Pure Thinking

The age old debate continues...

Shepard Fairy Vs. The AP

Although this is not breaking news, it is the age old debate of who owns the rights to an image - the photographer who took the image (or in this case the AP who the photographer was working for), or the artist who interpreted the photo and added his own personal touches and emotion to an otherwise bland image.

One could argue that because Fairey has earned some mainstream notoriety over the poster and most likely a substantial amount of monies from his artwork, the AP has just now decided it wants a piece of the pie. The artwork has been around for at least a year and only now has this become news, after Fairey had tried to give credit to the photog in the first place. (Other photograhers have said they thought Fairey had taken the likeness from their photo of the president elect). The AP has sued Fairey over the ordeal stating the work is a copyright infringement. Of course Fairey is claiming that his artwork is protected under the "fair use" doctrine. Click here to read more. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

This is not the first or last time this issue will be debated. It has been discussed multiple times in our own shop when illustrating from a photograph. In this particular case, if the original photo is so inspirational, why not promote it on it's own in a free market for your own monetary gains, if you so choose. But without Shepard Fairey's artistic approach and mainstream noteriety, I beleive this would be a non-issue. What do you think? - Todd

Please Put on the Hat!

If you haven’t been following Josh Shayne’s journey halfway across the country on behalf of Stetson to present an official Inaugural Hat to President-elect Obama on www.hatforobama.com, we have exciting news to share.

The official Inaugural Stetson Hat is in the hands of a member the transition team. The hat is one step closer to keeping the President-elect’s head warm during tomorrow’s festivities! Josh officially delivered the hat, along with a handwritten note urging the President-elect to put on the hat and revive the long-standing tradition of president’s donning Inaugural Hats. Video footage of the delivery will be up the website shortly.

Throughout this journey, for every hat sold through Josh’s Web site, www.hatforobama.com, Stetson will donate a portion of the proceeds up to $50,000 to Hats Off For Cancer, an organization that provides hats for children who have lost their hair as a result of cancer treatment.

Now, President-elect Obama, it’s up to you. Please PUT ON THE HAT!

--Shannon

Shepard Fairey speaks

Shepard Fairey Interview

From the mean streets as a graffiti artist to winning Presidential campaign artist, Shepard Fairey talks about his influences, inspiration and DIY attitude that got him where he is today. An outlook and attitude that continues to evolve and influence generations to come. - Todd

Exactly How Do I Get One Of These Bailouts?

Just in case, you have yet to put a perspective on the bailouts that are on the table, study the chart above. 

If I were to run Pure into the ground, I seriously doubt the government would ride to my rescue -- nor would I expect them to.  One question:  What makes these mega-corporations expect me to reward their lousy performance with my tax dollars?

MTV Music

OH: Now I can watch Under Pressure (and any other music video ever aired on MTV) whenever I want.

STD e-Cards

High fives to LA's inSPOT for creating a better way to tell your potentially STD-ridden partners that they  need to, uhh, deal with something. These e-cards can be sent anonmously or otherwise to whoever you may have infected (or been infected by), and even though no method of saying "So... you probably have the herp" can be considered pleasant, this is way less awkward than a phone call.

And no, these e-cards should not be used for practical jokes, because oh man, that would be sick. Hehe.

Bye Bye Zima

We might not ever have noticed you were gone, but the teenagers would have. Well, maybe not them either (because apparently they've been ditching you for Sparks?), but if it were still '96, man, we'd be mourning.

It's been real fun- like real real fun- but if the current eighties revival can't even bring you back, it's probably for the best. R.I.P Zima, we'll miss your citrus-y zest.

Obama Goes to the Games

Barack's got his advertising tentacles everywhere, even in places that dun dun dun... don't exist.

Swing state players of games like Madden NFL '09, Burnout Paradise, NASCAR 09, Need For Speed: ProStreet, NFL Tour, and Skate (so, dudes) have started to notice Barack's perky face on billboards or stadium signage, and will do so until the end of the election.

Way to get 'em off the couch, Bama - but I still hope those video games came with mail-in ballots.

Big in [X]

It's been a frequent headline on Wooster of late - "JR goes big in [major city]" - and today, it's London. I don't get how he does it. Original here; more pics here.

Out for the Day

Yep, it's wedding season. See ya Monday!