Some of our new 2016 turtle boards for Yolo are getting a strong showing in this new Coastal Cruiser vid. Look for the painted Honu and the Namasté Turtle.
We've wanted to make resources for other designers and illustrators out there for a while. Whether they need a starting point for their design or some fun elements to work with they can find them on our ever-growing Creative Market shop called Salty Surplus.
Our first 5 products are fun vector t-shirt design templates. They just debuted yesterday and were already featured on the Creative Market's blog Fresh Design Goods Fresh Design Goods.
T-Shirt Template 001 on Creative Market
T-Shirt Template 003 on Creative Market
T-Shirt Template 005 on Creative Market
T-Shirt Template 002 on Creative Market
T-Shirt Template 004 on Creative Market
T-Shirt Template 006 on Creative Market
Feel free to snag a template for yourselves and if there's a product you think we should make, let us know.
The new Yolo Original boards for 2016 have arrived and several of our designs are headlining this sweet new video. We created the tattoo design, the painterly Sea Turtle design, and the Yoga Turtle design, and the hand-drawn type on the white Richie Gudzan board.
Yolo Creative director: Jake Meyer
YOLO ORIGINAL CATEGORY - ALL-AROUND | SURF | EXPEDITION 12'0" x 32" x 4.8" | 34 LBS RIDER LIMIT - 275 LBS | VOLUME - 236 L Hammerstrength molded epoxy and spectacular graphics by Jeremy Kennedy, Jake Meyer and Richie Gudzan set this board apart from any other.
Here's a better look at the new boards:
We took in the Surf Expo January 16th and met with clients new and old. Here are some things we found interesting between meetings.
(Rollover for descriptions)
Fun, but not cheap Popup Camper reproductions, based on VW buses
Cool signage, that overlaps structure.
Clean and colorful SUPs out of CA.
And we're always a sucker for an good anchor.
That green really "Pops"
Metal signage and a fun little open booth space from OnTheRoad.
Travis's work pants, covered in resin.
Tasty resin play and sanded finishes from Chris Ruddy
Always love the Howler Bros stuff. Digging this Cptn Mnky too.
Roark Revival booth full of patterns and layered goods.
Classic Jack
Play your own themesong as you ride, thanks to Globe's bluetooth speaker board.
Captain Fins' cool fins and color combos. The DIY booth graphics with cheap engineer prints were fun too.
Exploded electric skateboard from Boosted.
Cool pop-up utility box for a inflatable. Bote and their station wagon made an appearance as well.
We all know it's Brandon Grotesque printed, but it still looks good on a window.
Nice new series from Arbor
What drew you to Glas?
I’ve been an obsessed camera collector for years and love to make art with cameras in it for CameraLuv, so when I ran across the Glas “16mm” tee way back in 2008, along with some of their other cool hand-drawn tees, I knew these guys would be cool collaborators, because they love cameras and waves as much or more than me.
What pieces did you create for glas and what was the inspiration for those pieces?
I’ve worked on a bunch of tees over the years and my own camera collection has been the biggest inspiration for most of my work for Glas. The cameras, the shutters and components all combined with patterns and textures and anything hand-drawn make for some fun stuff.
When did you decide to become an artist?
I knew from a young age I wanted to be an astronaut or an artist. Around 4th grade, my hopes for space travel were dashed when I realized I inherited my dad’s bad eyesight, needed thick glasses and probably couldn’t be a pilot … so ... art it was. I always remember drawing and I learned how to airbrush and paint with watercolors and inks and learned how to screenprint in high school. I didn’t know how to make an art career happen until I heard out about "graphic design" from art school brochures from SCAD and Ringling College. With design, I realized I could do it all and use my drawings, photography and other art in my designs. I didn’t really even use computers in high school, but I knew graphic design or industrial design was what I wanted to do. I was working at a surfshop in high school and whenever I wasn’t surfing, longboarding, or wakeboarding, I was probably working on my art portfolio. It actually was a bit of a joke to some of the more unmotivated upperclassmen in my high school art classes, that I wouldn’t be partying with them, I’d be working on my portfolio. I got in, they didn’t.
Where did you train?
After graduation, I stuck around my hometown working, surfing and got an AA to knock out my prerequisites and took all the art classes I could from my community college and then I transferred down to Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL to get a degree in Graphic and Interactive communication with a minor in photography.
How did your training influence you?
I really learned a lot from professors and my classmates in all majors at Ringling. I worked like crazy trying to push myself and our group of friends. Everyone was an artist around me so it was really cool to see what everyone was doing by day in class, and by night in the labs, studios and around campus. A bunch of my friends now work in the movie industry doing animation for sony, pixar and all that stuff. It was inspiring that they were creating whole worlds etc…
Where do you get your ideas?
