TOTAL Art Licensing
Tara Reed Designs has a distinctive style in layers and, therefore to paint in pieces. She
that on the surface looks fun and whimsical, conceives of a collection, literally, icon by icon.
sophisticated and clever, and always well- For example, multiple icons are painted by hand
designed. But behind the crisp black lines, on 12 inch by 15 inch pages, and each individu-
watercolors and acrylic paints is an artist ally scanned and cataloged. Background art is
who thinks through each step of her art with designed, painted and washed in sections, then
both eyes focused on licensing. scanned and repeated in Photoshop. Tara builds
Reed may make it look easy, but it’s her “triple the palette as she goes.
punch” of talent that has built her licensing busi- Often Reed doesn’t begin product development
until she has completed each
piece in the collection. She says,
“I can always tell if it’s going to
work on product, long before I
get to that stage.”
“I like creating each piece and
watching the collections grow. It
also really works for the licens-
ees who want to be involved
in adapting my designs to their
product and customer needs.”
shares Reed. Licensees actu-
ally call her to design specific
programs because they know
True.” Sourcebooks—ISBN# 1402208863)
they can count on an extensive
Actually more than 90 coffee images, humorous
collection in a short amount of
vignettes, borders, patterns and icons are avail-
time.
able for licensees. Reed also created a unique
All of her collections are very
web site, www.coffeewit.com.
“content rich.” For example,
Here again, Reed puts her marketing experience
when creating her recent Coffee
behind the collection with a web site that is de-
Wit Collection, she had so many
signed specifically to build the brand and provide
coffee-inspired sentiments that
important information to the various audiences
ness in record time. Reed has the very unique it turned into a gift book. (“For the Love of Cof-
who are interested in her art: consumers, retail-
combination of a business background (sales fee—61 Things Every Coffee Lover Knows to be
ers and manufacturers. At press time, the Cof-
and marketing, public relations, organizational
fee Wit Collection already has eight
management), in addition to her fine art talents
licensees and more than 40 delightful
(watercolorist, line-art illustrator and acrylic
coffee-inspired products at retail and
painter), and computer graphics skills (Adobe
in the pipeline.
Illustrator and Photoshop).
For licensees, that “triple punch” is
While Tara Reed has been licensing her artwork
so refreshing. She really understands
for just four years, one would certainly suspect
product development, licensing and
longer from her list of more than 25 licensees
how a manufacturer builds a line. Tara
and a serious collection of well-known regional
is also “a good listener, a quick study
and national retailers who carry her products.
and very inspired.” says Mary Marti-
This “triple punch” is really paying off for Reed,
nez, Director of Marketing for Thirst-
who readily admits “I’m an artist, but an artist
ystone Resources, Inc.
who creates art specifically for products via li-
censing. Period.”
And Tara not only provides the art and designs
Tara Reed’s online portfolio. with more
the licensees want, she provides it in whatever
than 850 images, is available to prospec-
format they ask for: layered files or completed
tive licensees by calling 503.466.9317
artwork fit to their template.
or by sending an email to
To do this, Reed learned very quickly to design
tara@tarareeddesigns.com.
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