Art Doesn't Grow on Trees

So often people in our industry think of the cost of a print as just the cost of paper and ink. They know we pay royalties to artists, and they realize in a vague way that there is some cost to developing artwork. But they generally are not aware of how much work and expense is involved in finding, creating, collaborating on, modifying, and preparing artwork.

There is a way to keep art development costs down, and that's the approach of simply mimicking popular artwork already on the market. It might be possible to do this with minimal art development staff.

But you wouldn't get innovative new content, colors, themes, styles. Wild Apple chooses to aggressively publish approximately 50 high quality new images every month, and to continuously search for new artists and new artwork.

While the circumstances of individual images vary widely, it can cost over $1000 to get an image ready - not including the actual printing, not including artist royalties, not including sales, marketing, accounting, customer service, warehousing, shipping or other supporting expenses.

Art doesn't grow on trees; it has to be searched out, cultivated, and harvested. Art questing takes travel, research, and lots and lots of time. Recruiting artists, negotiating contracts, providing art direction, inspiration, style and theme concepts, feedback and occasional therapy requires dedicated staffing. Handling the artwork includes shipping originals back and forth, ultra-high resolution digital image capture, color correction, formatting, proofing, digital storage, retrieval & back-up, and constant investment in technology to keep the whole system organized and productive.

With the industry's relentless downward pricing pressure, I admit to sounding defensive or sensitive. I often do feel that the value brought by art publishers is undervalued, even though it is the artwork itself that drives the consumer sale. It won't be the first or last time I say: It's all about the art!

Comments

[Nicolas]

Hello John! Nice blog! Our regards from Sur Laminas(Argentina) We really appreciate the hard work of WA and of course the beautiful new art.Keep on going! Adios, Nicolas