They come from all around. You don’t know what will strike you and each project has it’s own needs. It’s the old signage on the street, it’s the sunset, it’s the way the tide has pushed in the driftwood, the line of that new Audi car ...you just never know.
I mentioned earlier liking to collect cameras, but I also collect all kinds of cool print ephemera or vintage skateboards… I’ve got a bunch of flat files in the studio full of random cards, tags, letterpress stuff and posters.
I guess I'll have to admit I also have a little bit of an obsession with Pinterest as well. I’ve pretty much run out of room for my cameras, so I’m filling up pinboards instead. I think it kind of satiates my appetite for collecting random stuff, without the clutter. You can waste a bunch of time here: (pinterest.com/cameraluv).
What artist or artists inspired you?
I’m inspired by those who seem to have way more time to draw than myself. Artists, designers, letterers … people like Joshua Noom, Mark Tesi, Jon Contino, Jackson Chandler, Jen Mussari, Jessica Hische, Dana Tanamachi, DKNG, Anne Benjamin and so many more are doing great work.
Is there symbolic imagery in your work?
Not really. But hopefully I leave a little stamp of myself into everything i do. I used to design magazines and books a lot, and would hide stuff in the gutters or illustrations all the time. I always try to find a connection to the work i’m doing so that I can learn something and grow from it no matter what it is. It’s always cool to take something that was just an idea, a few words or just a word doc from a client and turn it into something visual and something people want to keep.
What medium do you use and how did you decide on this?
I pretty much use all the mediums at different times. I’m on the computer probably more than I used to be, but for Glas stuff I’ll use pencil, pen and ink, and a little paint and the most recent batch of tees some of my photography was mixed in. If I’m doing a camera or something I’ll compose one of mine, and photograph it or just draw it.. then scan stuff back in and work in Illustrator or photoshop to get it ready for print.
What do you hope to accomplish as an artist?
I’ve always been really goal driven, but my priorities have shifted more to family as a have a few young boys and a beautiful wife. I don’t really aspire to have a one-man gallery show or be known by everybody. I just want to create and collaborate on things people love to wear or hold or read or experience, and all the while have fun and support my family.
Here's a look at the some of the inspirations we found at this Fall's Surf Expo. It's always a good time seeing old friends and clients and meeting new ones. There were a lot of cool wakeboard graphics this year that did a great job of incorporating materials and various paints and finishes. Definite eye candy and drool worthy printing.
We spent a little time on the lake this year with friends and family and shared our new Yolo Original Sea Turtle with everyone. Happy 4th!
We've worked with Yolo Board for the last few years and our sea turtle illustrations are among their best sellers year after year. This summer, they lovingly sent one of the Yolo Originals for the family to enjoy. Here's the unwrapping and maiden voyage of this year's 12' Sea Turtle board.
Had a great Night out at the student SPOT Showcase event / Tad Carpenter talk at the Orange Studio. There was some great student work and really thought out displays that left everyone a little envious of the student's access to sweet stuff like laser cutters and CNC machines... Tad was good too, but we all knew that was going to be the case.
Pictured here with the @aigaorlando crew at Orange studio with Victor Davilla, Bernadette Mural, Justin Mezzell and more at the Tad Carpenter event. (Photo Courtesy of Devon Hoernschemeyer)
Surf Expo happens twice a year and is always a good time of seeing friends and clients, meeting with new brands and gathering inspiration of all kinds from the booths themselves, to the random print catalogs and stuff laying around we can get our hands on. The booths vary from simple pop-ups to cool experiences or even multi-storied structures. We always have fun looking at the details the brands put in. This January we found ourselves in more meetings, so there are less photos than usual, but here are a few things we noticed.
OTHER NOTABLES:
Jetty: New Jersey based clothing company with a love for surf, skate and having fun.
Iron & Resin: Wearables from Southern California board and bike lovers.
Rareform: Cool board bags and backpacks made from recycled billboards.
Coast. Live By It: Cool booth and cool dudes with a coastal water lifestyle of building boats and boards on the coast of Key West.
Prawno Apparel: Cook marine inspired tees from Lia Barrett / Underwater Photography
Tentree: Clothes that give back by planting 10 trees for every item of clothing sold.
Locomotiv: Handcrafted skateboards from Charleston, South Carolina. Stock and custom boards available with your own graphics.
Mistura: Handmade wood and leather watches.