Artwork Requirements for the Commercial Ready Program

To participate in the Commercial Ready Program, artists are encouraged to submit their works through Artrepreneur’s Open Call system. This process ensures a streamlined and fair review of all submissions. To increase the likelihood of your artwork being approved for the program, it’s essential to adhere to specific requirements. These criteria are designed to maintain a high standard of quality and suitability for commercial environments. Here’s what you need to know before submitting your work:

1. Types of Artworks: We focus on non-figurative artworks, such as abstracts, landscapes, and contemporary pieces. These genres are preferred for their universal appeal, easily blending into diverse commercial environments like corporate offices, hospitality venues, and retail spaces.
2. Quality and Size Requirements:
   • For Prints: All prints are produced by Artrepreneur and require a high-resolution file that can be printed in various sizes without losing quality. The minimum requirement is a width of 18 inches on the shorter side, equating to 5400px at 300 DPI.
     • Colorspace for Prints: For print submissions, use the Adobe RGB 1998 colorspace. This range offers a wider color gamut, ensuring the printed artwork closely resembles the original piece.
   • For Originals: While size flexibility is less critical for original works, maintaining high quality and clarity of the work being displayed on your artwork page is essential.
     • Note that Limited Edition prints produced by the artist (not by Artrepreneur) are considered Original works in the Commercial Ready Program.
3. Content Appropriateness: Artworks should be suitable for a broad audience, avoiding themes that might be divisive or controversial. Ideal content is non-offensive, culturally sensitive, and does not provoke strong negative reactions. This includes avoiding explicit, political, or sensitive religious imagery and ensuring the art is welcoming and inclusive for all viewers.
4. Pitfalls to Avoid for Print Submissions:
   • Enlarging Low-Resolution Images: Avoid increasing the size of a low-resolution image to meet the size requirements. Enlarging a high-quality image too much can reduce its clarity, leading to blurriness or artifacts in the final print. The original image must be large and of high quality to ensure the best print results.
   • Inadequate Lighting in Photos: Proper lighting is crucial to represent your artwork accurately. Poor lighting can have a dramatic effect on the print quality, and introduce unwanted issues such as harsh shadows, inaccurate colors, hot spots, and blurriness, or it can make the image feel dull and flat.
   • Over-Editing: Excessive editing can alter the original essence of your artwork, making it appear unnatural in prints. For example, too much sharpening can create artifacts and halos or lines around objects that are noticeable in larger prints.
   • Using Phone Cameras: Most phone cameras don’t have the resolution necessary to capture the depth and detail required for professional artwork reproduction. Use a professional camera to capture your artwork images.

   Pitfalls to Avoid for Original Submissions:

   • Clarity of Images: While high resolution is less critical than for prints, ensure your images are clear and free of blurriness. This helps curators get a true sense of your artwork’s quality and detail.
   • Accurate Representation: Ensure your photographs accurately represent the colors and textures of your original artwork. Misrepresentation can lead to challenges in the curation process.
   • Size Considerations: While originals don’t have strict size requirements for images, providing larger images can help curators better understand the scale and impact of your work.

By meeting these criteria, your artwork stands a better chance of being selected for the Commercial Ready Program, ensuring it aligns with the high standards required for commercial display. Please read each open call carefully, as some may have different requirements than those listed here.