"Your old sketchbook drawings could be earning you money" - An illustration licensing chat with Margo Tantau

This week our Tania is speaking to the one and only Margo Tantau (the licensing whisperer).

Margo is a good ship Pal, founder of Tantau Studio and you might have heard her on her brilliant podcast Windowsill Chats. Here's a link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/windowsill-chats/id1529045232 

In this chat, Tania and Margo talk about all the important stuff liiiike:

What is licensing? How do you get paid? Can you REALLY license work you've already made? Margo even shares her secret weapen for getting art directors to fall in love with your work.

Some very good bits too: AI slop is NOT getting in the way of artists with real human hands. Hoorayyyy. That's good news for all of us, eh?

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

00:00 – Intro to Margo Tantau and her 360-degree licensing career
 02:30 – Welcome back to the licensing whisperer
 04:00 – Artist, shop owner, buyer, product developer, agent: Margo's done it all
 06:00 – How Lilla Rogers passed the agency baton to Margo
 10:30 – Why relationships are the real gold in licensing
 12:00 – What licensing actually is (from spice labels to Nike)
 13:00 – How you get paid: advances, royalties and typical percentages
 16:00 – Can you licence work you've already made? Yes!
 17:00 – Margo's secret weapon: show your art ON the product
 20:30 – You don't need perfect mock-ups (a drawn teacup works too)
 21:00 – A creative challenge: turn one piece into a mini collection
 23:00 – Is AI hurting licensing? Why Margo's clients say no to AI art
 25:30 – Tania's shock at the AI souvenir flood in Hong Kong
 28:00 – The hand of the artist, texture, and quality signalling
 30:30 – The UK licensing landscape, life after Surtex
 32:30 – A London licensing expo
 36:00 – People buy what they see: Margo's plates, fabrics and jacket stand
 38:00 – The Licensing Lab at Spring Fair
 39:00 – A sneaky tip for finding which exhibitors licence art
 40:30 – Should licensing-curious illustrators go to Spring Fair?
 41:30 – What does a stand actually cost?
 44:30 – Why walking a trade fair beats a day of LinkedIn research
 45:30 – Fancy matchboxes, candles, and buying things just for the art
 46:30 – The big takeaway: people still want real art
 48:30 – Community, Bologna, and the gold at the bottom of the rainbow

Links mentioned:

• Margo's website: https://margotantau.com/
• Tantau Studio: https://www.tantaustudio.com/
• Windowsill Chats podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/windowsill-chats/id1529045232
• Windowsill Chats on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/windowsillchats
• Spring Fair (NEC Birmingham, 7th to 10th February 2027): https://www.springfair.com

Byeeee for now!

x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

p.s. Want Margo's full licensing class? It's waiting for you inside Illustration Business Club, along with aaall the other money-and-business bits art school forgot to teach you. 

Doors open on 25th of September 2026! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