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This is the first of two installments about how agency work is evolving to become part of the IP conversation. Part 1 will be a basic overview of the relevant legal terrain, while Part 2 will address why we should care.

 

After the recent squabble between social product development company Quirky and OXO, I’ve been pretty fascinated by intellectual property issues and, well, patents. I find this dispute much more interesting than the ongoing Apple vs. Samsung battle because it has played out in the real world, rather than behind closed courtroom doors, and the conversation has been (largely) in laymen’s terms not legalese. Also some of the language used reminds of Mean Girls! But hopefully I am not alone in my dorky fascination, nor in my realization that – crap! – there’s a lot about the current state of intellectual property that I don’t exactly understand…especially as more and more of these disputes center around the very technology that we as agencies are not only using but starting to create.

Ah, Instagram. The perfect app? It checks all the boxes of success: explosive growth out of the gate with near universal praise plus a quick acquisition for a ridiculous sticker price. And, it’s still growing.

What makes Instagram, Instagram? Why was this the app that turned us all into photographers and not Hipstamatic or another of the countless filter apps that came onto the scene at the same time? Why did Instagram’s now cliche aesthetic (heavy filters + square photos) catch on?

A bi-weekly recap of the topics that have us talking at Denuo, related to our industry, our group, and our everyday.

As a late bloomer to Pinterest, I just didn’t get the whole thing: why would I “pin” something that I could just bookmark in my browser folder? I can always right-click and save images into my personal desktop. Why would I follow people whom I don’t know and risk myself to whatever THEY wanted to pin? On top of that, I don’t have any followers and that is just embarrassing.

That’s how I feel most users start with Pinterest. It looks intimidating with sensory overload and an endless supply of scrolling. I mean, when will I know when I’ve reached the end of the Pinterest? (Hint: there is no such thing as the end of Pinterest).

Street art has become extremely popular and almost glorified. Its inherent rebelliousness and unrelenting challenge of authority are more often viewed as sexy and cool than criminal and destructive. With this growing support, street artists have become less cautious and clandestine. Instead, they are using their art to make large scale social statements.

This summer, 25 street artists from 8 different countries created perhaps the biggest, most impactful social campaign in street art history, the Brandalism Project. By artistically transforming billboards into anti-ads, this project challenges the authority of the advertising industry. While their art is visually enticing and attention-grabbing, their campaign is itself a contraction. By advertising against advertising, the Brandalism Project evinces the inescapability of the ad world.