Hello, this is Kitabatake.
Today, I want to answer the question I often get: “So, what exactly is I.CEBERG?”
But before diving in, let me give you a quick intro about myself.
I used to make all sorts of commercials at a retail company known for its great smiles. After that, I joined WOW (technically “came back to WOW,” but that’s a longer story…). Now I work here as a Creative Director.
Back in the day, I did a lot of location shoots.
WOW, as a studio, is basically everyone doing their own thing—biased, passionate, and a little wild.
So, I started wondering: can we boost that unique character even more? How do we sharpen both the act of making and its meaning in our own way?
To really dig into that, I decided to take two approaches:
1: Create a state where we can totally lose ourselves in making.
2: Connect gently with others through that energy.
That’s why we formed this team called I.CEBERG.
Let me break each of these down.
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1: Create a state where we can totally lose ourselves in making.
It sounds obvious, but you can’t make something great unless you’re absorbed in it. And to get into that state, you need to stay close to your own source of energy. In other words: follow your personal “fetish,” whatever that might be.
Easier said than done, though. You only find that source by spending time, using your hands and mind to keep making things.
We wanted to explore those hidden triggers—the ones we’re not even aware of yet—that pull us into that state of obsession. That’s why we named this team I.CEBERG: like an iceberg, most of it is hidden below the surface.
Each MAISON (that’s what we call our artists) is on their own journey, moving their hands and heads to find their triggers in completely different directions. The medium doesn’t matter—digital or tangible, whatever works.
If you’re curious, check out each MAISON’s page in I.CEBERG and this JOURNAL to see what they’re uncovering.
Alright, let’s move to the next point.
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2: Connect gently with others through that energy.
We see the works and worlds created by each MAISON as mediums.
They’re worlds born from energy—or sometimes the energy itself—that help us gently connect with others. That’s what we mean by “medium.”
Let me give you an example.
Sone is building a whole world around his original characters. Recently, he’s been diving into 3D sculpting, which is totally new for him. It’s a field he normally wouldn’t touch in his day job, but he’s throwing himself into it with passion.
Neither he nor I know how it’ll turn out. Maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t.
But doesn’t that uncertainty feel exciting? Along the way, he might stumble on new encounters or connections he never expected.
That’s way more interesting than keeping it all to yourself. That’s the role of the medium.
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Another example.
Since the latter half of 2023, we I.CEBERG MAISONs have been steadily making works, and we recently put them together into a ZINE.
We hand-bind each book one by one.
This ZINE wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support of emuni, the design studio led by art director Murakami-san. They’ve been with us since the very beginning, creating our VI design, and we basically owe them big time. For this ZINE, they handled both design and editing.
We left the design completely up to them, and they went all out—playing around in the best way possible. Thanks to that, we ended up with a beautiful book we could never have made on our own.
When you share that energy of making, you can create something unexpected and amazing together. That’s exactly what I.CEBERG is aiming for.
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So, what do you think? Starting to get a clearer picture of I.CEBERG?
At its core, I.CEBERG is about spreading out through the energy of making.