Howdy all
This is for all of you who are well aware of the impact of living on an already strained environment and just don’t feel ‘comfortable’ being ferried around by a gluttonous chemical guzzling machine. A not so new invention, the folding bicycle, has finally hit the senses of the public with a metaphorical bicycle pump and is expected to do rather well to say the least. The sole focus of this California based company Dahon has been on creating innovative but reasonably-priced folding bicycles for those who are a little more ‘environmentally’ inclined.
Greetings and salutations all
I was wandering around on the net and came across a gem of a website that was started in 2001, what began as a comic strip entitled thunk: Urban Chaos Comic, quickly evolved into a site that catered for a surfer culture in general but delved into the infinite abyss of comic art, illustration and awesome t-shirt designs that definitely deserve a mention.
Their small range of awesome t-shirt’s haven’t got the broadest content and pertain mostly to the surfer culture that follow our beautiful SA shore’s, the main character in the comic book The Druid comes up quite often in their designs with a smattering of sick cut backs and tube riding. One of the coolest t-shirt’s I saw was a tee by the name of Attack of the Killer Surf Zombie and is on the photo above. I love anything Zombiefied so this little piece of creation really deserves a spot in my cupboard! J
Thunk still ring true to their original calling, comics and more comics. They seem to have more comics than tee designs, seven to be exact (that I could make out), and none unfortunately in electronic format so its old school pen and paper style, which I think is rad considering everything else around me is going digital. Characters like The Druid, Loob a Goo Steve and Bru seem rather outlandish and goofy but still do their thing and save the planet while catching elegant surf.
There site also serves as a platform for aspiring artists to submit any surf related paraphernalia, hand drawn or Digital for the public to feast their eyes upon. You are also able to purchase some beautiful original artwork that is, no doubt, surfer related. My personal favourite was called ‘5 spots’ and depicts the artist’s impression of five surf spots, four of them here in SA and the fifth in Indonesia. Each image was painted on a piece of ply wood and then mounted on large piece of Yellow wood. The yellow wood in question was used as a water stopper for a fresh water stream in the Klein Karoo area, this is an ingenious little link between the ocean, inland and water.
Well here’s the site, have a look for yourself and delve into the whole proudly South African surfer vibe. J
Enjoy
Alex
Hey peeps
I was wondering what to blog about when I stumbled across this, a skateboarders dream come true at Galeria Noua art gallery. I never thought I would see the day when ‘deck artists’ would actually be recognized by a peer group. It’s refreshing to see the art world accept and encourage a new medium like skateboarding. I think this is one of those prime examples where we can actually see where design is changing and not only in the medium itself but the design culture as a whole.
Granted most of a skateboards design is worn away with use but then again it’s not unnatural to find a few who actually buy decks just to put on their wall, a connoisseur so to speak in the skate art world. A leading deck designer at the moment is Blind’s Corey Sheppard, his beautiful pieces are done on all types and shapes of decks as well as wheels and trucks. Corey‘s been with blind for what seems like forever and probably will be there forever as well. Corey seems to be the heart and soul of the blind image with his designs being the only ones used on signature boards.
Blind are only one of the manufactures in the skate arena, but they are also the only manufacturer that pay special attention to skate graphics. Another well known skate label, Baker, did a small run of decks that were only intended to be ‘out on a wall products’ as well but it all comes down to you as a consumer what goes up on the wall and what gets skated at the end of the day.
It seems that everything is subjected to fashion trends including the skate scene, let’s just hope that the art isn’t.
Till we meet again, I fare thee well
Alex