Get the art licensing ball rolling!
Pitch Your Portfolio is an art licensing course for surface designers who want to see their work in the world + make a living from their art.
Join the waitlist for the LAST EVER enrollment in October 2024!
The reality is that making it in surface design requires a plan. And patience. And tenacity. (And lots and lots of emailing.)
The unsexy secret to getting your art licensed
I love hearing about designers “being discovered” on Instagram or a design taking off on Spoonflower. You put your art into the world… and BOOM: success finds YOU!
But after 6+ years in this industry, I know those stories are pretty rare. And even if they weren’t, there’s no way to replicate them because they depend on luck.
Pitch Your Portfolio gives you the plan (and the emails). So if you can bring the patience and tenacity… there’s nothing in the way of getting your art licensed.
Feeling short on tenacity? The PYP community can help fuel your motivation!
Pitch Your Portfolio teaches you my system for finding, connecting with, and presenting your art to companies
Without getting sidetracked, overwhelmed, or discouraged
Inside pitch your portfolio, you can expect…
Six easy-to-follow modules with practical video lessons that walk you step-by-step through the entire PYP system — without overwhelm.
MadLib-style intro & follow-up email templates so you can fill in the blanks, hit send, and make outreach so much easier.
Ready-made portfolio sheet templates to make your designs look perfectly polished when you present them to art directors.
Screenshots of my real-life email interactions with companies to help you feel more confident & in control of the contacting process.
Organization templates & set-up instructions using my favorite FREE software (Airtable) to organize your art business.
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Private online community for regular, unconditional support from me (Shannon) and your fellow students from around the world.
Pricing course video excerpt to learn pricing basics that'll help you confidently start conversations with art directors.
Instant lifetime access to the course on a unique platform that allows you to search for any keyword in the class content to find answers quickly.
What pyp alumni say
I’ve been so inspired by the progress and success of my students. Here’s what a few of them have said about their experience inside Pitch Your Portfolio…
I have received numerous licensing contracts since Pitch Your Portfolio and found out a few days ago my dream of getting into Hawthorne Fabrics has come true! Your PDF layouts, advice, and Airtable all made it happen for me. So thank you!
"Your classes have been the jumpstart of my career."
- Mandy Corcoran
Nothing was left for us to figure out on our own. It’s a game-changer and really equips you with the practical tools and confidence boost you need to approach businesses, and put your portfolio out there in a professional, yet accessible, way.
"It was real conversations that weren’t sugar coated."
- Kristen Steen
But it totally has as I feel I have a roadmap on how I should go about building my portfolio and so many ideas have come to me, now that I know what the process is of how to go about pitching my portfolio to companies. This was a missing link for me.
"Since I didn't have a portfolio, I was a bit unsure if joining now made sense..."
- Rekha Krishnamurthi
I've known for a while I needed to start gathering company information but avoided it because it felt so overwhelming. But I've felt a shift in myself just in the past month since taking this class and my goals feel much more attainable!
"Seeing how you organize everything was a game-changer."
- Maria Bee
It’s not preachy or overly optimistic where one feels encouraged but still gets lost when trying to do it…I started sending out my portfolio to clients and within a month got 2 licensing contracts and 4 inquiries. I know I wouldn’t have had the confidence to start thinking on business terms if not for you.
"You give really realistic, relatable, and actionable content."
- Sneha Jaiswal
“In just six months, I reached out to over 30 companies and licensed 2 designs.
Now I’m more confident in pitching, and create strategic artwork for specific markets. This course is for anybody who wants to take action in developing his/her own creative career in surface design."
Natalia Zlateva
“Your class is the only one I have truly felt connected with the teaching style, knowledge, and community!
I would have never known how to reach out to a few of my dream companies before your class. Now, I’ve successfully contacted some of my dream brands using what I've learned."
Kristina Yu
“Utilizing your email tips, I submitted to 10 art agents and signed with one of them two weeks later!!
Everything in PYP is done in a way that makes sense for someone like me who doesn't have a ton of time or stress to their day. They want it to be simple. And it really is."
Melanie Stimmel
You dream of seeing your art have a practical impact on the world by making products beautiful and fun.
You’re working on building your portfolio, but you’re not sure how to organize it and need structure for the business side of surface design.
You want to connect with surface designers at your level — those who know how to design but aren’t making a full-time living yet.
You resonate with a to-the-point approach that balances reality-checks with upbeat encouragement (vs. fluffy “go after your dreams” style motivation).
Is this course for you?
it'll be a good fit for you if...
join the waitlist for 2023
Pitch Your Portfolio was a wonderful stepping stone for me to take myself seriously as a business, and it gave me the tools to start acting like it! If you are ready to take a serious step into an art business, this is a great place to start.
