What is PatternStock™?
PatternStock is a new specialty web site offering electronic rights-managed, royalty-free and commissioned decorative patterns and illustrative elements for use in graphic design. The site is scheduled to launch in late 2009/10.
What is Stock Imagery/Stock Photography?
Stock imagery consists of any artwork, designs or photography which is sold for limited use in advertising, publishing or promotional applications. Like patterns licensed for use on fabrics, wall papers or wrapping papers, stock imagery is artwork licensed for use mostly in print, such as advertisements, brochures, annual reports, books or magazines. The stock artist retains the rights of the imagery. Stock is used for its convenience, relative low cost and the wide variety of choices it provides.
The use of stock photography and illustration is very popular with designers, graphic artists, art directors, advertising agencies and marketing professionals, publishers of books and magazines, and website and interactive designers. Instead of hiring a professional photographer or illustrator to create an original or custom image, a buyer searches online for the image they want to use, licenses it, and the artist or photographer is paid a commission.
A Large, Lucrative Market for Your Designs!
PatternStock can introduce your work to a whole new market of art buyers. You’ll be entering a large, lucrative market, with buyers/designers who are always looking for something new. Nearly 400,000 Americans work in creative industries; over 228,000 in the field of graphic design, 94,000 in multimedia and 71,000 in art direction*, and recent surveys indicate 92% of creative professionals sometimes use stock photography in their work, and 61% use stock illustration**.
Your potential buyers are well aware of the stock industry and have embraced it wholeheartedly, to the tune of $2 billion in sales annually***. Survey results indicate the fourth most popular category of stock photography is Abstracts, Backgrounds and Concepts, which is the category where patterns and illustrative elements fall. An extensive search of the internet for “patterns” has yielded only a small field of existing imagery available for purchase. PatterStock intends to fill this niche of artwork, and you can be a part of this special site!
Licenses and Pricing
The stock imagery market has changed drastically over the past 5 years. With the advent of digital cameras and the recent popularity of low-cost micro-stock, many amateurs have begun to sell their artwork and photography online. This has made the amount of available imagery very large, which has resulted in reduced prices.
Traditional stock photo sites which work with professional photographers offer either royalty free images with a price range of between $50 to $500 depending on the SIZE of the file, or rights managed, which typically begin around $600 depending on SIZE, USAGE and LENGTH OF TIME OF USE. But a new category of sites known as micro-sites now sell amateur photos for as little as $1.00 per image.
PatternStock appreciates the impact these micro-sites have had on designers’ price sensitivities, and our own surveys indicate a downward pressure in prices. PatternStock currently plans to offer a 3-tiered pricing strategy to satisfy some of these competitive pressures: Budget, Standard and Premier collections. The Budget Collection will offer artwork that any typical graphic artist would be able to re-create easily for sale at very low prices, under $20. These might include simple graphic, linear designs. The Standard Collection will contain more detailed, ornate designs that would be more difficult to create at a price range between $20 and $100. And the Premier Collection will be artwork that is of a unique caliber, or is by a well-known designer, that warrants Rights Managed licensing, with pricing to be determined.
Royalty Free versus Rights Managed
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party (the "licensee") to another (the "licensor") for ongoing use of an image. Royalties vary widely and can be determined by multiple factors.
A Rights Managed license is granted for a specific, one-time use at a rate determined by a combination of factors: the time for which it is required, the purpose, the size and placement of the image, the print run or circulation of the publication, territory, etc.
The fees for use are considered royalties. The licensee can also negotiate to purchase exclusive rights if they wish, for an additional fee.
Generally speaking, designs are classified as Rights Managed because they are either created by well-known artists, are of higher quality or are more difficult to create. This is why they are also priced significantly higher.
A Royalty Free license simply means that the price of the image is based on its artistic and technical qualities, not its specific use. The buyer pays one fixed price for unlimited use, with the exception of use as a trademark or logo, use as merchandise for resale, for sharing the image, use as decorative art in a public place, or any offensive, immoral applications. Extended licenses are available if the buyer wishes to use your design for resale.
Either way, the artist always remains a copyright owner of the image and can license the same artwork countless number of times to new buyers, with a multitude of licensing options available.
Why Choose Royalty Free?
The majority of designers who purchase stock imagery are not working with multi-national corporations with large budgets. In order to not price your work out of the budget range of most of your customer base, PatternStock recommends most artwork be offered as Royalty Free. Keep in mind, your new target market of buyers are artists themselves. They can decide to create the artwork they need on their own or settle for the selection available on micro-sites if they feel your work is priced too high.
