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.

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):

We were commissioned by our good friends at Toth Construction to produce and direct a short film documenting their rich heritage, high level of craftsmanship and the importance of building relationships. We shot this over a period of 2 weeks and used VSCO film emulation for the final edit. Music: "When I Am Old And Gray" by the Candlepark Stars.

Our friends Klaus & Erik over at Toth Construction commissioned us to design a set of wooden architectural nesting blocks for their top tier clients this holiday season. Each hand-signed and numbered set includes a sliding laser-etched Russian birch wood lid and 19 individual sugar maple blocks. Special thanks to Jonathan Cowles over at Patronus Design for meticulously handling the production of each set. We also collaborated with Rachel Brandzel to create hand-made letterpressed cards to accompany each box. Oh, and do yourself a favor by perusing one of Toth's latest works of art, designed by Jim Olson.

This past summer, our good friends at Vulcan Real Estate commissioned us to create one of the biggest jobs we've worked on to date - literally: A 100' x 30' mural that faces one of their new Amazon.com buildings in the ever-growing 'city-within-a-city', South Lake Union. Home to Amazon HQ, fine dining, upscale living & shopping, South Lake Union is full of life, culture and color. Our job was to reflect that with a vibrant and whimsical take on what 'building a city' could look like.

This project presented a fun challenge: Taking digital art, scaling it way up and painting it traditionally without compromising quality and its original style/intent. Finding the perfect partner to bridge the gap was important to us. To do that, we teamed up with artist (and mural pro) Don Rockwell and Foley Sign Company, which has served the Pacific Northwest sign industry for over 85 years. A huge thanks to Don, Mark Metcalf and the team at Foley for bringing our creation to life.

The process between IC and Foley was so fascinating to us, we had to document it. 'Keys To The City: The Making Of A Mural' is embedded above for your viewing pleasure. Special thanks to Alex Goose and Jake Troth for supplying the instrumental version of their amazing song 'Alexandra'.

But c'mon ... this is just the internet. See it in person on Thomas street between Boren and Terry. More specifically, here.

And of course, none of this would have happened without Josh Lackey and Vulcan. Thank you. We can't wait for the next one.

If you're local, you've undoubtedly heard the buzz about Seattle's next great neighborhood: South Lake Union. With hot new restaurants + retail spots, Amazon's brand new HQ, a beautiful waterfront and loads of new modern living spaces - the 'SLU' neighborhood is definitely the new destination within the city. IC was challenged with the task of developing a simplified and whimsical take on the neighborhood by the fine folks at Vulcan in conjunction with their annual Block Party blowout. If you are familiar with the area, you may have a little fun locating a few hot spots.

Block Party posters are available at the event on August 12 and we'll have a few in our shop on August 13th.

You can grab (and unfold) the full SLU neighborhood poster (below) by picking up the latest issue of Seattle Met magazine, on newsstands now.

A few details:

Huge high-fives to Josh Lackey and Larry Asher for making this such a fun project to work on. See it a tad bigger here.

Well, it's about time. No more Flash. And we're pretty happy about that. Besides the obvious luxury of browsing our site on any platform, we've added quite a few new bells and whistles.

Here are the notable additions:

• Gift Certificates! Now you can purchase Gift Certificates in increments of $5 (up to $100) for that special someone ...

• Discount Codes! We'll be wheeling and dealing discounts in the shop from time to time, but we've got extra special plans for Lil' Happy Club participants. Stay tuned.

• New Blog! You'll notice the right sidebar has been given a facelift. Featuring new shop items, new work and coming soon: Flickr sets of our library, toy shelf and annual Lil' Happy Club submissions. All for the kids.

• FAQ! We tried to tackle the standard questions we receive on a daily basis, but I'm sure we'll be adding more in the near future (ie. Q: "Which one of you would win in a cagefight?", A: The cage)

Anyways, have a look around. We've buffed out the scratches and shined up the fenders for you. Enjoy.

Huge thanks to J.D., Phong, Kim and everyone over at the mighty Instrument for their skills.

