We're guilty. Guilty of relying on the quick and easy method of using social networking to update folks on what we're up to. You can see the cobwebs on this very site. I don't think we've updated our work section in over a year. But I can feel it in the air ... 2015 will be the return of the blog and long-form reading on the web. No? Well, we're going to attempt that when we can. Personally, I miss it. I miss putting together (and reading) content that you could spend more than 2 seconds staring at. We'll continue to Insta-tweet, but I don't want to rely on that ... To be honest though, we have been busy. Very thankful for that. But, now is a perfect time to wipe the dust off the site and let you guys know what we've been up to for the last 9 months - and we also want to share some new things we've got cooking.

1. Thanks to the VSCO Artist Iniative, our first documentary film about artists (specifically what drives us and connects us all) begins production in July! We will be hitting 6 cities and interviewing numerous artists from many different industries and walks of life. We're excited to tell this story ... more on that here. We'll be documenting and journaling the entire experience on our VSCO Grid.

2. Last fall, we had the opportunity of a lifetime come our way: To re-imagine the historic Cinerama Theatre in Downtown Seattle - our favorite movie destination since we landed here in 2001. We created 2 massive murals that completely altered the corner of 4th Avenue and Lenora Street. The mural art made its way into a re-brand of the theatre, inside and out. We are currently working on our short film, 'Re-Imagining Cinerama' that takes a closer look at Cinerama's grand re-opening last November - and the art that went into it. We'll also have prints of the mural (and more Cinerama art we created) for sale when we launch the film this summer. Photos above by Benjamin Benschnieder.

3. Stack And Scare! is coming to Shanghai in a massive way. The Shanghai Times Square Mall will feature a large Stack And Scare! exhibit next month. Giant sculptures, play areas, toys, posters, etc. Curated by APPortfolio. We are very excited for this - much more info coming soon.

4. Wine Meets Design. We are thrilled to be the inaugural designers partnered up with the talented winemaker Aaron Pott for Bare Bottle's first release. We were first approached for this project a few years back from our friends Katie and Nathan at Eight Hour Day. We've had a blast working with them, Marta & Josh Harding - and Corey Miller, the man who dreamed this extremely cool idea up. A quick bio from their site -

Bare Bottle curates the pairing of winemakers + designers and provides them with a blank canvas through which to create. Each unique collaboration opens a window into our makers' creative processes, their inspirations, and their worlds.

The dedication to craft, quality and presentation comes across so clear with Bare Bottle. If you love wine ... and design ... it's worth every penny. I was floored when I saw the finished shipped piece ...

5. Blast Off! After a 2-year hiatus, we are back with our good friends at Sasquatch! Music Festival. We had the pleasure of creating all of the Festival art, merchandise and even the Lineup Video this year. As per usual, the lineup is amazing (Kendrick!) and happens to be going on THIS weekend. We'll have an in-depth look into all of the assets we created (including another collaboration with Ebbets Field Flannels and Theo Chocolate) soon ...

6. The amazing opportunity to illustrate my first Children's Book came up last September. We had gotten book offers in the past, but nothing quite felt right and some of the projects just plain fizzled out. When our friends at Crossway approached me about a Bible Story by Kevin DeYoung, it was a big decision. In the end, It was a project I wanted to personally see done right ... and one that I wanted to see on the shelves myself. The Biggest Story was the most intense project I've worked on to date, and also the most fulfilling - in ways I could never have imagined. I cannot thank Josh Dennis and Crossway enough for allowing me to run with my vision and aesthetic for Kevin's beautifully-written book. The Biggest Story is hardbound, 10 chapters and 132 pages. Available in August and up for pre-order on Amazon now. Below are a few sample spreads from the first two chapters.

7. Our Odd Galaxy wooden toy line with Uncle Goose is finally in full production mode and will be released in the next few months. There will be 3 products to start: Cosmo Kid, Moon Rover and Lunar Rocket, each sold separately - but of course much more fun when you own all 3. We have some fun OG launch (get it?) projects that will be released around the same time, including a window display at our favorite space store ...

