Concept:
Skateboarding is a large and growing culture these days and Oregon has been expanding the culture by building skateparks all over. The idea of my project is to link skaters to these parks by making a skateboard design that will map out the parks in an infographic form.
Plan:
My project will consist of an inforgraph mapping out skate parks in Oregon (beyond?) and then make one or a set of skateboard decks with my design on them. This will either be done with a laser cutter or find a company online that will put my design on a deck. I am also planning on expanding on this by making a spray paint stencil to make shirts. I'm choosing spray paint instead of other methods is because it's part of the skating culture. I hope to come up with at least one more piece to go with this, possibly a photo shoot of someone skating with my board.
Includes:
Infograph Map
Skateboard w/ infograph
Stencil
T-shirt w/ stencil
Photo shoot
12 comments:
pretty neat, my only concern is people scratching the designs off the bottom before they can really use it. maybe think helmets and sweat bands or some other kind tangible skating device. possibly etch the bottom for a more permeant design.
Thanks for the feedback, I'm definitely leaning towards lazer cutting the map into the board so it would take a good amount of use to affect the design.
I like the photo shoot idea and think it's important to see the board in action. It'd be awesome to get a picture of someone doing a kickflip, or some other various trick, with the design of the board showing completely.
it might be cool to make the info graphic of the state parks on the skate decks (like 5-7) with vinyl and hang it on the wall?
sounds like a very solid idea for a new clothing/skate line. I'd also love to see some sort of skate/map magazine targeting to your audience
I like this idea a lot. You should talk to skaters, people you know that are familiar with the skate parks around Oregon. Find out what makes each park different. Most skaters have strong opinions about this.
Great concept. I think having the map on the board works because it is the item that the skater will always have with them. Adding a website might be helpful, that way if the image does wear off, they could still find a copy of the map online with driving directions how to get to each park etc.
Im a little confused on what part of the info graphic has to do with the location of the skate park. What im saying is what makes this different than a map? What type of information are you linking to the location of the skate parks, are you going to include things such as number of rails, half pipes or whatever you have in a skate park. Maybe include size to population ratios, or even how maintained or beat up the sites are.
My only worry with the laser cutter has to do with the curve of the board. Laser cutters require flat surfaces to work properly. It might be worth exploring other options and maybe doing more than just the decks.
I think lazer cutting a skateboard might take way too much time, and may not be strong enough. Also, if you lazer cut the boards they have to have a curve and that sounds too complicated for the project. It's wise to focus on the design and concept more then making your own board. I found a site where you can buy blank skateboards pretty cheaply, so you can put your own design on it.
http://www.skateboom.com/servlet/the-1514/BOOM-TOWN-7.5-BLANK/Detail
I like the idea of the photo shoot, getting friends to pose for you and or skate with your designed boards. Also t-shirt's would be pretty sweet. Make sure the designs make sense and all tie in together so people can tell its a specific brand. Maybe design a logo?
This site you can buy blank skateboards for 9.99 if you order them.
I think this is a cool idea to have maps on the back of skateboard. I would be very disappointed if you instead put vinyl on the back of the boards instead of laser cutting the boards, however this is a different concept of mapping. I am excited to see the boards and the video clip.
I think this is a pretty great idea. The design will be key for this project because skateboarding has a pretty strong culture that is somewhat stylized, breaking into the market can be tough. And if you have the time, lazercutting would be the way to go.
-Riley
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