Hicks-Gibbon

Hicks-Gibbon Studios is an independently owned and operated design studio located in Santa Monica, California. The artists' mantra is, "We make what we want"—a mission that drives them to create products that exist because they want them to. With each design, they aspire to make people laugh and to make the world a little bit better in the process.

The inspiration for the Birds & Bees line of cards featured on Treat—which they describe as cruel & unusual cards smothered in cute sauce—came from the family life of designer Adam O'Hern.

Adam's family is loud. Picture absurdly enthusiastic dance moves to '80s elevator jazz in the kitchen and people belting out '70s pop favorites with thick Russian accents while playing "BS" around the breakfast table. Once, his brother dumped hot sauce in their dad's soda for a laugh,

so Dad completely dumped said 32 oz. cola in the brother's lap...in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Each member of the family once bought Dad a different Spanish-language greeting card, and each invented a different insulting translation. It's this kind of playful humor that gives each Hicks-Gibbon Studios design its fun flair.

ON "NICE" GREETING CARDS:"If it weren't for the diligent practice of deliberate loving-meanness in my family, I'd probably be a nice guy." Adam says. "As it stands, I don't think I could write a really 'nice' greeting card if I tried."

THE MEANER THE CARD, THE MORE THE LOVE:"It's pretty ironic that you can give a 'nice' card to someone you don't like very much, but you'd only give a really cruel card to the people you love the most."