He's blue. He's icy. He's even Glow-In-The-Dark! The 10th official colorway of our beloved buddy, Leroy C. is now available in the shop!
Filtering by Category: Top Ten Albums,Toys
Better late than never, our 2015 Top Ten Albums are up. Listen to the playlist over at Spotify.
Don Clark / 2015 Top Ten Albums
01. CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
Best Track: "Never Ending Circles"
02. Leon Bridges - Coming Home
Best Track: "Brown Skin Girl"
03. Adele - 25
Best Track: "Hello"
04. Kendrick Lamar - How To Pimp A Butterfly
Best Track: "Alright"
05. NERO - Between II Worlds
Best Track: "What Does Love Mean"
06. Mute Math - Vitals
Best Track: "Monument"
07. Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material
Best Track: "High Time"
08. Skrillex/Diplo - Present Jack Ü
Best Track: "Where Are Ü Now"
09. Lord Huron - Strange Trails
Best Track: "Until The Night Turns"
10. Hurts - Surrender
Best Track: "Rolling Stone"
Ryan Clark / 2015 Top Ten Albums
01. Twin Shadow - Eclipse
Best Track: "Old Love/New Love"
02. CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
Best Track: "Never Ending Circles"
03. Man Without Country - Maximum Entropy
Best Track: "Entropy"
04. Purity Ring - Another Eternity
Best Track: "bodyache"
05. NERO - Between II Worlds
Best Track: "Two Minds"
06. Editors - In Dream
Best Track: "Forgiveness"
07. Kate Boy - One
Best Track: "Midnight Sun"
08. Everything Everything - Get To Heaven
Best Track: "Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread"
09. Børns - Dopamine
Best Track: "Electric Love"
10. Tame Impala - Currents
Best Track: "The Less I Know The Better"
Ryan Clark / 2015 Top Five Metal Albums
01. Sevendust - Kill The Flaw
Best Track: "Death Dance"
02. Bring Me The Horizon - That's The Spirit
Best Track: "Avalanche"
03. Solution .45 - Nightmares In The Waking State, Pt. 1
Best Track: "Bleed Heavens Dry"
04. Black Breath - Slaves Beyond Death
Best Track: "Pleasure, Pain, Disease"
05. Soil work - The Ride Majestic
Best Track: "The Ride Majestic"
Josh Cross / 2015 Top Ten Albums
01. CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
Best Track: "Never Ending Circles"
02. Gunship - Gunship
Best Track: "Revel In Your Time"
03. Ellie Goulding - Delirium
Best Track: "Aftertaste"
04. The Neighborhood - Wiped Out!
Best Track: "Prey"
05. Of Monsters And Men - Beneath The Skin
Best Track: "Crystals"
06. Beach House - Depression Cherry
Best Track: "Space Song"
07. The Wombats - Glitterbug
Best Track: "Headspace"
08. Florence & The Machine - How Big, How Beautiful
Best Track: "What Kind Of Man"
09. Waters - What's Real
Best Track: "I Feel Everything"
10. Passion Pit - Kindred
Best Track: "Lifted Up (1985)"
After 2 years in the making, our Odd Galaxy wooden space toys have officially landed! Beautifully manufactured by Uncle Goose Toys in Grand Rapids, Michigan, our new series includes everything for the aspiring astronaut: Lunar Rocket Blocks, Moon Rover Blocks and Cosmo Kid Blocks. Featuring rounded and classic block shapes, O.G. inspires endless possibilities of stacking, building, and creating your own space galaxy. Combine all three sets and the sky is the limit! Available in the IC shop now or wherever fine toys are sold. Happy stacking ...
Always epic and often controversial, The 2014 IC Top Ten Album Lists are here! Check out our Rdio playlist containing every album except (sadly) T. Swift.