8. Two years ago, we bought a 10-acre ranch, turned a 50-year old barn into our studio and then made a toy out of it. OK, so that's the short version. We'll have a nice process post on this (way over-budget and panic-attack inducing) project on our new ... well, see #10. For now, you can check out some great photos of the shop by Joshua Harding over at Bare Bottle.

9. Last, but not least, we are finally working on a new website. One that we will update. One that will work nicely on your phone thing you carry with you. We promise.

It's been busy here at IC, to say the least, and we haven't been updating the blog as often as we'd like. To make up for lost time, here are a handful of new albums we've been working on over the past 6 months. Enjoy.

WovenWar I've been friends with these guys ever since we toured together in 2010, but never had the chance to work with them on a design level. I couldn't be more pleased with how smoothly everything went. We knew we wanted a cover image that centered around an icon, and the WW mark is something that came to mind instantly after our first conversation. As always, I loved working in simple black and white. Each image is comprised of abstract painted shapes to convey a ink-blot/rorschach vibe. Pre-order the physical package here.

Tedashii Below Paradise Taking a page from the late, great Storm Thorgerson book of "doing it for real," we ventured out into the high desert of Southern California in early 2014 to create this album cover. Caleb Kuhl did a killer job on the photos, Neil Visel was particularly handy with the forklift, and I put too much lighter fluid on the car and we had to call the fire department. Apparently they saw the smoke from a neighboring county. Oops. Grab the physical album here.

Propaganda Crimson Cord Our pal Prop gave us free reign on his (amazing) new album - we wanted the packaging concept to feel as organic and layered as his music. What may look like paint drips and splatters are (mostly) images of his iconic dreadlocks. Our goal was to blend his soul into the art as much as possible - which was inspired by the album title and album concept. Grab the physical album here.

Memphis May Fire Unconditional The guys in MMF came to me with this concept, which I thought was great - that of the bond between father and child. Since my dad happened to be coming to town around this time, I thought it would be a great opportunity to photograph his arm for this cover... and I was able to talk one of my brother's children into giving us a "hand" as well. Grab the physical album here.

The Atlas Moth The Old Believer I’ve always enjoyed creating imagery that is “more than meets the eye.” I also love concepts that allow for some real hands-on interaction. Ideas like this have kept music packaging exciting for me through the years. When The Atlas Moth came to me with a concept that would change the cover image when wet, I thought there was no way we'd get the necessary approval to make it happen. Thanks to the folks at Profound Lore, who, in rare fashion, believe in going the extra mile in the name of artistic endeavor, this amazing idea is something you can now hold (and drench) for yourself. Above are both "before" and "after" versions of the cover. Grab the physical album here.

Lecrae Anomaly One of our favorite clients, Lecrae (and his label - Reach Records), asked us to work on the follow-up to his last album Gravity, which we had the pleasure of working on in 2012. We enlisted the help of our friends at Shinbone Creative to create Crae's likeness in 3D wireframe (spot gloss varnish!) form for the cover. The physical packaging will def. be worth checking out. Pre-order that here.

Killer Be Killed Working with an entire band of metal visionaries isn't something I get to do every day. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. The aesthetic that we really bonded over, and seemed fitting for this project, was that of crusty, gritty, photocopied punk. The real fringe - Discharge, Man Is The Bastard, Doom, Crass, etc. It was a blast getting to work in a style that I love, for awesome guys that totally get it. Grab the physical album here.

Grieves Winter & The Wolves Another album cover that's more than meets the eye. We worked with Grieves to create something really special for 2011's Together/Apart, and we knew we wanted to do something amazing for this record as well. The actual cover (top image here) features a die cut hole right in the center, where a standing Grieves shows through. When the cover is opened, we see that he's surrounded by wolves. Careful out there, buddy. Grab the physical album here.

Insense De:Evolution I had the pleasure of touring with these guys in Europe during the spring of 2012. We spoke a bit on the road about working together for the artwork on their new record, and I'm stoked that we were able to make it happen. Not to worry - no babies were harmed in the making of this cover. Grab the physical album here.

