Fillin Global has assembled a group of multi-disciplinary artists who are partnering with brands all over the world to deliver unique and unconventional forms of advertising and branding. It has perhaps the largest roster of unique graffiti artists who create site specific work for international brands like Coach, Mac Cosmetics, Xbox, Fenty Puma, Sephora, and others. Read through some of the bios on the Fillin site and you’ll find artists like Subway Doodle, who is an accomplished writer, director, motion designer, editor, and creative director; Adam Fujita is a product designer and podcast host who speaks with graffiti artists from around the globe; Jessica Dance is a textile designer and model maker, to name just a few.
Fillin Global created a formula that balances the challenges associated with a rapidly changing business environments with helping clients reach their goals in unique and creative ways, and it is clearly working. We wanted to know more about Fillin Global and asked Jackie Collins, an agency principal, if she would share some of her knowledge with us. Read on for her insights into the business and where it might be going next.
Image above: Jason Naylor
Can you tell us a little bit about how Fillin Global came about? It’s a group of former agency art directors, right? You are associated with Tugboat?Thomas Feinstein and Jackie Collins started working together more than five years ago at Tugboat (a boutique agency representing photographers and directors). They both saw the industry changing, and the typical photographic ad was morphing into a variety of art related subjects. Due to their personal relationships with varying artists, they had the idea to start an art-based agency, and with that, Fillin Global was born.
It started with a mix of artists in varying mediums, spanning illustration, typography, street art, murals, graffiti and more. Fillin launched with a two-story art show in one of the biggest galleries on the Lower East Side to an audience filled with creative directors, art directors, agency producers, and more.
Fillinglobal seems to answer the call for a different sort of agency representing artists who might not be considered for advertising assignments not so long ago. What’s changed in the marketplace that now makes this possible.
I think the creativity in the ad world has expanded, and with the addition of fast-paced internet and social media, we are all grasping to keep up, and the industry is adjusting.
What percent of your assignments are centered around site-specific work or work that encompasses more than images for advertising?
I would say that currently about 50 percent of our projects are outdoor murals or site-specific work. The boom in the event industry has also garnered a lot of interest for utilizing artists. Many of our artists paint live and/or custom products for giveaways.
What is the most complete branding/re-branding assignment that you have done, and who was the artist, and who was the client?
Coach came to us in December of 2017 with a project in which they wanted to bring some edge to their signature C logo and had a desire to collaborate with street artists. We presented them with 10+ of our artists, and the project platformed to [now] an almost two-year relationship of murals, wheat paste campaign, multiple-product collabs, live painting appearances, and more.
Where do you see this business environment three years from now…five?
I hope the incorporation of art increases in the marketplace (for obvious reasons). I think things will also shift to more digital advertising, and it doesn’t look like the importance of social media presence is going anywhere, so I see the value in that becoming more and more important.
Can you tell us a bit about some of the experiential work you have done?
We had two of our top artists install an environment at the FORBES 30 under 30 summit – people could watch them do this live, as well as interact with the environment once installed.
Is there any new technology that you foresee using to create environmental and experiential branding for your clients?
Some of our artists are beginning to explore augmented reality. I could see things moving more in this direction.
