084 | Intro to licensing art with Jennifer Morgan, A Fresh Bunch

Jennifer Morgan is the brains behind A Fresh Bunch, a creative licensing agency where designers and clients collaborate and create something big together. Jenny began her journey into creative licensing in 2002 when she founded Hen and Barley Press, her own successful wholesale stationery business focused on personalized stationery goods.

Jennifer soon realized just how much of her time was spent on everything in her business except design, and discovered many other creative people in the industry were burnt out just like her. Inspired by the opportunity to bring designers and clients together, Jenny founded A Fresh Bunch in 2010.

On today's episode, Jenny shares how she shifted away from wholesale manufacturing and into creative licensing. She talks about misconceptions that artists have about licensing and provides overview of how licensing works, who it is for, and how a licensing agency, like A Fresh Bunch can help artists diversify their revenue streams.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

• How Jenny pivoted her business from wholesale to licensing
• Her steps to learning about the licensing industry
• Knowing when to embrace quitting as a strategy for future growth
• The benefits of collaborating with an agency
• How Jenny chooses artists to represent
• Tips and pointers on how to create a strong and consistent portfolio
• The best time to submit your artist application to A Fresh Bunch
• How royalties and compensation structures typically work
• What projects Jenny is most proud of
• Upcoming Blueprint Shows
• What's next for A Fresh Bunch

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

"Back in the day when there was no SP inkjet, printing was still kind of picking off. Digital printing was not even a thing and really the only way to get product out into the world was to manufacture it yourself." - Jennifer Morgan

" I think at that time, other stationery designers and I we're all kind of scratching our heads trying to figure out, well what do we do now?" - Jennifer Morgan

"Once A Fresh Bunch found its footing as licensing brand and fit for the artists working under the A Fresh Bunch umbrella, the decision to shut down Hen And Barley Press felt very easy." - Jennifer Morgan

"I could not have started A Fresh Bunch without having had the experience I had and making the contacts I did with Hen And Barley press." - Jennifer Morgan

"If I could do anything over again, it would probably be that I would have embraced the notion of quitting as a strategy much sooner than I did." - Jennifer Morgan

"It's really about consistency and discipline as much as anything else." - Jennifer Morgan

"In theory you should be pitching to somebody at a time when they are looking for that art, when you're kind of new to the industry, it's hard to know when that is. " - Jennifer Morgan

"We're always looking for a really unique style, a unique voice, a consistent style." - Jennifer Morgan

"We try to provide like checklists and best practices, things that we know from experience have made artists successful." - Jennifer Morgan

"I am super proud of our artist's ability from all these points around the world, to collaborate online with each other to create a diverse collection of looks that is still cohesive." - Jennifer Morgan

"As with anything at a certain point that often comes down to making the difficult choice of, 'What I'm going to be When I grow up, am I going to be a licensed artist or am I going to run a company?'" - Jennifer Morgan

CONNECT WITH JENNIFER MORGAN

Website: http://www.afreshbunch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freshbunch

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afreshbunch/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/freshbunch/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/freshbunch

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ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:

Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!