Don Clark / 2014 Top Ten Albums
01. The Jezabels - The Brink
Best Track: "Time To Dance"
02. Future Islands - Singles
Best Track: "Seasons (Waiting On You)"
03. Taylor Swift - 1989
Best Track: "Style"
04. Sia - 1000 Forms Of fear
Best Track: "Chandelier"
05. Tycho - Awake
Best Track: "Awake"
06. Lights - Little Machines
Best Track: "Up We Go"
07. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
Best Track: "Oh My Darling Don't Cry"
08. Betty Who - Take Me When You Go
Best Track: "Somebody Loves You"
09. Bleachers - Strange Desire
Best Track: "Rollercoaster"
10. Young Widows - Easy Pain
Best Track: "Godman"
Ryan Clark / 2014 Top Ten Albums
01. The Jezebels - The Brink
Best Track: "No Country"
02. Sia - 1000 Forms Of Fear
Best Track: "Elastic Heart"
03. Chromeo - White Women
Best Track: "Old 45's"
04. Royksopp - The Inevitable End
Best Track: "Monument"
05. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
Best Track: "Oh My Darling Don't Cry"
06. Future Islands - Singles
Best Track: "Fall From Grace"
07. Sohn - Tremors
Best Track: "Artifice"
08. Delta Spirit - Into The Wide
Best Track: "Live On"
09. Elbow - The Take Off And Landing Of Everything
Best Track: "Charge"
10. Young Widows - Easy Pain
Best Track: "Kerosine Girl"
Ryan Clark / 2014 Top Ten Metal Albums
01. Slipknot - The Gray Chapter
Best Track: "AOV"
02. Machine Head - Bloodstone & Diamonds
Best Track: "Ghost Will Haunt My Bones"
03. In Flames - Siren Charms
Best Track: "Everything's Gone"
04. At The Gates - At War With Reality
Best Track: "At War With Reality"
05. Decapitated - Blood Mantra
Best Track: "Moth Defect (Bonus Track)"
06. Throwdown - Intolerance
Best Track: "Intolerance"
07. Insense - De:Evolution
Best Track: "Meandering"
08. Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
Best Track: "The Motherload"
09. Killer Be Killed - Killer Be Killed
Best Track: "Wings Of Feather And Wax"
10. Insomnia - Shadows Of The Dying Sun
Best Track: "While We Sleep"
Zac Schwiet / 2014 Top Ten Albums
01. Betty Who - Take Me When You Go
Best Track: “Alone Again”
02. Broods - Evergreen
Best Track: “Bridges”
03. Chromeo - White Women
Best Track: “Come Alive”
04. Ariana Grande - My Everything
Best Track: “One Last Try”
05. Young The Giant - Mind Over Matter
Best Track: “Mind Over Matter”
06. Chet Faker - Built On Glass
Best Track: “Gold”
07. iamamiwhoami - Blue
Best Track: “Fountain”
08. Number One Gun - This Is All We Know
Best Track: “Make A Movie”
09. Taylor Swift - 1989
Best Track: “Style”
10. Barcelona - The Melodrama
Best Track: “Diamond and Silver”
Josh Cross / 2014 Top Ten Albums
01. Thumpers - Galore
Best Track: "Unkinder (A Tougher Love)"
02. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Best Track: “Red Eyes”
03. Taylor Swift - 1989
Best Track: “Style”
04. Bleachers - Strange Desire
Best Track: “Rollercoaster”
05. Broods- Evergreen
Best Track: “Bridges”
06. Brooke Fraser - Brutal Romantic
Best Track: “Psychoscocial”
07. Ages and Ages - Diversionary
Best Track: “Light Goes Out”
08. Hooray For Earth - Racy
Best Track: “Keys”
09. Walk The Moon - Talking Is Hard
Best Track: “Different Colors”
10. First Aid Kit - Stay Gold
Best Track: “Stay Gold”
We'll be in beautiful San Francisco on Dec. 5th for the release of two new IC toys (and prints) from the mighty Super7! Colonel Stinson - our first vinyl figure from Odd Galaxy, and Leroy C. 'Wormwood' Deluxe Edition - a wood + vinyl collab with our friends at Uncle Goose Toys. More details coming - but mark your calendars!
