Content Authenticity Initiative
A more transparent internet
The Content Authenticity Initiative is a community of technology, publishing, and creative companies restoring transparency of content on the internet. To fulfill their mission, they had to make their offer and open-source technology and methods understandable to the world.
This was critical ahead of launching their most revolutionary open-source technology, Content Credentials so that the value of authenticity and data provenance was easy to understand for consumers and partners alike. The launch was especially relevant leading up to the 2024 election when AI, deep fakes, and other misinformation are prevalent.
AREA 17 defined the brand strategy, content strategy, and brand identity to clarify value proposition, audience, messaging, and relationships across Adobe, CAI, the C2PA open technical specification, Content Credentials, and CAI open-source tools and Verify tooling.
Content Credentials has the power to change how we consume content. In order to do so, we brought clarity to CAI’s complex narrative and brand architecture so that an average person could clearly understand why this work is important to them. Clearly defining the Content Authenticity Initiative as a consortium, Content Credentials as a product, and C2PA as open standards organization, allowed users to understand why Content Credentials is a benefit to their daily lives, how it was powered by open standards and supported by a consortium of industry leaders.
CAI needed clarity of value proposition and messaging to align internally on the role each entity plays in fulfilling its mission. In addition, they needed a brand that could help them achieve the ubiquity of Content Credentials. CAI designed a UI icon for Content Credentials that would show up across the internet to indicate verified content, and AREA 17 created a brand that could imbue it with meaning. Rather than feeding into the inaccessible and fear-based tropes of AI and big tech, we made the identity and tone friendly and accessible. We created an identity that explained the icon's meaning and Content Credentials for everyday audiences. Using the icon as a holding device for data, such as what the image was taken with and how it was edited, allowed the user to understand the power of this icon. In addition, we drew on an extensive color palette and UI elements like rounded corners to make the technology friendly and approachable.
For the launch of Content Credentials, we defined a simple launch experience through navigation, content strategy, core consumer messaging, and design to explain why Content Credentials mattered. Working on the brand in tandem with the core consumer messaging as well as the website design, we were able to clearly explain the technology in a way that is visually, verbally, and behaviorally cohesive, also defining why Content Credentials matters to everyday users, what they need to know about the process, and how they could be part of its adoption.
Since its launch, Content Credentials has been featured in Fast Company, Digiday, Artnet, Business Wire, Forbes, and more as an icon of transparency. The team also stood before the US Senate AI Insight Forum on Elections & Democracy.