10 Answers asked me 10 questions.

We recently just wrapped a fun logo/business card project for Sparrow Builders, a new general contracting firm headed up by our cousin John Paulsen. John wanted something with a simple, modern and clean aesthetic, so we played around with different styles within those restrictions. The wireframe design was one of the last options we provided and ended up making the cut as the final logo. After the design was green-lit, the fine folks at Mandate Press (check this out) took over and delivered some pretty amazing letter-pressed cards on 110# Cranes Lettra stock. Follow Sparrow Builders and Mandate Press on Twitter.

Charles and Ray just moved in. Thanks House.

Just a reminder that Poster Cabaret carries a handful of our posters and limited prints, including many that we're sold out of. They also have a few pieces left from the 2009 Sasquatch! Festival, including the limited edition black/metallic gold/glo-in-the-dark character series (we're also sold out of these). We'll be announcing some limited exclusive prints and color variants available only through Poster Cabaret very soon.

We've had an incredible year at IC and feel like passing on a little love. So, we've gotten drunk on eggnog, whipped up a graphic and logged into the blog. From now until next Monday, December 21st, we are including a FREE set of our IC Throwback Series with any order $20 or over. Please note that we have a limited amount, so when they're gone, they're gone.

'Time Will Tell' and 'Prized Possessions' are now (finally) available exclusively through Velocity! Each print is a whopping 17" x 22" (with a 1" border for framing) and is printed on beautiful German Etching Hahnenmühle Fine Art paper. Hand signed, limited edition run of 50.

Sorry we're a little late on this info. With the new site launch, we lost a little time preparing for the holiday shipping rush. For U.S. residents, our cut-off day for ordering will be Monday, December 21st. For international orders, you might want to place your order now. We definitely can't guarantee it will arrive by Christmas, but we will try. Our next shipping day is this Tuesday, December 15th. Thank you for your support and patience! Happy Holidays!

Oh - and we'll be including a FREE IC button set with each order through the new year!

After 3+ years and countless new projects, we felt like it was time to give our site a makeover. And just like on Oprah, some things remain the same but many were given a significant upgrade. As you take a stroll around, you'll see what we mean. One of the big changes is that the work, shop and blog are all contained in one nice little package for your viewing needs. Another is that you get to see our work much quicker, with access points all over the homepage. We have gotten a few comments from peeps that were hoping for an html iPhone-friendly version. After much consideration on our part, we felt like the vast majority of our demographic would NOT be viewing it on a mobile device. However, that version may be something to consider if the demand is there. We aren't David Lynch, but the work just looks better on an actual computer.

Many, many thanks to JD at Gridplane and Instrument for making this happen. Oh, and please e-mail us if you encounter any glitches as we are still attempting to sort all of that out.

We're extremely honored to be part of Grain Edit's Holiday Giveway Bash! featuring incredible art and collectibles from peers, friends and heroes. We're donating two 16" x 16" Giclee prints as well as our new Winter Fishing Hole! Gift Card from Target loaded with $25 to buy your uncle that Die Hard DVD he's been wanting or the ear muffs your dog has been hinting at. If we could enter, we would! Winners announced December 18th.

I gotta be honest, apparently I've been living under a gigantic rock and hadn't heard of the awesome NOTCOT until today when they posted a really cool write-up titled Art Of The Gift Card showcasing some of the new holiday Gift Cards at Target. They even went above and beyond and devoted a special something to our 'Winter Fishing Hole' Gift Card/Game. We've actually been getting reports that they are selling out at stores (that's a good thing, right?) but you can find them online through 12/31.

Oh, and yes I'm multi-tasking by kicking myself while adding the NOTCOT RSS feed to my daily visits.

One of my all-time favorite architects, William Krisel is being honored at a new show at MODAA in Culver City. Along with Joseph Eichler, Cliff May, Richard Neutra and others, Krisel was instrumental in developing California modernism as we know it today (over 30,000 living units to his credit). One of my favorites of his was the home he designed with Dave Palmer for Bobby Darin in 1955. Love that butterfly roof.

Hardformat has some interesting thoughts on album covers in the digital world.