Stack And Scare! is available at Poketo's Pop-In Shop at Nordstrom until August 3rd!
It's that time of year! SDCC is upon us, so let the mayhem begin. LEGO has officially announced their exclusive minifig offerings this year, so we thought it'd be a good time to show some of the packaging and interiors we had fun with. Each clam shell opens up to reveal Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, Bard The Bowman, The Collector and Uni-Kitty in their own element. Oh, and if you have $4,000 burning a hole in your pocket ... grab one of ours from last year with some guy's name scribbled on it. Thanks to our AD's Joseph Galluccio and Jennifer Healy! Happy collecting.
listen to our playlist over at rdio ...
Ryan Clark:
01. Editors - The Weight Of Your Love
Best Track: "What Is This Thing Called Love"
02. Biffy Clyro - Opposites
Best Track: "Biblical"
03. White Lies - Big TV
Best Track: "First Time Caller"
04. CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe
Best Track: "The Mother We Share"
05. Empire Of The Sun - Ice On The Dune
Best Track: "DNA"
06. Everything Everything - Arc
Best Track: "Kemosabe"
07. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Best Track: "I Need My Girl"
08. London Grammar - If You Wait
Best Track: "Wasting My Young Years"
09. Haim - Days Are Gone
Best Track: "Don't Save Me"
10. Bastille - Bad Blood
Best Track: "Overjoyed"
Don Clark:
01. Haim - Days Are Gone
Best Track: "Forever"
02. Empire Of The Sun - Ice On The Dune
Best Track: "Alive"
03. Young Galaxy - Ultramarine
Best Track: "New Summer"
04. Beautiful Eulogy - Instruments Of Mercy
Best Track: "You Can Save Me"
05. The Night Marchers - Allez! Allez!
Best Track: "Tropical Depression"
06. Editors - The Weight Of Your Love
Best Track: "What Is This Thing Called Love"
07. JGivens - El v. Envy
Best Track: "Might (Not) Be"
08. CHVRCHES - The Bones Of What You Believe
Best Track: "Gun"
09. London Grammar - If You Wait
Best Track: "Hey Now"
10. Birds Of Tokyo - March Fires
Best Track: "Lanterns"
Zac Schwiet:
01. Brother - Call
Best Track: “Brother"
02. Andrew Belle - Black Bear
Best Track: “Pieces"
03. One Republic - Native
Best Track: “Can’t Stop"
04. The 1975 - Self-Titled
Best Track: “Heart Out"
05. The Head And The Heart - Let’s Be Still
Best Track: “Shake"
06. Aaron Sprinkle - Water & Guns
Best Track: “Alright"
07. Empire Of the Sun - Ice On The Dune
Best Track: “Surround Sound"
08. Young Galaxy - Ultramarine
Best Track: “Fever"
09. Ivan & Alyosha - All The Times We Had
Best Track: “Running For Cover"
10. The Lone Bellow - Self-Titled
Best Track: “Green Eyes And A Heart Of Gold"
Ryan's Top Ten Metal:
01. Omnium Gatherum - Beyond
Best Track: "New Dynamic"
02. Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
Best Track: "Phantom Limb"
03. Soilwork - The Living Infinite
Best Track: "Tongue"
04. HIM - Tears On Tape
Best Track: "Love Without Tears"
05. Kvelertak - Meir
Best Track: "Bruane Brenn"
06. Extol - Extol
Best Track: "Open The Gates"
07. Living Sacrifice - Ghost Thief
Best Track: "The Reaping"
08. Amorphis - Circle
Best Track: "Shades Of Gray"
09. Carcass - Surgical Steel
Best Track: "A Congealed Clot Of Blood"
10. Battlecross - War Of Will
Best Track: "Flesh & Bone"
Just in time for those blistery cold and lonely nights - FIRESTARTER Leroy C. is here! He'll warm your soul - and toy shelf. We have a super limited run of these, so be sure to get your hot little hands on him quick ...