Artwork considered to be highly unique, exquisite, or very difficult to re-create will both generate desire and justify the higher price of Rights Managed. While you may request that your artwork be sold as Rights Managed, PatternStock reserves the right to select the artwork that will be offered as Rights Managed in order to maintain a consistent standard on the site. Our recommendations will be guided by our market research and customer input.
Your Royalty Free designs will always be available for broader licensing, such as for manufacturing or resale. These transactions will be handled separately, and you will be able to negotiate the rates you desire.†
What is this New Market Looking to Purchase?
PatternStock's market survey has indicated the following design styles are most often sought after. PatternStock will be seeking to offer a wide selection of designs, but will focus on fulfilling our customers' wishes first.
Remember, in addition to repeating patterns, PatternStock is planning on offering decorative borders and illustrative elements such as flourishes. Consider if your collection of artwork includes any of the following, shown in order of preference:
• Rich ornate designs such as tapestry
• Geometric or line-art patterns, both simplistic and intricate
• Loose, fre-flowing abstracts
• Victorian/Art Deco and other period pieces
• Corporate conservative
• Feminine designs
• Florals
• Youth culture
• Masculine designs
• Technical
• Medical
• Holiday themes
License or Sell Your Designs to Your Traditional Market, Too!
PatternStock anticipates that buyers from your traditional markets will also find the site useful, and will allow you to license or sell your artwork for use in the fabric, wallpaper or consumer goods industries. The site is intended to expand your exposure to new buyers, and is not intended to replace the nature of the working relationships you have already established with your existing clients.
For customers who wish to purchase your design outright or with exclusive rights, you may choose to remove your artwork from future sale as necessary, or restrict it’s future use within the licensing agreement.
The current plan is for clients to be referred directly to you to negotiate rates as you see fit, and PatternStock will take a small commission for the referral of a paying client through our site. Licensing agreements may eventually be built into the site to accommodate the specific needs of your industry.
Be Hired to do Custom Designs
For designers interested in being commissioned to do custom work, PatternStock will offer a referral service for our customers to contact you.
Earn High Commissions
Contributors to PatternStock’s site will be paid a commission of 50% on all sales.†
In the event you are commissioned to do a custom design or are licensing a design for manufacture through a referral from the PatternStock site, PatternStock will take a small commission on the total sale, between 5-10%.† Rates are subject to change. Payment schedules and full contractual details are under development.
Expand Your Market Base With PatternStock
PatternStock is currently seeking interested designers to license/sell their artwork on our site. If you have any questions or comments, or would like your artwork to be considered, please fill out the interest form through the link below. We look forward to helping you earn extra income and gain greater exposure in both your traditional market and in your new market of advertising and graphic design.
†Currently contract terms are under review and have not been finalized. PatternStock reserves the right to change terms without notice until valid contracts and terms have been established.
* According to the 2004 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statisics, nearly 400,000 Americans work in creative industries; over 228,000 in the field of graphic design, 94,000 in multimedia and 71,000 in art direction. And according to the 2003 US Census Bureau’s Statistics of US Businesses, there are over 31,000 firms offering graphic design services nationwide, over 34,000 printers and 7,000 publishers of magazines. This does not include the graphics departments found within many large businesses and corporations.
**In 2005, Graphic Design USA (GDUSA) magazine’s 19th annual stock visual survey was sent to 1,200 graphic design firms, advertising agencies and corporate, institutional and publishing inhouse departments. The results show an industry that is well established and strong, that is still growing and in demand.The central finding of the survey is that 92% of creative professionals sometimes use stock photography in their work.
***In May of 2004, StockPhotoTalk.com reported its market size estimate for non-commissioned photography as $1.5 – 2.2 billion. BusinessWeek also supported that estimate in a March, 2006 article, Content is King at Corbis, about the $2 billion digital-image market. Within the article, analyst James Ballan of Bear Stearns expects the $2 billion market to grow in the mid-teens percent this year.
What is PatternStock?
What is Stock Imagery/
Stock Photography?
A Large, Lucrative Market for Your Designs!
Licenses and Pricing
Royalty Free versus Rights Managed
Why Choose Royalty Free?
What is this New Market Looking to Purchase?
Sell Your Designs to Your Traditional Market, Too!
Be Hired to do Custom Designs
Earn High Commissions
Expand Your Market Base With PatternStock
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Yes, I'm Interested!
Surface pattern designers and illustrators who would like to have their work considered for this site, please register today.
Click Here To Sign Up!
