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REVEALED: Illustration trends 2021 by art agent Lilla Rogers

Discover illustration trends 2021 from a top art agent!

illustration trends 2021

What does 2021 have in store? Lilla shares her predictions for illustration trends 2021, based on her real-world experience as an art agent, her decades in the industry, and a little bit of intuitive vibe.

Happy new year from everyone here at Make Art That Sells! Now more than ever it’s a time for renewed hope and for looking forward. (And if you want to give yourself a whole heap of things to look froward to in 2021, don’t forget that there’s still time to sign up for one of our incredible My Year of Art School bundles and give yourself a full year of Lilla and Make Art That Sells courses to give your illustration career a huge boost!)

So what does 2021 have in store? What will the illustration trends 2021 be? Way way back in the mists of time, on the first day of our Giant Cyber Sale, Lilla hosted a fabulous live Zoom event along with some of her Make Art That Sells co-teachers: Beth (who co-teaches MATS MBA (Money BadAss)), Margo (who co-teaches our brilliant home décor courses, Creating Collections for Home Décor and the bite-sized Home Décor PLUS) and Riley (who’ll be co-teaching Lilla’s brand new My Toy Pitch course). If you missed out, you can catch up below.

 

Meet your teachers, art agent Lilla (left) and best-selling author Beth Kempton

During that Zoom event, Lilla shared some of her predictions for illustration trends 2021, based on what she sees being assigned every day in her role as an top international art agent, plus her own intuitive vibe based on over four decades in the business. So, what does 2021 have in store for us? Here’s what Madame Lilla sees in her crystal ball …

Illustration trends 2021 by art agent Lilla Rogers

1. Toys and games will carry on selling like crazy

While some industries suffered badly during the pandemic, the toy and game market was one of the stand-out success stories of 2021. According to a report by the NPD Group, sales of toys and games were up by a huge 16% in the first six months of the year, when they’d usually be expected to drop by 3-4% after the holidays. And according to Adobe Analytics, we spent more than $368.8 billion on toys online during the first six months of the year: $77 billion higher than expected.

rocketsshot Make Art That Sells REVEALED: Illustration trends 2021 by art agent Lilla Rogers

Let Lilla and Riley lead you through the toy aisles as you explore hundreds of toys, both vintage and modern, and find out exactly what made them great and how you can create your own in My Toy Pitch.

Want to get in on the booming toy and game market? The good news is that much of your existing art can be leveraged for this market, especially if you have kid-friendly art in your portfolio from children’s book illustration or other family-friendly markets. And here’s some more good news: your creative mind is fantastic at coming up with innovative new ideas that kids will love – in fact, you probably already have a sketchbook full of them.

If you want to learn all about how you can create a stand-out toy pitch from your existing art or come up with a smash-hit new toy or game ready to take the world by storm, you’ll want to check out our brand NEW course for 2021, My Toy Pitch.

You’ll join art agent Lilla and toy and game creative director and creator of the best-selling Sneaky Snacky Squirrel game, Riley Wilkinson, for five incredible weeks during which you’ll dig deep into this lucrative market and come up with your very own fantastic toy or game pitch. If you’ve ever thought that it would be really cool to create your own unique toy or game, now’s the perfect time! Find out more and book your spot here.

2. Avoiding screen-time is still a goal

Sure, binge-watching and computer games may have helped get us through 2020, but we all know that too much screen time can be a bad thing and finding things to distract our children and ourselves without screens will continue to be huge. This of course includes toys and games, but also puzzles for both adults and children and children’s books – anything that we can do in the home that’s non-digital.

Children’s books in particular are selling like hotcakes right now, as parents turn to books for education, entertainment, and calming and bonding time with their families. Lilla says: “Children’s picture books are huge right now, and several of my artists, especially those who have taken Illustrating Children’s Books are booked solid and having to turn down work!”

Sirjana Kaur Environment ICB7 WK4 copy Make Art That Sells REVEALED: Illustration trends 2021 by art agent Lilla Rogers

Full page spread by Make Art That Sells student Sirjana Kaur for Illustrating Children’s Books. Want to make an eye-catching job-snagging portfolio piece like this? Book here.

Want in on it? Lilla says that a show-stopping portfolio is key: you need to show a publisher or art director that you can deliver. The good news is that we’re running not one but two children’s book courses in 2021:

  • our raved-about Illustrating Children’s Books course will help you build a powerful children’s book illustration portfolio pitch (and this year we’re running it even earlier in the year, starting in April 2021: book here now!);
  • plus Lilla’s new course, My Kid Book Pitch, is perfect for anyone who’s ever thought they’d love to write (and maybe illustrate) their very own children’s picture book (and don’t forget: if you’re the illustrator and the author, you get paid twice!)
3. We’re getting greener

Lilla says she’s seeing companies are more and more looking for limited plastics, more natural materials, and more sustainable or recyclable products, or products where the packaging is recyclable or even part of the design: definitely something for you to keep in mind in the months ahead.

Katrina Disbrow Make Art That Sells REVEALED: Illustration trends 2021 by art agent Lilla Rogers

Art by Make Art That Sells student Katrina Disbrow for Editorial LIVE. Hurry – the next Editorial LIVE course starts in just over a week, on Monday, January 18th!

4. We still want beautiful things

Lilla says: “During my career, I’ve been through three recessions, so I know how to help artists succeed, whatever else is going on. The last recession was very strong for illustrated baby and child products: my artists did so much work in that category!”

Even in the middle of a pandemic or a recession, we still want – or arguably need – beautiful, inspiring things around us, and parents can justify spending on beautiful things for babies and children as a necessity even when times are hard. (It’s also a time when we’re spending more on our homes: when we can’t go anywhere else, we need them to be a haven.)

Want in? Explore the children and baby apparel market, plus four more exciting art markets, in our self-paced course, Hot Markets for Your Art Part B – or get it along with Hot Markets for Your Art Part A and save, all while building your creative career! Plus they’re instant access, which means you can get started the moment you sign up.

5. Prepare for the boom

Lilla predicts that by mid- to late-2021, companies will start preparing for a vaccinated consumer society and to expect a big boom in products, books including children’s books, gifts and more. As jobs start to pick up again, people will have more disposable income, and of course we will (hopefully!) be able to travel again. Lilla stresses the importance of being able to touch physical things – something which we’ve not been able to do in our year of fevered online shopping.

thefutureisallaboutcreativecareers Make Art That Sells REVEALED: Illustration trends 2021 by art agent Lilla Rogers

Creative directors, art directors, publishers, editors and more need your art! It’s time to transform your creative career in 2021!

Want in? The world is your oyster: what do you love? What excites you? People buy your joy, so whether you’re most thrilled by the thought of a home décor line all of your own, holding your own children’s picture book in your hands, watching kids playing with a toy designed by you, dreamy bolt fabric or something else, we’ve got a course for you: check them all out and book your spot now, or sign up now for our epic My Year of Art School and get ready to put a rocket ship under your creative career! (But HURRY – My Year is only available until Editorial Live starts on January 18th!)

The bottom line: creative directors need your art. Lilla predicts that companies will need to come to creative people because they want your art on their products. The future is all about creative careers!

Lots of love

The Make Art That Sells team xxx

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