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 extremely excited to announce that our first line of toys with Uncle Goose is now available! Over a year in the making, Stack And Scare™ is a series of 4 stackable wooden monster block sets. Each Roar! set contains 14-18 pieces in various shapes and sizes. Featuring eyeballs, teeth, horns, arms, rounded shapes for shoulders and eyes, monster heads, hands, feet, legs, torsos, patterns and more. Mix and match shapes or combine with other Stack And Scare™ sets to unleash endless (and taller) creature combinations! Beautifully and meticulously crafted by our friends at Uncle Goose in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Made from FSC certified basswood, using non-toxic inks. Purchase Stack And Scare™ from us, Uncle Goose or independent toy stores everywhere. We designed Stack And Scare™ for everyone at any age. We can't wait to see what you do with them. Share with us at #stackandscare.
And of course ... we thought it would be fitting to create a short "IC Filmmercial" featuring our wooden critters in action. We enlisted our friends in Portland, Beautiful Eulogy, to create a score using the blocks themselves and the result is pretty fantastic. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see how we (and they) made it all happen ...
Roar! Set One:
Roar! Set Two:
Roar! Set Three:
Roar! Set Four:
... And check out how we (and Beautiful Eulogy) made the film ... Then go grab their new album Instruments Of Mercy, out today.
Missed our original teaser? Check it out.
We are extremely excited to announce our new partnership with Uncle Goose Toys. Made in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the past 30 years, Uncle Goose is the world's premiere manufacturer of wooden blocks. We've partnered up with their amazing team to bring the highest quality and most creative wooden toys and playsets to the market. With new products and creations lined up through 2015 and beyond, we couldn't be more thrilled to work with such a passionate company dedicated to their craft.
Hot off their debut at the NY NOW International Gift Show, our first product is titled Stack And Scare. Crafted from replenishable basswood and printed with non-toxic inks, the Stack And Scare series contains four stackable block sets that allow children (and you!) to create and configure hundreds of possible monster options. Before we let too much out of the bag (or box), we've put together a teaser film announcing the new line.
Stack And Scare will be available in retail locations worldwide and through our shop beginning in October. Stay tuned for the big launch ...
We were in the big apple for their debut at the NY NOW show ...
... and we visited the UG workshop in Grand Rapids this month to check out the progress.
We had the great privilege and honor of speaking at LEGO's internal Design Camp last week - a day away from the office for the creative team in beautiful Enfield, Connecticut. Scott Decoteau, along with the talented and generous crew at LEGO, were gracious hosts during our time in New England. Highlights of the trip included the LEGO HQ tour (wow), dangerously delicious indian food, bowling and sharing sentimental stories about the infamous drawstring denim LEGO bag.
To commemorate our talk, we decided to make some things. One of them being a poster of us creating our new mark out of 4,236 bricks - flown in from all over the world. After 2 hot days, 1 broken mallet (don't ask), 6 iced coffees and 3 blisters, the mosaic came to life. Extra special thanks to LEGO for supplying the baseplates.
Unfortunately these posters and prints are not for sale, but who knows - we may throw some in future IC poster orders ...
Our latest product for Target is in stores now ... and it's a fun one. Captain Bullseye's Build-A-Plane! Gift Card is a whopping 21 pieces of snap-together awesomeness. Complete with accents of metallic silver, a spinning propeller and a display stand that doubles as a cloud/Gift Card holder. See more here and purchase here. As always, big thanks to our A.D.'s Ted Halbur and Brian Holt. You are now free to move about the toy shelf.
