I have briefly mentioned my love for skateboarding in other posts, but I have not quite gone into detail of the variety of art implemented in the sport. The physical act of skateboarding, the setup of places and things you skate, the style of your tricks and more all fall into artistic elements of skateboarding, but the most obvious representation of art in skateboarding is on the bottom of the board.
Most people are familiar with traditional mediums of graphic design like posters, album art, brochures, etc. but the skateboarding industry pays exceptional detail to design that often goes unnoticed.
Like any other industry where graphic design is heavily used, there are designers from every neck of the woods in skateboarding. There are brands like Enjoi who are known for their provocative graphics and then there are brands like Santa Cruz who embrace the bright, bold, California aesthetic that skateboarding originated from.
In the rest of this post I discuss the design elements embodied in a few brands whose decks have stood out to me over the years.
Baker
Baker is an OG, swagger brand who has rightfully earned their way to the top of the skateboarding industry for not only having quality products but style as well. Baker is owned by legendary street skater Andrew Reynolds aka The Boss. Like their owner, Baker is known for being a classic dope ass brand. Their logo consists of big, loud, clean, boxy letters, like most of the skating on their team it’s eye catching and impressionable. While their decks have consisted of other graphics here and there over the years their OG logo in a variety of colors and finishes have been well received.
Krooked
Krooked is a skateboard company that was established by the phenomenal pro skater Mark Gonzalez, whom I have written about here. As I have mentioned in my previous post, Mark is an eccentric skater and illustrator. His artwork, which is closely resembled in Krooked board graphics, utilizes 90’s style, bold, colorful, abstract, pop art. Krooked also does a wonderful job of collaborating with other artists in the skateboarding industry which allows them to have a variety in style of board graphics. My favorite thing about most of Krooked’s designs, like Mark’s artwork, is the organic hand drawn feel of most of the graphics. Mark also does a great job of highlighting socially challenging topics in a casual demeanor that leaves the final design open to interpretation. Overall their designs are fun, creative, and abstract just like the sport of skateboarding.
Girl
One problem I have as a creative is sticking with one desired image and maintaining consistency. Consistency is something that Girl skateboards is an absolute rockstar at. They have a simple familiar design of a faceless female icon that easily anyone can identify with and it directly coordinates with their brandname, Girl. Most of their board designs feature the simple Girl logo in the box with minimal text. While their original logo is great the ways they manage to collaborate with other designers and skaters, merge styles, and revamp their logo are phenomenal. Even when it comes to them reusing their original logo they always utilize unique color ways that are not only aesthetically pleasing but are eye catching and inspiring. When it comes to the ways they mix up their logo they do it in the slightest but most impactful way such as the closeup, tilted, and “shined on” pink board example at the upper left. Branding is huge in skateboarding and most people who aren’t even skaters are familiar with Girl to some extent but one thing they have going for them is their familiar logo and name.
Art Bananas 