We are constantly on the lookout for new art to license, and review artwork on an ongoing basis. Typically we will take your existing illustrations, and reformat them to fit onto our various We enjoy seeing artwork from emerging artists, as part of our philosophy is to present our customers with really new concepts and to support the artist community.
We are particularly looking for artists who can take their 2d artwork, and create 3d products out of it. If you have this capability, please let us know. If you can include samples of products your have designed for other companies, or take some of our images and create some product sketches, all the better!
We are especially now looking for garden product concepts such as stepping stones, bird feeders, wind chimes, as well as gourmet giftware or table top ideas.
Please send any artwork to
Ray Markow, Director of Licensing
Santa Barbara Ceramic Design
1515 Chapala, St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101
If you would like it returned after review, please include an sase.
Acceptable formats:
Our process is informal, and you can send designs for consideration in virtually any form you like. We do not prefer electronic files (disk) as we do not have time to print out the many submissions we get. However, if you like you can e-mail me a representative selection of jpegs prior to mailing hard copies to determine if your style is of interest to us. Send for prescreening to: rmarkow@sbceramic.com
Much of our work is private label for major retail chains, and even if there is no immediate need, there may be an opportunity to license your artwork at some point in the future. To facilitate that, we ask that you give us some representative designs formatted for presentation to major buyers as follows: On 8 1/2” x 11” pages, 3 holed punched for inclusion in a binder. Designs should be oriented on the page as if they will be viewed with the long dimension of the page oriented vertically. I find that 4 images per page is ideal. Acetate sleeves will ensure they stay looking nice. You may also include a more comprehensive library of images in thumbnail form. Be sure to label each image for future reference.
If you believe your work has strong potential, and you would like it presented to major retailers, we encourage you to download some of our art templates and reformat your images in some of our product shapes. This greatly enhances the possibility of making a private label sale. I recommend the following shapes: Mug, dessert plate, coaster, oil bottle. You can call for details.
Themes of interest:
We are very motif driven, and find that images and concepts with strong themes or clever concepts do best.
We try to stay on trend with themes that are popular in the home décor and relate to popular cultural/consumer trends. Themes that relate to the piece type do best.
Examples of themes that have enjoyed success recently are:
Olives, Wine and Cheese,Girly Glamour, Tropical, Chefs and Waiters, Martinis, Vintage European posters, France, Roosters. The preceding themes are now very prevalent in the market place. We will consider further variations of these themes, but what we really are looking for is the next big trend! Part of the Santa Barbara philosophy is to be on the leading edge of new themes.
We are also looking for social expression driven concepts, something that gives a gift special meaning to the recipient.
