The Zolan Brand had its beginnings on a summer day in 1941 in Brookfield, Illinois, a working class suburb of Chicago.

Donald Zolan was only a little boy of four years of age who had just created his first painting of Donald Duck.

Later that day, while sitting on a rock in his backyard, he was thinking what to do with his life. Maybe, ‘I should be an artist’. And, then he wondered ‘how should I sign my paintings’.

Then in the dirt, he created his famous Zolan signature. On that summer day, Donald Zolan was inspired to be an artist and unknowingly laid the foundation for his future brand.

• The Zolan Brand, legendary and timeless, is an Americana brand celebrating 38 years in the licensing industry.

• The Brand’s roots are firmly established in America’s Heartland, the inspiration for most of Zolan’s paintings.

• 1976

  Donald Zolan creates Erik and Dandelion and defines his distinctive and unique style of children paintings.

• 1977

  The first licensing contract is signed with Pemberton & Oakes for fine art collectibles.

• 1983

  Licensing programs expand with the Bradford Exchange, the Danbury Mint, the Franklin Mint, the Hamilton Collection and Lenox.

• 1990

  Pemberton & Oakes introduce the Zolan Brand at the Licensing Show at the New York Hilton Hotel.

• 1993

  The Zolan Company is created and Zolan reinvents his children’s brand.

• 1996

  The first co-brand partnership is formed with John Deere.

• 2000

  Co-brand partnerships expand to New York Yankees, Radio Flyer, and Shirley Temple in conjunction with the Danbury Mint collectible programs.

• 2005

  Co-brand partnership expands to Collegiate Licensing.

• 2006

  Zolan expands his collections to Inspirational and Santa Claus.

• 2009

  A co-brand partnership is formed with International Harvester.

• 2011

  The Zolan Company collaborates with Professor Luisella Magnani in Pedriatics Palliative Care for Preverbal Oncologic Children. She sees the art of Donald Zolan as a section of Psicosocial Therapy.

• 2013

  A new social mission is defined to support children and children’s projects around the world through art.

• TODAY
  & NOW
  • The brand consists of 13 Collections and 300 Original Oil Paintings.
  • The brand is licensed to 25 companies in North America, the European Union, the Russian Federation, South America, Australia and South Africa.
  • Licensed products include specialty gifts, puzzles, checks, children’s books, stationary, collectibles, prints, throws and blankets, children’s melamine plates, crafts and hobbies, fabrics, and calendars.
  • Stable and an evergreen, the Brand continues Donald Zolan’s vision of commitment to excellence, ethics, perfection and in helping children to be children.

For more information or to receive a pdf file of the complete collections, please contact Jennifer Zolan at info@zolanagency.com. For more information or to receive a pdf file of the complete collections, please contact Jennifer Zolan at info@zolanagency.com.

Created by award winning artist Donald Zolan, the legendary Zolan brand celebrates its 38th year in licensing selling more than a few million collectibles in its history. Painting since the age of three, this Twelve time award winner for Excellence in Collectibles, Eight time Award winner for Favorite Collectible Artist and Seven time award winner for Collector Plates and Figurines of the Year, Zolan was passionately inspired to create and to share his legacy with the world.

In 1977, he created Erik and Dandelion for Pemberton & Oakes, the company who successfully launched his children paintings into the Collectible market.

Winning US Plate of the Year, Zolan became an overnight success leading to a 15 year collaboration with Pemberton & Oakes selling a variety of fine china collectibles, books, prints, lithographs, pendants, figurines and music boxes.

©Pemberton & Oakes, Ltd.

The following year, the Telemed Corporation commissioned Zolan to create a series of paintings on the History of Electrocardiology. After five years of research, studies and drawings, Zolan presented to Telemed a collection of oil paintings on the historical development of Electrocardiology.

During the mid 1980’s, Zolan collectibles are sold throughout North America, the UK and Germany becoming one of the top leading secondary market advancers in the collectibles industry as well as winning successive awards for Artist of the Year and Collectibles of the Year.

In 1988, the Donald Zolan Society was formed with over 40,000 members.