We are excited to announce the launch of a fun new project we just finished up with the kind folks at Deutsch NY. Deutsch commissioned IC to create 12 unique character toy designs based on the classic song "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" for PNC's infamous annual PNC Christmas Price Index. Beyond the task of creating 12 original characters based on the song, we also designed multiple interchangeable parts for each character - over 100 pieces in total. Partridge In A Pear Tree, Turtledove, French Hen, Calling Birds, Golden Rings, Geese-a-Laying, Swans-a-Swimming, Maids-a-Milking, Ladies Dancing, Lords-a-Leaping, Pipers Piping and Drummers Drumming.

The PNC Christmas Price Index site is loads of fun and allows you to create your own toy by selecting various heads, legs, arms, bodies and accessories. When you are done creating your character, PNC calculates the total cost of what your selection would be in 2013, as well as how much it has gone up or down since 2012.

But the coolest part? For 12 days, PNC is selecting 24 lucky winners per day to receive a 3D-printed gift in time for the holidays! Using Makerbot desktop printers, winners will be chosen randomly and selected each day. The more gifts you build, the more chances you have to win. Read more about that here.

We had so much fun with this project, now it's your turn!

More about PNC Bank's Christmas Price Index:

The PNC Christmas Price Index® shows the current cost for one set of each of the gifts given in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

It began 30 years ago when the chief economist at PNC Bank decided to figure out how much it would cost to buy each of the gifts. Little did he know, he was starting a holiday tradition that continues to this day.

The PNC Christmas Price Index® is similar to the Consumer Price Index, which measures changes in prices of goods and services like housing, food, clothing, transportation and more that reflect the spending habits of the average American.

The goods and services in the PNC Christmas Price Index® are far more whimsical. And most years, the price changes closely mirror those in the Consumer Price Index. It’s a fun way to measure consumer spending and trends in the economy. So even if “pipers piping” or “geese-a-laying” didn’t make your gift list, you can still learn a lot by checking out how their prices have gone up and down over the years.

Deutsch Credits:

Partner/ Chief Creative Officer: Kerry Keenan SVP, Group Creative Director: Jeremy Bernstein Senior Copywriter: Matt Moyer VP, Creative Director: Qian Qian EVP/Director of Integrated Production:  Joe Calabrese SVP/Director of Digital Production: Suzanne Molinaro VP/Executive Digital Producer: Jennifer McBride Senior Art Producer: Hillary Jackson Producer: Jillian Cornette

Production Companies:

MediaMonks (creative digital production) Invisible Creature (toy design & packaging) 3D Printer Experience (3D printing the toys) ShootersNYC (intro/outro video production) Director/DP: Craig Needleman Executive Producer: Jim Huie Senior Editor: Anthony Marinelli Account Director: Amy Sweeney

We're excited to reveal our new cover for Minorville, the upcoming album from Nashville's finest: Derek Minor. With the help of Curtis Clark (or 'Dad', as we like to call him), we designed this from the ground up in approx. 2 weeks. With over 100 feet of basswood and baltic birch, Dad took our design and created an entire city in 50 hours. Each structure arrived safely in Seattle, ready to be constructed in the shape of Derek's profile. When we were initially presented with the challenge of creating this album cover, this was the first concept we pitched - Many thanks to Derek and Reach Records for sending us off and running. Stay tuned for a full comprehensive "Making Of" film coming in the next few weeks, but for now - enjoy the teaser (Processed using VSCO film emulation):

Our friend, photographer John Keatley recently commissioned us to create a poster for his upcoming (and aptly titled) Un-Workshop. John is known for thinking outside the box with his high-concept and innovative portraits - so we thought it'd be fun to envision just what is going on inside his head on any given day. Unfortunately you'll need to wait until Feb. 2nd and 3rd to actually find out (sign up here!), but in the meantime we can all just imagine it looks a little something like this. Limited edition, signed and numbered 5 color silk-screened posters printed on French Muscletone available at the workshop. Go!

