FIND OUT MORE IN OUR Q & A
How it Works
We promote your artwork across online and face to face meetings in client offices and international exhibitions. Our USP is how we have combined our global network of local market sales partners and delivery of your artwork to them as soon as you upload. With international time frames we achieve an always on 24/7 - 365 market access which delivers dynamic sales results. This is where the real bulk of sales potential exists in the design sales landscape.
We have automated the upload system for you. Simply login to our uploader tab on our Homepage and from there choose your display categories and product maps. You will upload the print template for the agents face to face meetings / the full layered files and the website display image. And yes, folks that is it! Immediate access to the entire global textile market. How cool is that? An end to end digital workflow that really delivers your sales results.
Within 30 minutes of any sale, you will receive a congratulations email direct to your inbox with a thumbnail of the sold design. We want you to feel good about selling. Lots of sales motivate your creativity. That sale is also automatically posted to our "Art Sales Report" listed month by month. Here you will see all your sales growing. Again, seeing the sales action like this helps you stay motivated.
Artcottage are both a studio and a sales organisation. We believe this gives you a distinct advantage promoting your artwork and negotiating with clients on your behalf. From our historic converted textile mill premises we employ a talented team across design / web and sales skillsets. For many years we covered the entire globe selling art, attending shows, and interacting with customers from China to South Africa, America to Russia and about everywhere in between. We were the air mile warriors of the design trade easily circling the globe many times each year. This built an intense knowledge and enables us to do what we do to this day.
We supply you with our own branded template for you to load your art onto. Your art carries the Artcottage brand name. Our brand name represents quality and reliability to our clients. They know us for a complete professional approach. From quality to delivery, we set exacting standards and it is in everybody's interests that we all work to maintain them.
We currently do not charge any subscription charge
Our sales agent network takes care of this for you. Printing locally from your template. All part of our service.
On Upload you select the best set of live product maps you would like your artwork to display onto. Our visualisations cover all manner of products from the Interiors and accessories markets. In addition , our clients can zoom and move your patterns around to get the right visual fit and see them in multiple repeats. As well as the mapping software we also incorporate an intense zoom-tool so that the finest of textures can be highlighted and viewed in detail. A great tool to help them make that final purchase decision.
Join Our Team
As soon as your designs are submitted via our uploader, they are available for printing and showing to the entire global textile market. We are talking USA/Canada, UK and all European countries including Turkey, Greece and southern Europe. China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, India and Pakistan and Russia and the Eastern bloc countries inclusive. Australia, New Zealand, South America, South Africa we pick up at the international show network we do
Across the globe we have more than 5000 high quality clients. We send mailers out featuring your artwork each week. From “Category Focus” like Geometrics for example to “Shop New In” and “Trend Focus” you can be sure our clients get to see your art on a regular basis.
This question gets to the crux of it! We do both Online and face to face meets in client offices with physical prints. Online only selling simply does not meet the demands of the textile customer base. They like to view the artwork in scale , examine it , lay it out in their showrooms and have their design teams discuss which collections any piece will fit into....I could go on. Sales organisations offering a website only approach to selling your designs will deliver at most 30% of the potential market. BEWARE!
Shows are an important part of our sales calendar and we attend/participate at all the major shows around the world. A couple of key ones are Heimtex-Frankfurt, Intertextile-Shanghai, Surtex-New York, but there are many more local shows we do in combination with our sales partners and individual clients. Examples of these are China / Nantong bedding show in partnership with Goldsun Textiles, USA / Design Bloc show on 5th Av NYC targeting the local textile design community of Manhattan. These shows are lesser known than the biggies but equally important in getting you those all important sales numbers.
As well as a dedicated staff member looking after communication with our artist partners we also have a wide range of design resources / trends / digital colour palettes available for distribution.
Currently we accept only CAD digital artwork
Clients rely on us to be professional. As such any artwork promoted for sale by Artcottage cannot be promoted in any way on other social platforms / blogs / websites. Same goes for offline activity
We encourage you to upload as much art of the right quality that you can. Building a good stock level and then keeping it topped up is the right way to build your online profile. Clients get to know your style and then look out for you when they go browsing. Weekly uploads are the de -facto best way to maintain excellent sales.
All artwork needs to be in a seamless repeat when uploading. 100% of clients expect this as the de-facto standard delivery . In addition, it enables our product mapping software to work effectively through the repeat visualisation process. Balanced repeats remain a key priority across the industry ( excluding photo digital ) and showing great ability in this will gain you buyers early on.
