The coloring book industry, generally a low-margin business that is not at the forefront of trends, has been part of two notable and high-profile developments of late.
First, within the last year, augmented reality and user-generated content have come to the business in a big way, with strong ties to licensing. Crayola’s Color Alive includes Skylanders among its titles; Bendon is the licensee for the Disney Color + Play line; Mercury InPress’s Incredebooks feature Moshi Monsters along with classic fairy tales; and start-up company Painting Lulu recently licensed Barbie and Hot Wheels. Each initiative allows children to color in physical form and then import their creation into a digital environment where it can be manipulated and interact with existing digital components.
Second, a trend toward coloring books for adults has quickly become a hot topic, with articles in The New York Times and many other news outlets. At this week’s Stationery Show, Peter Pauper Press was displaying its highly detailed adult coloring books front and center, while Spooksvilla was showing its adult-themed Dinosaurs Smoking Weed and Whales Getting Drunk. This trend has hit fast and there is little licensing presence to date. But it stands to reason that at least a few age-appropriate licensed properties will emerge as a good fit for the category.
Our next post, on Thursday, will include observations from this week’s Surtex art-licensing show. And the May edition of Raugust Communications’ monthly e-newsletter focuses on some of the ways artists are collaborating with property owners from other areas of the licensing business. All of the Licensing Trends of the Month, including this one, are exclusive to the e-newsletter; sign up now if you haven’t done so already.
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