We recently had the opportunity to work with some friends to create a brand for their newest endeavor, Animal Media Group. One of their first projects is an incredibly moving documentary called Blood Brother, which they were gracious enough to share with us, and had me choking back tears for nearly 90 minutes straight. Watch the newest trailer (below) and look for the film in theaters soon. Bring some tissue.

Back To School? Naw, forget that. It's an endless summer. Soft inks printed on American Apparel Tri-Blend T's. Ships on or before September 18th. Grab them all here.

Spirit Of '77 printed on Tri-Indigo Blue.

Mummy Jr. printed on Tri-Black.

Leroy's Boy printed on Athletic Gray.

Respect printed on Tri-Black.

Mummy Classic printed on Tri-Coffee.

Live To Draw printed on Tri-Black.

Mummy Jr. (Kids Sizes!) printed on Tri-Black.

If you have a son between the ages of 4 and 10, you probably know all about Hexbug. We've had the Nano habitat fired up at our place for awhile, so when our friends at Target asked if we'd like to design our own, my son (and his dad) gave an ecstatic and audible thumbs up. The Hexapillar Gift Card goes from caterpillar to butterfly in seconds flat and comes alive with one flip of the switch. In stores now. See it a tad larger here.

As always, extra big high-fives to our A.D.'s Ted Halbur and David Ledsinger for making this all happen.

A little late, but I had a lot of fun making a birth announcement for my new little girl. Screen-printed by D&L on French Muscletone and sent to friends and family.

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 ...

Ahhhh, our favorite time of year is back. The two Frank's (Sinatra & Capra), Yuletide logs, eggnogs, and Lord Of The Rings DVD extras in our pajamas. And of course, the great seasonal goodies at Target. We were lucky enough to work on two fun stocking stuffers this Holiday season. Last year, the LEGO Build A Bullseye set was such a hit, we were asked to come back for round two. And to make the kids (and us) even more ecstatic, you can create a polar bear and snowman in addition to Bullseye dog. It all folds up into a gift-able size for that special someone. Sequels are supposed to be better, right?

And the gifts keep coming ... We were also asked to design and illustrate a super-fun (and addicting) interactive game featuring our favorite pooch. The big idea: Can you pat the dogs as quickly as they light up without losing your cool? Oh, and each level gets more and more insane as you continue to play. Lights, barking, action. Find them both in-store or online now.

Art direction: Brian Holt, Rob Weaver and Ted Halbur. Once again, extra special thanks to the team at Target.

Kids. We love 'em. Teenagers ... well, we love them too. With both in mind, we're excited to offer 4 new stretched canvas prints and posters through Wheatpaste Art Collective. The stretched canvas prints are a whopping 24" x 30" and the uber-cool removable non-toxic "sticky" posters are an even more-whopping 28" x 35". We've got a few samples of both formats in the shop and we aren't afraid to tell you the quality level is perfect-o. The colors are rich and just as vivid as you see here. You can purchase them individually or collect the whole set. Seem them a tad bigger here. Enjoy ... here's to the kids.

"Afternoon Snack":

"The Visitor":

"High & Dry":

"Neighborhood Cookout":

We are very pleased to be contributing to EMP's new exhibit exploring the world of horror film and the human experience it produces. Can't Look Away: The Lure Of Horror Film features 19 of our illustrations, some truly amazing artifacts, interactive experiences, and information galore. We got a sneak peek at the show, and it's absolutely incredible! Do yourself a favor and check it out- open to the public October 2nd. And check out the portfolio for a more extensive look at the work!

Ahhh, the first day of pre-school. Today was a biggie for my son - definitely a few tears. Continuing tradition, here's a quick drawing I stuffed in his lunchbox to ease his first day jitters. Also in the shop for $12.

Time flies. Today is my little girl's first day of first grade. Just like last year, I decided to make her a quick treat for her lunchbox. Many of you asked for prints last time, so we added an 8.5" x 11" print to the shop for $12. All proceeds benefit her lunch fund ... and I'm happy to report that there were less tears this year ...

Heartwork is included in How Magazine's 'Top 10 Websites For Designers' this month. Cool!

What is Heartwork?

Heartwork is a project designed to raise money for art supplies within the art room at Target House—this wonderful home-away-from-home for the families of children facing long-term treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The whole idea started simply enough. We, along with a few other creative individuals, were asked to work on various design projects for Target House. But, in the process, we were so deeply moved by the experience that we didn’t want it to end. We witnessed first hand the special connection the kids had with the art room in particular. It was a place where we saw kids at all stages of health just being kids.

So, we began to wonder, “What if we could create a ongoing way to support more and better art supplies for these children?” It was then that Heartwork was born.

The idea is simple. Every year, a group of talented artists will create a series of prints to raise money for the art room. Each of the prints will feature a different interpretation of the Target House elephant mascot, chosen because it represents family, long life, strength and playfulness—attributes with special meaning at a place designed for families to live, play and heal.

Print details:

Archival giclee - printed with pigment inks on archival cotton rag paper Size: 11 inches x 14 inches Signed & numbered editions of 40

Purchase the prints here.

"Elephants Love Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter" by Johnny Yanok:

"Snailaphant" by Nate Williams and "When Elephants Fly" by Anna Chambers:

"Collaboration" by Don Clark

"Love To Grow" by Scott Thares and "Balancing Act" by Christopher Lee:

"Circus" by Katie Kirk and "Better Days Ahead" by Richard Boynton:

"Waterworks" by Ryan Clark:

"Tuskers Ahoy" by Michael Bartalos:

The Scott Hamilton Arts & Crafts Room at Target House:

We're honored to be part of this project and thankful for everyone who donated their time and talent.

We are extremely honored that the Minnesota chapter of the AIGA recently recognized all of our 2009 Target projects in their annual Design Show. See details here and here. Many thanks to our incredible A.D.'s over at the bullseye. More fun stuff to share coming soon ...

Super cool 'Thumb War' gift card created by our buddy Christopher Lee.

Excited? Uhhhhh yeah, me too.

Thanks Shane.

Here is a cover that we did for a documentary about The Doors, titled "When You're Strange." Unfortunately this cover was rejected when it turned out that the band just "wanted a band photo" instead. We thought we'd show it to you anyway, as we're rather fond of it.

We've been posting fairly frequent blog entries over at MTV's Headbangers Blog, giving in-depth views into various design projects. This time, you can read about the artwork for Demon Hunter's forthcoming 3-disc release, "45 Days."

Holy smokes! I can't decide on whether I'd like to be Morpheus or John Lasseter at this moment. So good.

Thanks Rob.

Growing up, Ryan and I were Lego FANATICS. I vividly remember the massive room-sized bag of Legos that my mom found at a garage sale for $8 - and the day she brought it home. Our jaws dropped. We dabbled in Transformers, G.I. Joe and He-Man, but the Legos got the most love - for years and years. Naturally, my own kids love them (what kid doesn't?!) and those days in the 80's of creating airplanes and robots out of blocks are ever-present in our house 20+ some years later. I still think it might be the best toy to actually spawn creativity and imagination. All that to say - I just love Jason Freeny's anatomy of the lego man. Brilliant.

And yes, we are going to Legoland next summer. Anyone been?

Via Likecool

45 Days. A Film About Demon Hunter By Cale Glendening.