Applied Arts

What Applied Arts does

Applied Arts Agency is an artist-led strategic consultancy founded around 2020 by Carson Salter and Dena Yago, headquartered in New York. The firm delivers integrated brand, communications, and creative strategy services to clients spanning fashion, luxury goods, web3 protocols, and mission-driven deep-tech startups. Operating with fewer than 10 people and co-founders each working 20-30 hours per week, Applied Arts assembles small (2-5 person) project teams drawn from a network of named member artists (Mary Manning, Madeline Hollander, Taylor Tindall) and partner strategists (Toby Shorin, Cooper Jacoby), supplemented by a jointly controlled sister organization, Other Internet, for web3 editorial work.

The firm's service portfolio is organized into six offerings - Brand Development, Research & Insights, Communications Strategy, Creative Direction, Cultural Collaborations, and Naming - packaged together per engagement. Underlying methodology combines stakeholder interviews, synchronous remote workshops, narrative crafting, semiotic analysis, and competitive/category audits. Notable engagements include a 4-week Zora manifesto, a 6-week Samara Backyard naming system, a 10-week Stella Artois Director's Cut content program, a 9-week Brud brand narrative, a 12-week Gitcoin editorial strategy, an ongoing multi-year Interchain Foundation working group, and a 1+ year ONE (Our Next Energy) EV ingredient brand strategy. Pricing is bespoke per project, with no public rate card, subscription tier, or self-serve channel.

Applied Arts monetizes exclusively through professional-services fees on a project and retainer basis. Go-to-market is community-led and founder-driven, relying on cultural credibility, published thought leadership (e-flux, Frieze, Flash Art, New Models podcast), and inbound interest rather than a traditional sales motion. The October 2022 strategic pivot shifted prioritization away from artist-representation and direct placements toward Artist/Strategist Consulting and Artist Enterprises/Commercial Projects, signaling an explicit move up-market into higher-priority consulting engagements while preserving cultural collaboration work with brands such as Cartier and Levi's Made & Crafted.

Name

Applied Arts

Legal name

Applied Arts Agency

Website

https://appliedarts.agency

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Applied Arts Agency is a New York-based artist-led strategic consultancy founded in 2020 that delivers brand, communications, creative direction, naming, and cultural collaboration services to fashion, luxury, web3, and mission-driven deep-tech clients through bespoke founder-led engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Strategy Consulting

NAICS

Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (711510)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Artist Booking, Talent Buying & Agency Services (MPAGAAAF)

Keywords

• Brand strategy consulting
• Creative direction services
• Cultural collaborations
• Naming architecture
• Communications strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Strategy consulting engagements: Project-based, fee-for-service strategic consulting engagements spanning brand development, research & insights, communications strategy, creative direction, cultural collaborations, and naming. Engagements have ranged from 4 weeks (Zora Manifesto, Dapper Collectives positioning) to 9 weeks (Brud), 10 weeks (Stella Artois Director's Cut), 12 weeks (Gitcoin), and ongoing multi-year retainers (Interchain Foundation, ONE). Priced via custom quotes — no public pricing.
2. Artist-led collaborations and placements: Pairing of Applied Arts member artists (e.g., Mary Manning, Madeline Hollander) with brand clients on commissions such as photo/video series (Levi's Made & Crafted 'Charging the Exchange') and cultural dialogues (Cartier Cultural Dialogues). Artist partnerships and artist-initiated commercial projects remain a revenue stream but are now positioned as a secondary, higher-priority area post-October 2022 pivot.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Applied Arts is an artist-led strategic consultancy that partners with brands, protocols, and cultural institutions to deliver brand development, communications strategy, research and insights, creative direction, naming, and artist-led cultural collaborations. Engagements are bespoke, project-based, and quoted per scope, with durations ranging from four weeks to multi-year retainers.

Product overview

Applied Arts Agency is a single, unified artist-led strategic consultancy rather than a platform-plus-modules product. Its portfolio centers on six named service offerings — Brand Development, Research & Insights, Communications Strategy, Creative Direction, Cultural Collaborations, and Naming — that Applied Arts packages together for each client engagement. Recent major engagements include the Interchain Communications Working Group (ongoing), the ONE (Our Next Energy) brand strategy, the Brud/Dapper Collectives narrative work, the Gitcoin editorial strategy (in partnership with sister organization Other Internet), and the Samara Backyard naming system. The consultancy also runs an artist-led strategy group model (pivoted in October 2022) that engages artists and niche experts as partners in strategic projects, alongside services such as Artist/Strategist Consulting and Artist Enterprises/Commercial Projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Applied Arts Agency Artist-led strategic consultancy that partners with artists and clients on integrated and equitable ways of working, with strategic work being artist-led and artist projects being strategy-led.
• Brand Development Strategic service for developing brand narratives, positioning, and architecture for clients across consumer, technology, and cultural sectors.
• Research & Insights Research and insight-generation service supporting competitive audits, stakeholder interviews, developer research, and narrative-identifying methodology.
• Communications Strategy Strategic communications service covering narrative strategy, brand language, copy development, social media strategy, and communications guidelines.
• Creative Direction Creative direction service covering visual and content execution, including franchisable content formats and image-making collaborations.
• Cultural Collaborations Service connecting brands with artists and cultural figures for collaborations, image-making commissions, and program development (e.g., Cartier Cultural Dialogues, Levi's Made & Crafted).
• Naming Brand and product naming service, including the creation of flexible naming systems and brand naming architectures (e.g., Samara Backyard naming engagement).

