How I Licensed Surface Pattern Designs Without a Big Instagram Following
When I started surface pattern design, I had just opened a brand new Instagram account.
No audience.
No email list.
No industry contacts.
Just a few friends following along.
I began posting patterns I made from watching YouTube tutorials. I joined a few design challenges and slowly started connecting with other artists. After a year, I had grown my account organically to around 400 followers. Not 4,000. Not 40,000. Four hundred. I genuinely believed that brands wouldn’t take me seriously with numbers like that.
I thought: How could I possibly license my work if barely anyone is seeing it?
But I kept posting. I kept practicing. I kept building.
What I Was Missing
What I didn’t understand at the time was this: Licensing is not about followers or likes. It’s about your portfolio and professional outreach. I assumed visibility on Instagram was the path.
It isn’t. There’s an actual structure to art licensing which includes building collections, pitching, following up, and presenting yourself professionally.
That’s what I was missing.
What Changed
When I took the Cass Deller Surface Pattern Design Course , something shifted for me. She made it very clear: This is a long-term business. Not a viral moment. Not a numbers game. Cass guided me through the entire process: from designing patterns, building a website, setting up a business, planning a launch strategy, creating a cohesive portfolio, to pitching clients professionally. Having that kind of step-by-step guidance made the whole licensing journey feel achievable.
I started building small, cohesive collections which then gave me confidence to pitch. I started emailing companies. I sent a lot of emails. Some didn’t respond, some said no.
But the real turning point? Follow-ups. When I followed up professionally, conversations started and opportunities opened. Within a year, I had licensed several of my designs. This was something that seemed so out of reach when I first started my Instagram account.
One of my licensed designs now available as a Sticker by Number Kit.
What I Know Now
You absolutely do not need a big Instagram following to license your designs.
You need:
A strong, cohesive portfolio
Clear collections
Professional outreach
Patience
That’s it. If you’re building quietly and wondering whether your small audience is holding you back, it isn’t.
If You’re Curious About the Course
If you’re serious about building a licensing portfolio, the course walks you step-by-step through:
Collection building
Portfolio development
Pitching
Outreach
Follow-up strategy
Industry structure
I do have an affiliate link below. If you choose to enrol through it, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can also enter VI10 when you enrol to enjoy 10% off.
And if you’re sitting there thinking, “But I only have a few hundred followers…”
I was there too.
It’s absolutely possible.
