Archive | Design and content themes

What’s in a Name?

Licensing executives are always looking to pair their properties or products with logical partners, in ways that are creative and new but also emphasize a commonality that provides a raison d’être for the collaboration. The shared characteristics might be common history, materials, interests, geography, or any number of other elements.  One rationale that has popped […]

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Highlighting the Rogues and Scoundrels

Property owners in the realms of entertainment, sports, and celebrity licensing, on the hunt for ways to put new spins on their properties, are increasingly launching collections focused on villainous characters, both fictional and real:  Disney was the pioneer in this technique, launching its Disney Villains brand many years ago and regularly offering products under […]

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New Spins On Ancient Artisanal Crafts

The popularity of Japanese culture—anime and manga, kawaii characters, videogames, baseball players, and streetwear brands, to name a few examples—has been expanding globally for years. Lately, a growing number of collaborations involving these IPs, and western IPs as well, have started to integrate nods to traditional Japanese handcrafts and arts in their designs. Most of […]

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Japandi Design: Wabi-Sabi Meets Hygge

The concept of Japandi has been trending for at least a decade, mostly in the context of interior design focused on high-end homes and luxury hotels. The minimalist movement combines the Japanese practice of wabi-sabi, which is about slow living, simplicity, and contentment, with the complementary Scandinavian philosophy known by different names in each country but […]

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Birdies, Bogies, and Brands

Golf has become an increasingly popular theme for experiential initiatives involving licensed properties, both digital and physical. Many of the initiatives are tied to character and entertainment IPs, but they extend into other realms as well:  Mattel Adventure Park, the new attraction opening in 2025 as part of Epic Resort Destinations’ VAI Resort in Glendale, […]

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Hidden Treasure

A design technique that is currently trending in collaborative apparel collections is to hide meaningful text and graphics in linings, pockets, and collars where they are not visible, except to the owner of the piece. A few examples from the world of sports and sportswear this past summer illustrate:  Sportscraft, the long-time creator of the […]

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Fortunes Look Good for Licensed Tarot Decks

Interest in both self-care and hobbies/pastimes spiked during the pandemic, and tarot cards—which reside in both worlds—were no exception. Some suppliers have reported sales that tripled during the peak lockdown days and, more significantly, have doubled in the five-year period since 2018. While licensing drives a very small portion of the market, the number of […]

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Enchanting Activity Kits

The worlds of magic and licensing are increasingly intersecting within the toy industry, as manufacturers of magic-themed activity kits—often with an educational slant—are matching this perennially popular category with a variety of properties, mostly connected to magic or science: Abacus Brands, a maker of educational virtual-reality activity kits, recently added the Penn & Teller license, […]

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Made by Hand

A number of deals of late have involved limited editions of handcrafted products. The increasing tendency to include handmade products as a component of a licensing program is not a trend that has arisen suddenly. Rather, the strategy has gained strength steadily and rather stealthily over several years. Recent examples cut across a variety of […]

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