Iam8bit
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| Private | |
| Industry | Entertainment industry |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | Jon M. Gibson |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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Number of locations
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2 offices (2016) |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Website | iam8bit |
Iam8bit, Inc. is a production company, creative think tank and art exhibition based in Los Angeles, California. The company works in many entertainment industries including video games, film, fashion and music. They have produced many projects including exclusive taste-maker mailers, large scale community events and short films. In 2011, iam8bit rebranded their identity to be more broadly focused, launching with a new logo and website.
iam8bit was originally conceived by videogame/tech journalist Jon M. Gibson in the summer of 2004. Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight in Los Angeles served as the show's venue for three years, but even after the first opening, it was obvious that iam8bit needed a more spacious home. Nearly 1,500 people attended the opening night reception on April 19, 2005, with thousands frequenting the show during its month-long run. "To see that kind of stretch along sidewalks, weaving in and out of back alleys, leaning into traffic," Gibson told Kotaku in July 2010. "It was so fucking cool."
However, the company has since expanded its focus, delving into both gaming and non-gaming arenas, but always with a slant towards artistry, design and innovation.
In January 2014, the official website for the group was hacked by Anonymous.
Since expanding its focus from the inaugural group art show, iam8bit has matured as a company, becoming a full-on artist collective with the addition of a partner, Amanda White, who owns an equal stake in the organization. "It was just me before, by my lonesome for so many years," Gibson said to Joystiq. "And now I have a partner and we're taking charge." The two partners are:
Since its inception as an art event, iam8bit has become a full-fledged lifestyle brand, focused on the artistic side of gaming—whether it's old-school or not. It began with a collection of "limited edition" T-shirts (printed in no larger quantities than 500), adorned with popular images from the exhibition, but quickly branched off from there. Chronicle Books published an official collection of pieces from the inaugural show in April 2006 entitled, iam8bit: Art Inspired by Classic Videogames of the '80s, and was promptly carried in stores like Urban Outfitters, Barnes and Nobles, Giant Robot, and many other museum and boutique shops. It is one of the best-selling videogame-themed books of all time. A sequel to the book, called SUPER i am 8-bit: More Art Inspired by Classic Videogames of the '80s is to be published by Insight Editions in June 2010.
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Wikipedia