Quantifiable outcome

• Estimated $58.2MM in Ad-equivalent media coverage generated for client ONE
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core recurring partner, project-based partner, minor / occasional, member artist / recurring collaborator, member artist / project-based, project lead at client and project-based collaborator.

• Other Internetcore recurring partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerOther Internet is described as Applied Arts' 'sister organization' and collaborated with Applied Arts on the Gitcoin brand and editorial strategy engagement. The two organizations jointly took Gitcoin through the narrative-identifying methodology including stakeholder interviews, a synchronous workshop, and a period of narrative crafting, then applied the work to a website redesign.
• Parker Galleryproject-based partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerApplied Arts partnered with Parker Gallery and Joseph Holtzman (founder of Nest magazine) on 'Nest Capsule' — a set of tee shirts and home items in collaboration with artists Justin Hunt Sloane, Emily Dawn Long, Eckhaus Latta, and Annabell P Lee.
• Nest Magazine (Joseph Holtzman)project-based partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerApplied Arts partnered with Joseph Holtzman, the founder of cult-favorite interiors magazine Nest (Nest: A Quarterly of Interiors), along with Parker Gallery on the 'Nest Capsule' collection. The collection included handpainted tee shirts and home items from four collaborating artists.
• New Models (Carly Busta and Lil Internet)minor / occasionalGTM or Marketing PartnerApplied Arts co-founder Dena Yago participated alongside Carly Busta and Lil Internet of New Models on the 'Future of Critique' conference panel in Bonn. They co-recorded the 'Bonn After Hours' podcast episode distributed via New Models and Joshua Citarella's Patreon channels.
• Joshua Citarellaminor / occasionalGTM or Marketing PartnerArtist-researcher Joshua Citarella participated alongside Dena Yago on the 'Memes vs. Museums: Art After Instagram' panel at the Future of Critique conference in Bonn, moderated by Gregor Quack. The 'Bonn After Hours' podcast episode was co-distributed via Joshua Citarella's Patreon.
• Mary Manningmember artist / recurring collaboratorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMary Manning is an Applied Arts member artist and photographer. Applied Arts paired her with Levi's Made & Crafted for the 'Charging the Exchange' photo and video series (3-month engagement). She also co-authored the 'An Interview with Arley Marks' feature on the Applied Arts Notes blog.
• Madeline Hollandermember artist / project-basedStrategic or Co-development PartnerMadeline Hollander is an Applied Arts member artist who participated in the Cartier Cultural Dialogues program for the Cartier Retail Innovation Lab (September 2021) — cultural strategy and program development engagement.
• Sam Hart (Interchain Foundation)project lead at clientImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSam Hart led the Interchain Foundation project that Applied Arts supported with information architecture and copy development for the relaunch of interchain.io. Noted as the project lead on the client side in the February 2022 relaunch.
• E Roon Kangproject-based collaboratorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerE Roon Kang handled the design for the relaunch of interchain.io, working alongside Applied Arts' information architecture and copy development.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Collins: Brand strategy and design consultancy working with mission-led consumer and tech clients (similar customer profile to Applied Arts' cultural-brand segment). Comparable size, methodology depth, and outcome-driven positioning work.
• Civilization: Design and brand strategy studio with a strong cultural-strategy orientation, working with mission-driven and arts-adjacent organizations. Comparable in size, methodology emphasis, and integration of creative practice with strategic consulting.
• Red Antler: Brand strategy firm for venture-backed and consumer companies (e.g., Samara, ONE-adjacent startups). Comparable in delivering founding-stage brand strategy for mission-driven, often tech-enabled brands in the same enterprise-to-startup mix Applied Arts serves.
• Pentagram: Designer-led strategic consultancy model where individual partners run their own practices under a shared brand — the same creator-led structure that Applied Arts replicates, and the closest analog in terms of high-touch brand and naming work for major clients.
• Other Internet: Described as Applied Arts' 'sister organization' in the Gitcoin case study, Other Internet delivers web3-native editorial and brand strategy. Closely comparable on service mix and target ecosystem, with a direct collaboration track record.
• Gin & Juice: Boutique artist- and culture-led creative studio working with fashion, lifestyle, and tech brands on campaigns, content, and cultural positioning. Closely comparable in operating model, founder-driven creative leadership, and cultural-credibility differentiation.

Emerging players

• Bureau Cool: Boutique brand and creative studio working at the intersection of culture, art, and commerce — a comparable emerging player in artist-led brand work for fashion and consumer clients.

Broad incumbents

• Anomaly: Independent creative agency/consultancy that pioneered the 'unconglomerated' model similar in ethos to Applied Arts' boutique positioning, but operating at much larger scale and with broader service lines.
• Mother Design: Creative agency and brand consultancy with a parent (Mother) known for culturally fluent work; overlaps with Applied Arts in offering brand strategy and creative direction for fashion, lifestyle, and culture-led clients.
• Wolff Olins: Established global brand consultancy with a similar positioning and naming offering to Applied Arts, but operating at significantly larger scale and across a broader portfolio of CPG, tech, and financial-services clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AppliedArts_
• Instagraminstagram.com/appliedarts.agency
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/applied-arts-agency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Applied Arts