By 1990, Zolan was one of the first Art Brands to expand into the licensing industry exhibiting at the New York Hilton Licensing show. The Show launched the Zolan brand into new licensed product categories, collections and countries.

Zolan became a benchmark for his high standard of children art creating a style unique to Zolan, never a copy of a past tradition. He was one of the leading pioneers to catapult children’s fine art and illustration as an accepted and recognized consumer art brand marketed to the over 40+ adult market in North America.

Always reinventing himself and taking his art to the next creative level, by 1996, Zolan began a co branded partnership with John Deere through the Danbury Mint which would mark the beginning of a new era of licensing with America’s iconic brands eventually leading to new partnerships with International Harvester, New York Yankees, Collegiate, Radio Flyer and Shirley Temple.

Zolan left a rich legacy of 300 children paintings that can enrich the lives of children and families worldwide. Its nostalgic, timeless and heartwarming appeal crosses cultural divides maintaining its relevance in an ever changing world.

The sensitivity in which Zolan portrayed the inner feelings of each child speaks to all people. Each painting touches the heart, triggers a special memory, brings a smile to the eyes, and returns a bit of joy and laughter to the soul. It captures ‘Life’s Simple Pleasures’ and the naturalness and unmistakable energy that makes everyone simply ‘feel so good’.

It is these feelings and the realness of the paintings that give depth to the brand and its international appeal for children are children everywhere in the world. And, the paintings become a memory or a moment in time of what childhood should, could be or what was.

For more information or to receive a pdf file of the complete collections, please contact Jennifer Zolan at info@zolanagency.com.

The Zolan brand has an uncharacteristic ability to reinvent itself maintaining its relevance and message through the years. A timeless, classic, and legendary brand, it evolves with the ever changing world and the paintings become even more nostalgic and its message more important that we all need to work harder to create a beautiful world for our children and their future.

Through 38 years of Brand Marketing with over 50 companies producing licensed products, the marketing history has been clearly defined:

core consumer regions in the us

The Core Consumer regions in the US are in the Heartland, Mid Atlantic and Western regions, Southern states, the Farm and Bible Belts consisting of mid size cities, farming communities, small towns, and rural areas.

main rental channels

Main Retail channels for Zolan licensed products in addition to internet and direct marketing are chains such as Wal Mart, K Mart, Tractor Supply, Cracker Barrels, Mid Tier Department Stores, specialty retail stores, and Mom and Pop Gift Stores.

co branding partnership

Co Branding partnerships with some of America’s iconic corporate brands have expanded the licensing programs today. Co partners include and have included John Deere, International Harvester, Collegiate, New York Yankees, Radio Flyer and Shirley Temple. Many of the world’s famous brands can be partnered with the Zolan Brand through advertising, licensed products or through community projects helping those in need.

Volunteer and Community Projects

Volunteer and Community Projects are of great significance to the Zolan brand in helping to create a more peaceful world for children, a life without most of the emotional, psychological or physical pain that children suffer today. Our most current projects include the YMCA in Columbia, Boystown USA, Spanish didactic books for children in Brazil, and the collaboration with Professor Luisella Magnani of Milan, Italy in her studies of Preverbal Oncologic Children.

We are very open to working on projects that can help children in the world.
We welcome your requests and proposals.
Please contact Jennifer Zolan, President of The Zolan Company, at info@zolanagency.com .

Top Countries

Top Countries for sales of Zolan licensed products are North America, United Kingdom, Northern Europe, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, South America and South Africa.

Best Sellers

Some of the Best Sellers and most sought after of the Zolan paintings are: Tractor Ride, Brotherly Love, The Thinker, Puppy Love, Beach Babies, Faith in America, Big Red, A Country Christmas, Santa’s Flight Plans, Follow Me, First Kiss, Growing up Country and Little Farmhands.

Consumers

Consumers from around the world all express the same sentiment when they see a Donald Zolan painting:

For more information or to receive a pdf file of the complete collections, please contact Jennifer Zolan at info@zolanagency.com.