Like a skateboard but...

Another contest, another chance, and...

Well stuff me in a boat and shove me out to sea, I did it a'gin!

WAVESPORT Kayak Competition. I'm in the top 5. My boat will be 0n display at the outdoor retailer show in Utah. They will ship me the boat after the show. I got a boat. A boat. If I win the grand prize, I'll get $2500 cash. Then I'll buy a paddle. And a helmet.

With every vote, you can borrow the boat. VOTE!

Thanks!

One Hour Design Challenge

In one hour, please design a Skateboard Graphic using black and clear grip-tape.
Gladly.
Over at the Core77 website, they occasionally sponsor 1 hour design challenges, covering a broad range of subjects and disciplines. Most are too highbrow (difficult) for me, as I tend to focus on the more approachable (easy) common man design. The concept is that in the course of an hour, you are to develop, execute, and present your solution to the challenge. Briefly, here is the BRIEF: "make a graphic for a longboard skateboard! The twist here is that the design will be produced by laser-cutting grip tape for use on the top of the board"

Simple enough. So I went to my sketchbook for 2 of the boards, and created one from type and simple graphics. In most design disciplines, if you are not fast, you don't get paid. I seem to be making a decent living so far, and these all clocked in at less than an hour each. The 3 winners receive their design cut out and applied to a complete board. If I win 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, I'll be sooooo embarrassed. Hey, it could happen.

UPDATE: Holy SH8T! I won!!! The non-skull, less wordy one won!! 3RD! I'll take it!

Sounds like a number one jam #2

So my good pal Richard has a design studio, and one of his super-star designers Mr Steve R. has created what can arguably described as perhaps the single most important image in all history of graphic design. Behold the majesty that is SPACE TIGER!!!

Yes, Space Tiger. Like Clarke/Kubric's monolith that inspired the monkeys advancement into humanness the moment they laid eyes on it, I was similarly inspired to crank out the aural riffage you are about to experience. It is the theme of our lives. It IS-- S P A C E T I G E R !

Space Tiger might be found on T-shirts and skate-wheels soon...

PIG: "I'll be back"

Yes indeed, he is back. The PIG logo all done up in T3 style. I think the kids will dig it. Mine do. I do. Good enough. My good pal Richard will arrange the art on the board along with type for final TERMINATOR glory. I think it turned out pretty good. Not as good as the Schwartz, but nobody really wants his mug on a skateboard anyway. Enter the PIG.

UPDATE: The boards are finished! My good pal Richard did a nice job, eh? It's a slight bummer when only 60% of the art is used in the final, but such is the way of the Skateboard.

Board Aagin, PIG

All right! More Skateboard graphics have been ordered! This time, the little PIG is in need of a makeover. First up is gooey pig. Hmm needs butter. Two more, in completely different styles will follow shortly. Fun to draw and ink, these are some of my favorite projects to do. My good pal Richard will be handling the coloring and cropping. All three will be making their appearance on line, and in a big box store near you this holiday season. Ho Ho Oink.

Skate or Die or Else

So I take back everything I said about Australia. With my good pal Richard, (see earlier post) we banged out three (1, 2, 3) well received skateboard designs for GLOBE. They did a nice job with the art I sent and it feels pretty good to have something in print that isn't on paper. I am stoked. I want one. I want three. So do you. I already got paid so there isn't anything in it for me except for the obvious: Legions of adoring fans and street-cred with the kids. I'll take it.

Spread the Love

My good pal Richard loaned me some CD's. I took what I needed and wrapped the whole mess back up in some bond paper, pilfered from the "Epson 300 Photo-whatever". The blank and white package was begging for customization, so I documented my good pal Richard's pleasant mug in no less than three pens of two totally different colors. Black and White. Does it look like my good pal Richard? Not really. Is it better than nothing? I'll know for sure after I deliver it to him personally.

I should probably buy him lunch as well,
my good pal Richard.

Honestly?

A new client has secured me for several months worth of work, and I gotta say, I am having a blast. They are in the , and the owners have over 35 years in the business. I think I am doing some of my best work. It is great to be in the of things again, and I hope that keeps me for the foreseeable future. has said that and we will be poised to leverage . He wen't on to say, "If that happens, Ben, naturally you will be . Don't let get news of this . They can't do any damage, but you need to avoid , because of 's unstable nature." Wow! Cloak and dagger aren't my thing but, man I , and !

Yes, I know it's unorthodox, but 's Facebook account! What a joke! More later, but only if I am cleared to discuss .

Green Thumb, Sore Back

With the high cost of vegetables and the need for better food, I decided to make a few raised beds and grow some plants. That's right, in order to save 30 cents a pound, I spent $90 on wood and $120 for some dirt.

...It's the thought that counts. Saving the world, one radish at a time. BTW, I am on track to harvest 200+ radishes. Yikes.

Continental divide

So I designed 3 skateboard graphics, through my good man Richard Jones at United Design Group, who supplied art direction. ***** was the client, and this was UDG's first project for them. The potential was high for lots of work if they liked the designs. When the dust settled and the ink was dry. they were Stone Crusty STOKED, Brah! (channeling the voice of Spicoli).

But it was tough. Turned out there were approximately 10 people we had to please before any comp was approved. Interestingly , 3 were pro surfers who were being honored on each board, and they supplied the style direction. That was fine but they all had different evolving visions, and they were all on the other side of the world, in Australia, where they can barely speak English. -OK, that was uncalled for. I was punchy and I apologize. They were actually very nice and happy with our efforts, but things did get lost in translation. This was their first foray into skateboard design, and making significant changes in the middle of the project didn't appear troubling to them. I caused a huge pain for us as we scrambled to accommodate their wishes and nurse my unusual creative block and colossally slow performance. Luckily an appropriate soundtrack was found (Sugie Otis, BlackFlag, Cheap Trick, and 13th Floor Elevators) and the correct beverages were consumed, and I was able to get 'em done in time.

So it's all good because they turned out great, and I was able to relive a bit of my high school drawing days, where the main focus of my 'art' then was the bikini clad female form. Good times? Indeed.