The Brothers Clark have been hitting the music industry by storm with their own special brand of design and illustration, serving such diverse clients as Norma Jean, Kanye West, and Brand New. I talked with the Don half of the duo about their switch from Asterik and other family-friendly subject matters.

First off, how were the Grammies? Are you going to put a hit out on Adam Jones for winning / being weird?
Haha, naw, we knew that Tool would take it. The Grammy’s were a blast. It was my first time going, so it was pretty surreal. We felt like we snuck into some secret club or something.

What happened with the split with Asterik? Are Demetre and Co. doing their own thing now, or is Asterik done with?
Long story short, We decided to go separate ways based on where each of us wanted to take the company. Ryan and I wanted to keep working in the music industry, so we started IC. It was a mutual decision and we are all still really great friends with the Asterik guys. It’s been a smooth transition and our clients have been really cool with the new firm. To be honest, most people just looked at it as a name change. Demetre and Greg have a new company called Wonderful Union and I believe their site launches soon. They rock at what they do and I know they’ll be huge. We are all in a really great place right now … I think everyone is happier.

Getting to more practical stuff: generally, how much design freedom do you get when working with larger labels or management people? Are they all up in your design grill or are you allowed to breathe?
It completely depends on the client and honestly has nothing to do with how big/small a band or label is. There are so many deciding factors. Some bands let us do our own thing, and are pretty hands-off. Ultimately that is where we tend to shine, but others use us soley to execute their vision. If it’s not done exactly how it is in their head, it’s bad news. We’ve actually had a string of nightmare clients recently, so it’s funny you bring it up …

What design stuff are you and Ryan getting into? Any other types of mediums that you haven’t previously explored?
Ryan has always been great at detailed pen and ink illustration and he’s doing more of that (new Agony Scene), which is awesome. We are always trying to keep it fresh – exploring new avenues and design roads we haven’t taken before. We refuse to fall into any more “hey, can you make our album look just like the album you did for ______” traps anymore. We are always trying to push ourselves. Lately I’ve just been stoked on Sagmeister. So inspiring.

Do you have any non-designy influences that affect your work? I find that a lot of other types of art, especially non-visual kind like music or literature, can lend itself to some neat abstract concepts.
Music is #1 when it comes to inspiring art forms. Film is right there as well. Every aspect of art is inspiring and we borrow from all of it. I just saw 300 the other night and it blew me away.

Things like album covers are being less of a focus now that digital music files can be easily bought/traded online. Where do you see printed artwork fit in with all of this?
This is obviously a hot topic around here. The tricky part is convincing the general public that art IS important – and how the visual aspect of that is a necessary partner to the music. We’ll evolve, but no one really knows what’s going to happen.

Is there any one client you’d want to design for, but it hasn’t happened yet – or it’s impossible because of inconvenient things like being dead or past their musical prime?
Johnny Cash.

Besides Demon Hunter, what do you enjoy doing besides Invisible Creature?
I have a very blessed family life. My daughter is 2 and my son is 6 months old – they are my ultimate inspiration.

Besides IC, Don and Ryan bust heads and small animals in Demon Hunter. Check out their latest release, The Triptych, here.

8 Responses to “Grand Design Interview: Invisible Creature”

1. On 03/25/07 3:31 PM, CMAP said:

   

   Nice interview. I’d love to have my band’s artwork be done by these guys. Haha.

2. On 03/25/07 3:53 PM, Sean Cannon said:

   

   i’ve made some disparaging comments about the clark bros. artwork in the past, but i want to say that i’ve been pleasantly surprised with their output in the last little while here. it does seem like they’re genuinely trying to push themselves. i’m not going to eat my previous words, because they were true when i spoke them. i’m just glad to see that they aren’t content to rest on their laurels.

3. On 03/28/07 8:01 AM, Agent D said:

   

   glad (well not for your sake) to see even the big fish like yourselves have problem client’s even being so highly regarded and talented…

   i really enjoy your work, your an inspiration to designer’s everywhere…

4. On 04/3/07 9:13 AM, robschwager said:

   

   Those Clark bros are a dynamic duo…. cept they don’t wear tights.

   i think…

5. On 12/22/07 3:31 AM, the clark brothers | News trend site said:

   

   [...] Buzzgrinder Interviews Invisible Creature Design Team [...]

6. On 04/30/08 9:31 PM, a.m. said:

   

   they do outstanding work, and are outstanding individuals. why such a short interview though. get creative with the questions, do some research on the music industry and the art involved with it and really pick at their interests.

7. On 04/30/08 10:18 PM, Jay DiNitto said:

   

   Uh….what?

8. On 04/30/08 10:48 PM, Levi G said:

   

   Well, I would have liked a longer interview (because I enjoyed it all while it lasted) but you asked all the right questions and I was stoked to see some of my own questions answered.

   They do great work, and it was a great interview.

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