"Since taking PYP, I have signed a fabric licensing contract and had my first buyout with a major brand."
- Audrey Mann
Before PYP I felt overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start. But this course gave me clear steps to get organized and target companies. It’s a very extensive, practical, and straightforward course aimed at making seemingly complicated things easy and even fun.
"Now I feel organized and motivated to start pitching my work."
- Malika Buttinger
I’ve been an art director and project coordinator, but hadn't come up with a set of tools that worked for licensing until PYP. I honestly was ready to leave the business, but I sold 3 pieces during this course because I found the confidence to re-contact two potential clients at the right time.
"Taking more classes was on my list of don'ts this year, but this is the one I needed the most!"
- Susan Brand
She gives you step-by-step ways to organize your computer files, actual templates you can use to track all of the company research you do, and email templates to use when reaching out to companies. It really removed the stress of starting from scratch when I was ready to pitch.
"Even though I have a lot of experience from my previous career with reaching out to people, the tips Shannon shares are priceless.”
- usha mishra
a left-handed, left-brained surface designer & educator
Btw, have we met yet? I’M SHANNON McNAB
Over the past decade, I slowly transitioned to my dream job as a full-time surface designer working for myself. And when I say “slowly transitioned,” I mean it! It was definitely not an overnight success.
One thing that did help? Though I’m an artist, the other part of me is a total numbers nerd, so I thrived on testing different approaches, documenting my results, and creating streamlined systems for myself.
Ultimately I arrived at the methods that led me to collaborations with brands like Papyrus, Cloud9 Fabrics, Pyrex, and Trader Joe’s — and seeing my designs on products in stores I shop at! Now, I teach these methods to other surface designers who would prefer to just borrow my analytical brain instead of figuring it out on their own (like I had to).
When does enrollment open next?
still got questions?
Enrollment for Pitch Your Portfolio will be open in October 2024 and it is the LAST time it will ever be offered. Join the waitlist to be the first in line!
Is there a time limit for course access? And how much time do I need to complete this course?
You get lifetime access – please refer to the course TOU for more information.
The course itself is completely self-paced, so you can go through it as quickly or slowly as you like depending on how you like to learn. The time commitment you’ll need every week depends on how quickly you want to work through the course and its resources. Our suggestion one module per week (the modules range from 30-80 minutes to watch), but we encourage you to go at whatever pace you’re most comfortable with, given your current schedule.
Do you offer refunds?
Yes, you can request a refund within the 7 days of purchase by emailing us. We'll send you a simple refund request form. Once completed, we’ll process your refund within 5 business days. However, we reserve the right to refuse a refund if our system shows you have watched more than 25% of the course.
Do you teach how to design in this course?
No; this course is about pitching your completed work to companies.
Can I take this course if I already have some art licensing deals?
Yes. If you’re established but not happy about how much work you’re getting OR you want to be more organized in your business, then Pitch Your Portfolio will be useful.
Will this help me if I don’t live in the US?
Absolutely! Pitch Your Portfolio has alumni from nearly 50 different countries spanning 6 continents like Australia, Qatar, Germany, India, Nicaragua, and Thailand, who've used what they learned to further their design careers.
Will this help me get freelance work or is it just for licensing?
Yes, what you learn in Pitch your Portfolio applies to getting freelance work as well.
The process for finding and contacting companies for licensing vs. freelance client work is very similar, so this course will help you no matter what your focus is and you’ll find several examples of both throughout the modules.
How much art do I need before I’m ready for this course?
A lot less than you think. If you have a portfolio with 10 good designs, you have enough – yes, really!
Do you provide captions or transcripts for course videos?
Yes! Every course video has captions and downloadable transcriptions available to make it easier for you to learn the material in whatever way works best for you.
There’s also a full course workbook you can download or print out so you can follow along through each module.
What’s the difference between Pitch Your Portfolio and Artful Pricing & Negotiation? Which one should I take?
Pitch Your Portfolio teaches you how to pitch companies, and Artful Pricing & Negotiation teaches you how to price your work. I recommend taking Pitch Your Portfolio first — because if you’re not pitching, there’s no one to negotiate pricing with!
What’s the difference between this course and other surface design business courses from other designers?
The biggest difference is that Pitch Your Portfolio is a deep dive into one specific (vital) business skill for surface designers: Finding & successfully pitching your work to companies.
Other surface design business courses broadly share how to launch a surface design career through various business models, and many even start at teaching the craft of design for complete beginners. This is helpful if you’re just starting out and want an overview…. But in my experience, if you already know how to design, mastering pitching is what will help you start earning money faster.
Because we go deep, everyone walks away with an actionable plan that generates income. Not just a bunch of knowledge (which can feel overwhelming to implement).
What if I have more questions before I sign up?
