Hey, First name / friends!

It has been so fun to see all of the amazing submissions for the #CreateWithCatCoq mini-collection challenge so far!

 

If you haven’t heard, we’re doing a festive mini-collection challenge this month! ❄️ Each week in July you’ll get a winter holiday prompt, and by the end of the month you’ll have a full holiday mini-collection that is ready to pitch!

 

We’re focusing on winter holiday art for a couple reasons. It is one of the biggest categories in art licensing, and it’s helpful to create seasonal art well in advance so your potential collaborators can put it into production before the shopping season!

 

 

Any time you design in collections, it can be helpful to think of a few ideas for what kinds of products your art might end up on. 

 

Let’s use our holiday themed collection as an example. 

 

During the holiday season, people are buying all kinds of products with surface designs on them. You can design a collection with a general goal of getting the art licensed on multiple products, but if you really want to get strategic, it’s helpful to narrow things down a bit.
 

When I’m thinking about my seasonal collections, I often think of what products sell the most during those times. During the holidays, some of the highest volume products include gift wrap and greeting cards. 

 

Once I’ve identified the high volume products, I’ll start to think about how I can create a collection with multiple designs that will work well on those products.

 

In this case, I’m going to design with greeting cards in mind.

 

I know that multiple designs from my collection could get picked up for this. These designs could all work as a box set of holiday cards, or the hero illustrations could work on cards and the patterns could work on envelope liners. 

 

And, bonus! Even though I’m designing with a specific product in mind, these designs are all still broad enough to get picked up for a wide range of products from gift bags to tablecloths to serveware and more!

This week, your challenge is to create a hero illustration using hand-lettering or typography surrounded by seasonal greenery. Think poinsettias, holly, evergreen branches, and more! I even threw some candy canes in there for a fun and festive twist. 

 

Lettering is always popular in the art licensing space, and if you plan to design for holiday cards, you’ll definitely want to incorporate some lettering into your mini-collection.

Pro Tip: Make sure this illustration is cohesive with your initial design from last week. One of the best ways to do this is with color and texture. 

 

I didn’t use the exact same color palette from last week’s sweater design, but I did use a few of the same colors like the dark blue-green and red. 

 

I also used acrylic paint for both of these illustrations which helps them feel cohesive even though they don’t have the exact same color palette.

 

Don’t forget to share your work on Instagram with the hashtag #CreateWithCatCoq  and tag me @catcoq for a chance to be featured in this newsletter and on my Instagram Stories!

I want to see your design process as the weeks go on! I can’t wait to see how your mini-collections start to come together.

I love seeing all of the different interpretations of the holiday prompts. Keep sharing your work, and don't forget to comment and engage with your fellow artists! 

If you haven’t already, check out this blog post that walks through the strategy behind mini-collections. It also includes a free tear sheet template that you can use to display the collection you create this month! 

Have a fabulous week!