Our gracious friends over at VSCO Film asked me a few questions about work and family.

So it's kind of a long story, but when my buddy Vijay, who owns and operates Artist Series Guitar, mentioned that his good friend, Ryan Hurst, would be doing a photo shoot for his custom Demon Hunter and Throwdown guitars, I had to make sure I was there. For years now, people have said I look like Opie, a character that Hurst plays in the always-enthralling Sons Of Anarchy TV show. All of us in Demon Hunter have become huge fans of the show over the years, so this was a really cool opportunity. Oh, and my wife made the dope leather vest Hurst is wearing in the shoot. Checking off that bucket list, one day at a time.

Goats, phones & fries. The best part about our job is we never know what's coming next. Here's a fun piece we recently finished for the fine folks over at Publicis and T-Mobile. We were asked to create character and BG illustrations for this 15 second spot while the talented peeps at World Famous handled the animation/post. OK, now I'm hungry.

Credits/Publicis: Kristi Flango: Art Director, Jenn Maples: Copywriter, Marisa Schoen: Executive Interactive Producer, Todd Bois: Creative Director

Well, we've been hard at work for over a year on this next project (and have many more months to go), but we are excited to preview the logo and name of our first interactive children's book The Uproar!, arriving on iPads everywhere via the Apple App store this fall. Lots of fun announcements coming in the first half of 2012, but for now - a quick synopsis:

"Journey into a world of sound and wonder in the interactive musical story The Uproar! Join a bizarre band of misfit monsters to explore a sprawling story from the mind of Invisible Creatureʼs Don Clark."

We are honored and proud to be working with our new favorite publisher + partner: Space Dog Books. Please do yourself a favor and download Space Dog's first chapter book Treasure Island, illustrated by the amazing Matthew Cruickshank.

It's going to be a fun year. Much more soon ...

Follow us on Instagram for (semi) daily shots around the shop or wherever we may be. That is, if you care about such frivolous things.

Just wrapped up this business card design for our buddy, Gregory Henn. The inspiration was old movie posters with a modern twist. Killer 2-color foil stamping courtesy of Evolution Press.

Here is the cover for an upcoming Demon Hunter release featuring the first 3 albums in one package. The 3 disc set will be available everywhere March 8th. If you've had trouble finding these older releases in a store near you, here's the chance to get them all (and cheaply). As always, the DH demon skull graces the cover, this time made from the trees of my back yard. I gathered up some fallen branches and leaves, constructed the logo on a large sheet of white paper, and Jerad Knudson shot the photo.

We just wrapped up the artwork for our friends, The Famine, and after an interesting photo shoot of blowing black body paint on a total stranger through a straw, I'm glad to say I'm pleased with the outcome. Be afraid.

We're excited to be part of the upcoming Phonography show in San Diego, featuring a notable cast of talented folks. Opening reception: January 17th, 7-11PM. All profits from photo sales will be donated to Doctors Without Borders for Haiti Relief.

As They Sleep is a new band on Solid State Records, bringing some much needed brutality to the masses. This is the album cover that we recently completed for their upcoming release titled Dynasty. We again enlisted photographic/set design whiz Jerad Knudson to help us see the vision through, and we couldn't be happier with the results. Apparently the model is a homeless man that sells newspapers near Jerad's house in Seattle's Capital Hill neighborhood.

Our buddy Ethan was in town and decided to snap a few cool shots of the shop.

Here are 3 recently finished album covers. Had a lot of fun with all of these. All great records too!

Four guys in outdoor clothing- check. Rocks and various debris- check. 2 staggered pine trees- check. Campfire- check. One guy warming his hands, one guy roasting a marshmallow- check. White seamless backdrop- check. Congrats- you've successfully ripped off our Fair artwork! Your Dave Hill photo treatment needs some work though.

Check out our new post over at Headbangers Blog, in which we explain the process of creating imagery for the April, 2009 issue of Revolver magazine, featuring metal heavyweights Lamb Of God. Feel the wrath!