A CULTURE OF ART

It's a culture of Art at IC Collective. We get a lot of compliments on the artwork for IC Collective, so decided it's high time we do an introduction of the artist. The artwork is bold, creative, gives attention to detail and tells a story, which matches the cannabis with its bold flavors, history, and authenticity. One of the greatest aspects of the ICC branding is that all of our artwork is made by humans, no AI is used. All the artwork and the writings are generated by artists who are making a livelihood with their creative skills. You can even say that our cannabis is a form of the founder's artwork.

Creative Director Maxfield Bala develops all of the artwork and branding for IC Collective.

 A CULTURE OF ART: Maxfield Bala x IC Collective

To the untrained eye, cannabis plants of many varieties can look indistinguishably similar, as can the proliferation of brand-centric cannabis and its corresponding packaging. Among the others, however, IC Collective stands apart because of art. 

Our founder, Ben, started IC Collective in Oakland, CA, which has a long-standing tradition of art as resistance, as protest, and as a celebration of culture and counter-culture. He moved north to raise his family and in that town he came across a number of vibrant, illuminated murals in Petaluma and was immediately drawn to the style and skill; he began to investigate the artist and his other works. 

He found Maxfield Bala, they met for coffee, and a beautiful partnership was born. Ben told Maxfield the history of IC Collective, some of his own history as a cultivator of cannabis and as a glass and metal sculptor, and the detailed story of several strains, and then asked Maxfield to design a logo for the company. They worked closely together, Maxfield sharing three iterations of his drawings and ideas, and Ben giving feedback and direction. This deeply cooperative process is indicative of the care and generosity Maxfield brings to the company and to his own artistic process. 

It was so successful that they have continued to use that process of story and picture, with iterations of feedback to craft the images specific to each strain. That itself is unique among cannabis brands - while most brands mainly use their logo on their various products, IC Collective packaging offers a detailed artwork image that is specific to each strain, and reflective of its character, qualities, and history. 

Maxfield’s evolution in art began early. As a child in school he would draw pencil and ink drawings on the margins of his class papers, which over time became more detailed, and eventually drew him to show his work in galleries. Though this was a step into the more professional art world, he also felt the reality that gallery work is seen by the few, rather than the many, and started to take his art to the walls of friends’ garages, then those of businesses, and then to whole alleyways, sharing his vision and skill with a broader population. 

His wild and crazy approach, full of color and notably unique in style, comes through not just in his large-scale work but also in every strain artwork, reflecting the care and detail with which the cannabis itself is treated. In his illustrations, he takes the time to appreciate each strain for its specific and individual qualities, and to celebrate the joy of the new and the different. He remembers his own excitement for each new strain as a young consumer, and brings that into his creative process. Just like the plants themselves, his illustrations are invested with care, communication and dedication every step of the way. 

IC Collective dedicates itself to creating a unique identify for each strain we produce. Here are a series of strain logos we've developed for our comprehensive lineup.