All the technical data for successful uploading relating to file formats will be given to you at the outset . In general we operate around Tiff Layers / jpg for the web image / PSD /AVA
Getting Paid
We operate at the premium end of the market. All artwork is sold on a premium exclusive basis whereby all rights are passed to the buyer on completion of sale. By selling to so many different countries we get an even flow of sales month in month out. Be assured we negotiate the very best prices available within the Interiors print market but also be aware that prices vary across different markets and other variables like quantity discounts come into play. Promoting your artwork across the globe we negotiate in all local currencies and convert back to GBP sterling. Our long standing relationship with our client base means payments come through thick and fast in most instances.
Our various service plans give you choice over the level of representation you choose. These are normally expressed as a % but some are also flat fee. The service plan is set at the beginning of your discussions with our sales department. Sales numbers and commissions are automatically posted to an online freelance portal as each sale is made. This process is all automated giving you immediate access to your sales performance. You can login and see your sales report along with a visual sold report of artwork sold across our team. This report includes things like territory sold and % breakdowns. All converted to GBP at the prevailing exchange rate.
As a business to business model of operation most of our clients operate on credit terms with us. This is normal business practice and allows companies to spread out their cash flow. Basically our automated systems post a receipt to your account at the end of the month in which we receive payment into our bank. All of this is clearly outlined in your sales report showing all sales you have made as you make them. No admin delay. Direct international bank transfer at the end of each month is the usual method of payment.
We can pay you in GBP, Euro or USD. Although we transact with clients in other currency denominations like Rupees- India or Renminbi-China , we take care of the transition back into these 3 main trading currencies.
You are paid at the end of the month that payment from the client is received by our bank. Standard business credit terms are 30 days but in reality and due to the fact that we sell to emerging markets as well as established Industries, then this can vary between 30-90 days. We have established efficient methods for credit control so rest assured we are always chasing down any overdue payers if they should exist.
Copyright & Legal Info
We ask you to review and sign a contract of service with us that lays out the detail of the agreement between both parties. It covers things like copyright responsibilities , notice in the event of you wanting to end the representation and other important elements. Getting these things clear at the beginning is key to a successful business relationship.
We believe in transparency and clarity in all our business relationships. A full list of responsibilities will be outlined separately but heres a few. 1. Originality of work and reference sourcing. All work has to be your own original artwork......no shutter stock / istockphoto etc. The internet is a great reference source of ideas but be clear about the difference between copying and idea reference. 2. Quality : AC do quality control art submissions before they hit the website. We have high standards to maintain. Hardwon and its in everyones interests of brand image to keep them there. Curate your submissions is our advice. 3. Client commissions and art changes. Clients can often ask for a few alterations to art on purchase. All of our designers commit to a 48 hr turnaround unless there are extenuating circumstances- holidays etc. Original commissions from scratch can take longer of course depending on the work but we ask for prioritisation in your workflow. This approach keeps the clients coming back for more business. Win-win!
At the present time the main terms of sale in the interiors market is "Premium Exclusive" selling where full copyright passes to the buyer on payment of invoice value.
SPOTLIGHT ON OUR TALENT
Lizzie
"I love designing for the interiors market and selling through Artcottage. I get a buzz seeing the Congratulations emails come in to my inbox. I have complete creative freedom, a regular income and can work from home. Recommended!"
Sue
I love drawing!! The super classical artwork is my stock in trade...drawing and painting in all the styles and recently have added AVA CAD to my repertoire as well. A steep learning curve but ive cracked it!
Jane
"The digital workflow that Artcottage offer is perfectly suited to me working from home. To know that once my designs have been uploaded then any number of clients from Asia to America can view it and potentially buy it is exciting!"
Emma
"Six years ago I graduated from Loughborough University and joined Artcottage as a studio trainee designer. In that time I have learned so much from my fellow designers in-house . In addition I now act as the freelance co-ordinator, I'm the central contact point for our ever growing team of talented freelancers who work from remote locations in the UK and abroad. I love colour, it's my passion... and have accomplished skills on AVA and Photoshop. Each year I visit the International trade shows and keep up with all the design trends in Interiors and fashion."
Neil
" Attending the exhibitions, studio designing and general sales support make my job interesting and varied. We have a fabulous old mill as our studio space and our team have so much talent. The main thing though is they are a great, friendly bunch of people to work with . We have regular socials in and around our base city of Leicester which, with two thriving Universities has endless entertainment options, all within a mile of the studio. "
Di-Administrator
"Our back office systems are efficient and well integrated across the whole business. From the point a sale is made across our sales partners globally, an automated system begins that records and notifies and calculates. But be certain that I am here to make sure your payments and any other questions are dealt with professionally and on time. "
ART COTTAGE DESIGNER BENEFITS
