What your licence covers
Every licence from this studio specifies four things:
- The artwork. Which illustration or pattern you are licensing — identified by title and reference.
- The product. What you are putting it on: greeting cards, fabric, ceramics, packaging, a book cover. The licence is product-specific; using the same image on additional products requires a separate agreement.
- The territory. Where you can sell it. UK only, European markets, worldwide. This varies depending on your distribution and budget, and it affects the fee.
- The term. How long the licence runs — typically one, three or five years, after which it can be renewed at agreed rates.
Exclusivity
Non-exclusive means the same artwork could also be licensed to other companies — possibly competitors. Exclusive means only your company can use it in the specified product/territory/term combination. Exclusivity costs more, because you are buying the studio out of that potential revenue from others.
The decision often comes down to market position. A large retailer with a national card range would usually want exclusivity; a small independent selling locally might not need it and would rather keep the cost down. Both are valid, and the studio will be straight with you about what makes sense for your situation.
How fees are structured
Licensing fees at Brooks Smith Creative are flat-fee rather than royalty-based for most arrangements. You pay an agreed amount upfront, and the licence is yours for the term. There are no per-unit royalty calculations to track, no quarterly statements to produce, no arguments about what counts as a sale.
The flat fee is calculated against the product type, print run estimate, territory and term. A short-run exclusive licence for a UK-only homeware piece is priced differently from a worldwide licence for a mass-market greeting-card publisher. The studio quotes clearly and in writing before any agreement is signed.
For ongoing relationships (a regular pattern supplier, a publisher with a series) a framework agreement covering a batch of images over a longer period is usually both more practical and better value for both sides.
What works well for licensing
Not all imagery licenses equally. The work that performs best on licensed products tends to share a few characteristics:
- A clear visual identity. The image reads immediately and distinctively. You know what it is from across a room.
- Repeat potential. Patterns work across a whole product range; a single illustration can anchor a collection if it has enough personality.
- Appropriate colour palette. Artwork that already works in the colour family your product range uses. (The studio can recolour to specification if needed.)
- Resolution and format flexibility. All original digital files are delivered at print resolution; most pieces are available in both layered and flattened formats for different production needs.
Commissioning new artwork
If the archive does not have exactly what you need, a commission is the answer. You provide a brief (product, style reference, colour palette, deadline) and the studio produces artwork built specifically for it. Commissions go through a concept/sketch stage, a development round, and a final delivery stage. Most commercial commissions include two rounds of revisions within the quoted fee.
Commissioned artwork is licensed in exactly the same way as archive work. The commission fee covers the creation of the piece; the licensing fee covers the use of it. This is standard industry practice, and the studio's quotes are itemised clearly so you can see both figures.
Getting started
The simplest way is to email [email protected] with a brief description of what you are making and which piece (or direction) you are interested in. The studio will respond within two working days with availability, indicative pricing, and any questions needed to produce a proper quote.
First time licensing illustration? That is completely fine — most of the studio's clients started there. The first email does not need to be a formal brief; a sentence or two about the product and the feel you are after is enough to start a useful conversation.
