Surfboards have been round for ages. Even I have had the pleasure to get out on the waves and splash about a bit here and there. It’s a fascinating experience that you should try if you haven’t already. I recommend that you try out Australia – Surfers Paradise. There is everything from everyday people, surf-bums to pro surfers hanging out there. My Uncle lives there and he and some good friends have started up ”The Table of Knowledge”, a group of surf-dudes that surf and once a month they meet to run raffles, auctions and raise money for CANTEEN (cancer support for teenagers).

The shape of the board itself I would say is a statement of design. Beautiful shapes for the person wanting to be free and ride the waves and enjoyable to look at too. With the right graphics one could almost think the boards were magic. There are of course lots of different shapes of boards and the one I have done here is meant to be for 7.8 feet or a bit longer. The different lengths call for different approaches in ways of design. This one – made for a longer board needs a design with more flow than a shorter board that can have a more aggressive style. This board has a wave-like look - circular and elliptic shapes. Blue in three different shades, to resemble the many million colours that one can find in the ocean, and orange - as the sun - but also because it pops out very nicely in the blue tones.

A character from the surfing world is proving that anyone can surf – including myself. Or as commented in the illustration – I get wet anyway and it feels great. I love the feeling and the atmosphere, the sea and the waves - even the washy ones – or maybe they are actually the ones that you catch easily. So as a tribute to great surfers through time – such as Duke Kahanamoku, Laird Hamilton, Kelly Slater and many more that made surfing into what it is today and also all those people who have inspired me to ”getting wet” - this illustration shows a pretty average dude, standing on the beach checking out the waves, in a pair of surf-trunks with a Hawaii-theme and the big gun under the arm – all set. This cartoon is also inspired by the very well known surf-cartoonist – graphic designer – Jim Phillips. He has done a lot of really nice art.

As you can see I have given my surf-dude a loose look - he is getting the hang of the surfer lifestyle from the bottom of his soul. The sun has tanned his leather-thick skin to be able to ride the board without needing to wear the rash-shirt. He’s even got the build of an old school ”Big Wave Surfer”.

Hang loose!

Toes on the nose is the expression used among long-board surfers describing the ”surf-trick” when you are hanging ten toes over the front end of your board. As you can see I have used again the same surf-dude, with the Aloha tattoo on his arm, to illustrate a great accomplishment in surfing. The thing is - you can do lots of things in life that are most fascinating and even hard to do, but you would have hoped that once in a while someone saw you. Otherwise it’s just like another surf-story that your friends role their eyes at and wonder if you are going to tell the ”Big Wave” story again. I have used a style of drawing that gives a cartoon-look and an over-dimensioned surfer to give the picture a much nicer and dynamic appearance. The perspective in the picture starts out with the dude to the left – then the rest of the picture is swallowed by the centre of the tube behind him. This gives it a speedier touch.

There is a clothing-brand that started many years ago that actually goes by the name ”Hang Ten”. They have a cool symbol showing two feet and ten toes. It was Duke Boyd and a seamstress, by the name of Doris Boeck, who started this brand in the sixties, in southern California.

Hang ten!

Ok – this time I have made a little logo for this occasion. A logo symbolising me flying off to go surfing. I wanted to it give the same feeling like the board-design I did a couple of days ago. I used a picture of an old board and tinted the photograph to give it a bit of a worn look. I laid the logotype text on top of the board to give it a more integrated feeling. I made the letter “g” as the symbol and gave it a sort of surf-wave on the top. The bottom part of the “g” is the turns one does coming down the face of the wave. The top circle represents the eye of the wave or also known as the tube - even though I�m not that experienced as a surfer. But I do like “getting wet” just as I mentioned in a previous design I made before.

So this means that I will be surfing and hangin out in the sun for a few days. I will be back with more designs and new fresh inspiration at the beginning of March.

Off to the beach, surf-trunks and the waves..
Hang loose til then.

Surfers often talk about the perfect wave. I guess everyone has their own definition of this perfect wave. Especially if you don�t surf ”Big wave contest” on a regular day basis. Most people who see an enormous wave on the front of a magazine with a person standing in the middle of the picture, no bigger than a little finger in proportion to the magazine, will at least feel how impressive nature can be. Even though these giants exist one can be pretty happy catching a smaller wave even if it�s a bit washy and no more than a couple of feet high…

Here I have drawn a wave with a very graphic feeling. Different blue colours and lots of circles and dots to give you a little thought towards - perfect wave. The shapes give an organic and flowing look. That makes the wave look big and fast. The wallpaper, under the header ”Wallpaper”, shows some text too. This I felt could be for a poster advertising a new movie or film about the great seas and oceans as well as the perfect spots in the world. The direction I chose here is much more calm than if one had done it more like the style I did for ”The Circle of Action” the other day. So this graphic version is more of an opposite to enhance the right feeling. Danger versus calmness.