We love our clients. We love Lego. So why not combine the two? For our annual Client Holiday gift this year, we decided to design a custom Eye Creature Lego kit. Edition of 6 sets. 444 pieces. 4 instruction booklets. 8 different mouth combinations - and a hinged top that allows the owner to store all kinds of fun items (as shown below). We even found 2 extremely cute kids from 1972 in my house that wanted to participate in the box design. Disclaimer: This product is NOT affiliated with Lego, folks - this was a gift. Oh, enough already. Check out how we made it below:
Don Clark:
01. The Jezabels - Prisoner
Best Track: "Rosebud"
02. Lecrae - Gravity
Best Track: "Violence"
03. Paper Route - The Peace Of Wild Things
Best Track: "Two Hearts"
04. Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again
Best Track: "I'm Getting Ready"
05. Delta Spirit - Delta Spirit
Best Track: "Tear It Up"
06. Propaganda - Excellent
Best Track: "Precious Puritans"
07. The Presets - Pacifica
Best Track: "Promises"
08. Ellie Goulding - Halcyon
Best Track: "Anything Can Happen"
09. Abandoned Pools - Sublime Currency
Best Track: "Hype Is The Enemy"
10. Derek Minor - PSA, V. 3
Best Track: "Love"
Ryan Clark:
01. The Presets - Pacifica
Best Track: "Fall"
02. Twin Shadow - Confess
Best Track: "Five Seconds"
03. Delta Spirit - Delta Spirit
Best Track: "Home"
04. O. Children - Apnea
Best Track: "I Know (You Love Me)"
05. The Jezabels - Prisoner
Best Track: "Endless Summer"
06. Night Flight Orchestra - Internal Affairs
Best Track: "1998"
07. Abandoned Pools - Sublime Currency
Best Track: "Sublime Currency"
08. Miike Snow - Happy To You
Best Track: "Garden"
09. Niki & The Dove - Instinct
Best Track: "Somebody"
10. Bright Light Bright Light - Make Me Believe In Hope
Best Track: "Immature"
Zac Schwiet:
01. Abandoned Pools - Sublime Currency
Best Track: "Hype Is The Enemy"
02. Derek Minor - PSA, V. 3
Best Track: "Turn It Up"
03. Ellie Goulding - Halcyon
Best Track: "Anything Could Happen"
04. School of Seven Bells - Ghostory
Best Track: "The Night"
05. Lecrae - Church Clothes
Best Track: "Co-Sign"
06. The Shins - Port Of Morrow
Best Track: "Simple Song"
07. Twin Shadow - Confess
Best Track: "Run My Heart"
08. Paper Route - The Peace Of Wild Things
Best Track: "Two Hearts"
09. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Best Track: "Breezeblocks"
10. Shiny Toy Guns - III
Best Track: "Somewhere To Hide"
Ryan's Top Ten Metal:
01. Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Best Track: "Poltergeist"
02. Black Breath - Sentenced To Life
Best Track: "The Flame"
03. Fear Factory - The Industrialist
Best Track: "Recharger"
04. Katatonia - Dead End Kings
Best Track: "The Racing Heart"
05. Cancer Bats - Dead Set On Living
Best Track: "D.S.O.L."
06. Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage
Best Track: "L'Enfant Sauvage"
07. Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light
Best Track: "Lightning & Snow"
08. Meshuggah - Koloss
Best Track: "The Demon's Name Is Surveillance"
09. Swallow The Sun - Emerald Forest And The Blackbird
Best Track: "This Cut Is The Deepest"
10. Becoming The Archetype - I Am
Best Track: "The Eyes Of The Storm"
Honored to be featured in Print's 2012 Regional Design Annual. Gigantic thanks goes to our favorite clients over at Target inHouse.
The Holidays! Drawing! Toys! Cars! Dogs! Flying goats! Some of our very favorite things are all wrapped up in our latest Gift Card for Target, Bullseye's Draw & Go. Unfold the map, flip the switch and watch Bullseye cruise along! Or better yet, turn the map over and draw your own track (using the complimentary marker) - Bullseye follows along the path you've created! Pretty cool, right? To see him in action, check out our latest Unboxing episode, embedded above. Extra special thanks to Ted Halbur, Brian Holt, Brian Bennett and Kelly Gray at inHouse for the amazingly fun project. Grab one (or ten) here.
A Bullseye View has a few fun stats on the popularity of GiftCards. We're honored to have worked on last year's top seller.