Greeting Card Company Seeks Art Submissions

Waterknot wholesales greeting cards across the US and Canada. We are currently seeking submissions for new art-only and art/verse combinations. We are not looking for verse-only submissions. 

Waterknot creates and sells only the highest quality 100% recycled greeting cards. Historically, we have done all of our art in-house. After gaining extensive experience in the greeting card industry over the last decade, it is time for Waterknot to broaden our product offerings beyond our own designs and that (hopefully) involves you.

We are artists and know first hand how challenging it can be to make a living as an artist. Working with Waterknot can create a “passive income” stream for you. Licensing with us requires virtually no extra work on your part as we are seeking submissions of art that you have already created.

How does it work?

• You would supply Waterknot with high resolution images of your artwork
• Waterknot would turn those images into greeting cards
• Waterknot would print, market and wholesale the greeting cards throughout North America.
• You would receive a quarterly royalty payment based on how many of your cards actually sell
• You gain increased exposure as an artist since your name will appear on each card

What kinds of art are you looking for?

This is a preliminary call for submissions so we are pretty open. Here is an incomplete list of things that are more likely to wind up on the short list: Colorful, painterly, narrative, works of fine art or illustration. Figurative work, objects or landscapes that evoke conversation or commentary. Scenes of celebration. Flowers. Musical instruments and musicians. Cocktails. Food. Specifically seasonal scenes (Winter/Christmas, Spring, Summer, Fall). Outdoor activities and adventure, especially runners. Abstract painting. Graphic patterns. Work with a unique style or spirit. This is by no means a complete list.

We are NOT looking for the following: Cartoons, Photographs or Photo-realistic work. Black and white or grayscale work. Anything trite or cheesy. Celebrity portraits or pet portraits. Team sports or professional athletes. Quotes or famous sayings. Compositions that are only typographic. Anything religious. Anything that looks like Hallmark or that you can picture in Walgreens.

You always own your art!

If we decided to work together we would sign an agreement that is simple, clear and works for both of us. Basically, this agreement grants Waterknot the license to sell cards with your images for an agreed upon timeframe, in a specific market. If it’s working great, we renew. If it’s not, we part ways. No harm, no foul and truly no risk for you.

Why work with Waterknot?

Waterknot currently has over 350 active wholesale accounts and we continue to grow. We are a well oiled sales and marketing machine within the stationery and gift industry. This means that in addition to making money from royalties, your images will get seen by lots of new eyeballs. We print in Portland, Oregon and use only 100% post consumer recycled paper and we give a portion of our profits to environmental and social justice organizations.

Money + Exposure + No Extra Work = A big win for you.

How do I submit my art?

Send us an email telling us about you and your work. Specifically, whether or not you are working with other greeting card publishers. Do NOT email attachments. Instead, please put all images together in one folder and zip (compress) them. Then use a service like google drive or dropbox to send us a link to download your images. Please label the zip file with your name.

Email the link to submissions@waterknot.com

No phone calls, please.

What kind of image files do you need?

High resolution (300 DPI) RBG images (jpegs, tiffs or flattened PSDs). The bigger the file the better. The bare minimum would be 4.5” x 6”.  While our final print size is 4.25 x 5.5” (also known in the trade as A2) giving us a larger image means we have a lot more options for cropping, layout and design. 

It makes me nervous to submit high res art without a signed deal. What should I do?

We totally get that. We have been there. We offer the honest reassurance that we are artists and good people and are not looking to rip off anyone. But, if it makes you feel better, you can send low res image files. However, if you do send low res images then we need to know the pixel dimensions for the high res image so we know what kind of enlargement and cropping flexibility we will have if we decide to go with your submission.

THIS MESSAGE IS BEING POSTED BECAUSE IT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ART or product design STUDENTS.  DUE TO THE VOLUME OF POSTINGS RECEIVED, NEITHER THE UO NOR THE school of art + design ARE ABLE TO INVESTIGATE THE LEGITIMACY OR VALIDITY OF ANY ORGANIZATION OR PERSON THAT POSTS A MESSAGE ON THIS SITE. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR GUARANTEES ABOUT ANY POSITIONS LISTED AND ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFETY, WAGES, WORKING CONDITIONS, OR OTHER ASPECTS OF EMPLOYMENT OR AN INTERNSHIP. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH INDIVIDUAL JOB AND INTERNSHIP SEEKER TO RESEARCH THE INTEGRITY OF THE ORGANIZATION(S) TO WHICH THEY ARE APPLYING AND TO VERIFY THE SPECIFIC INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THE JOB OR INTERNSHIP POSTING. JOB AND INTERNSHIP SEEKERS SHOULD EXERCISE DUE DILIGENCE AND USE COMMON SENSE AND CAUTION WHEN APPLYING FOR OR ACCEPTING ANY POSITION. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THE MESSAGE SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE ORIGINATOR OF THE MESSAGE AND NOT TO THE school of art + design.