The Design Salon

Licensing Night with Lilla Rogers, Lisa Dejohn and Jill Rosenwald.

October 14, 2008

Illustrators, artists, and surface designers skipped home from our Salon evening on October 14Th with their creative juices rushing and heads full of new opportunities for licensing their work. Lilla Rogers (www.lillarogers.com), a straightforward agent with a passion for art and artists, spent the evening with our Salon to discuss

her side of the design biz. Lilla has been highly successful in her role of representing talented artists and selling their work to reputable clients in the U.S. and Internationally.

Lisa DeJohn (lisa@lisadejohn.com), one of our Design Salon Boston members and a talent in Lilla's portfolio was on hand to talk about the benefits of hiring an agent. Lisa's story goes something like this: While Lisa was scraping by as a fine artist, Lilla Rogers saw the incredible young talent and approached her. Lisa quickly developed a portfolio and was immediately signed on to the Lilla Rogers studio. Because of their successful Artist/Agent relationship, Lisa's talent has not been overlooked. Her unique style is now a driving force behind the whimsical looks of Land of Nod (www.landofnod.com), Chronicle Books (www.chroniclebooks.com), Crate and Barrel (www.crateandbarrel.com) to name a few.

"I am happy with the amount of money that I am making as an artist", says Lisa. "Your agent is a problem solver and a great mentor when things get sticky with a client. I always have Lilla to turn to. Because of Lilla, my clients tend not to take advantage".

Witty, humorous and full of real life experience is what our beloved Jill Rosenwald (www.jillrosenwald.com) , Design Salon Founder, brings to our gatherings. With stories and experience galore, Jill reminds us that we can be successful with Licensing ..."but make sure that you get a great contract in place first". Says Jill "I have made so many mistakes, but I keep learning and learning". "There have been some years when I had 11 employees and years with just 1". "If you product does well, ROYALTY, that is what you want!" Regarding an agent, "make sure he/she is a good one".

If you are thinking of licensing your work, here are some tips from Lilla:

• "The better your work, the more clients you have, the more work you will get"
• Agents have contracts that are (hopefully) based on trust and integrity
• You must have a link to your website that is QUICK and easy to use
• Typical cut that an agent takes is 20% of net sales
• Protect yourself. The more distinctive the work, the easier it is to recognize and less chance of being copied
• "I receive 100 e-mails per day, please make sure that when you submit your work, it is clear and concise. Also with a personable note. You have to be someone that I would like to work with, both your talent and yourself"

Thanks,Kate Maloney of Kate Maloney Interiors (www.kmidesign.com), for her generosity in hosting us at her studio!