKS FOR THE CARD DESIGN

These are books I own and recommend. Some may be out of print, but used copies may be available. Check link.

Start & Run a Greeting Cards Business Book covers starting a card business in the UK. Good basic info, but financial/measurement info is in different monetary units.

Greeting Card Design Book that shows examples of professional card design.

Publishing Your Art as Cards How to make and sell your own cards for an extra income.

Pushing the Envelope How to work with greeting card sales reps.

Complete Guide to Greeting Card Design and Illustration Great Book on understanding the greeting card profession and how to develop a style.

1000 Handmade Greetings: creative cards and clever correspondence This is not a simple craft book for hobbyists,instead it is a picture book of professionally handmade cards by leading companies and designers.

By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes & More Book that addresses how to "manufacture" handmade greeting cards.

How to Write and Sell Greeting Cards, Bumper Stickers, Tshirts and Other Fun Stuff

Sell the Fun Stuff: Writers' and Artists' Market Guidelines for Greeting Cards, Posters, Rubber Stamps, T-Shirts, Aprons, Bumper Stickers, and More!

Writing Card Sentiments

Freelance Writing for Greeting Cards Another good book on how to write for cards professionally.

You Can Write Your Own Greeting Cards Clear guidelines on how to write card sentiments professionally.

Finding the Right Words One of many basic books of this series that tells you how to add words products, cards, etc.

Licensing Your Art to Companies

Licensing Art and Design

Licensing Art 101 Good beginners guide on the art licensing business.

2011 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market List of greeting card companies, art licensees and agents.Detailed information on submission guidelines.

Gift and Product Design

Start with a Scan One of a kind book that tells you how to transform your art into a scan and what to do with it from there.

Design Your Own Repeat Patterns Simple book on learning repeats.

Twentieth-Century Pattern Design Great book for inspiration and creative approaches to designing patterns.

How to Break into Product Design Overview of product design in all industries.

Designing a Digital Portfolio Shows you how to put a digital portfolio together for the modern era.

Mary Engelbreit: The Art And The Artist Amazing story of how Mary ended up doing licensing.

Principles of Pattern Design Good info on pattern design

Imagery on Fabric Basic info on putting images onto fabric.

Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing Yearly updated guidelines for pricing for people in art careers.

5,000 Years of Textiles Far East, Americas, Africa, Scandinavia, and Egyptian. Good for studying fabric design.

Abstract Design and How to Create It Over 380 illustrations, diagrams, designs, border patterns and textile patterns.

Creative Illustration Workshop Exercises for integrating illustration with other mixed-media techniques, and scan and layer your illustrations using a computer.

Print Workshop Hand-Printing Techniques for low budgets. Interesting ways to put imagery on products. Perhaps a good technique for putting our designs on model items to show what they would look like on real products.

Digital Alchemy Printmaking techniques for fine art and how to transfer images to a variety of surfaces. It includes decals and skins.

Critical Mass Cutting-edge developments in international printmaking. Since printmaking is fundamental in most surface design concepts, this book's goal is a modern approach on a traditional printmaking.

Tradeshows and Booth Design