02:56
Faizan
Anyone can get a skateboard. But not just anyone can have a skateboard with awesome graphics. It takes a little effort. Whether you're designing for yourself or someone else, you want the graphics to be fluid, fun and match the personality of the skateboard’s user. You can design skateboard graphics with a little imagination, a lot of flair and a few simple steps.
Examine the skateboard. Make sure you are familiar with the shape and size of the skateboard for which you are designing your graphics. Your designs will work best if you physically have the skateboard in front of you so you can analyze what would look best and refer to it often.
Follow the skateboard’s contours. Perhaps you can envision the shape of a wave rolling up around the sides of the skateboard. Maybe you view the elongated shape as a very tall face. Figure out what type of design will work with the elongated, rounded and slightly uplifted edges of the skateboard. Create a design that fills the skateboard and has an overall theme.
Keep it long and lean. As alluded to in Step 2, if you are creating graphics to cover the entire top or bottom of the deck, you’ll need to make sure your design fits well into an oblong shape. Tall faces, vines, storks or other tall animals work well with this shape.
Think motion and color. Imagine the skateboard in action to help further decide your design. Long, lean lines in fluorescent paint around the board’s perimeter, for example, will really stand out while riding. You may also want the lines to have some swirly adornments, jagged edges or bold stripes that will also result in an eye-catching display when in motion.
Be as original as possible. For example, flames are cliché. If possible, choose something meaningful to the skateboard's owner (or yourself, as the case may be). Think of it as designing a skateboard tattoo.
Remember the wheels and the bottom. Once you have the designs created for the topside of the main portion of the skateboard, also called the deck, create something to match the theme for the wheels. Wheel graphics will look best if you pick something small to go around the outer edge of the wheel--again, consider how flashy it will look when spinning around. You can also create a design for the bottom of the board, which will be visible when you do tricks that involve flipping the skateboard in mid-air or running up the side of a steep slope.
Examine the skateboard. Make sure you are familiar with the shape and size of the skateboard for which you are designing your graphics. Your designs will work best if you physically have the skateboard in front of you so you can analyze what would look best and refer to it often.
Follow the skateboard’s contours. Perhaps you can envision the shape of a wave rolling up around the sides of the skateboard. Maybe you view the elongated shape as a very tall face. Figure out what type of design will work with the elongated, rounded and slightly uplifted edges of the skateboard. Create a design that fills the skateboard and has an overall theme.
Keep it long and lean. As alluded to in Step 2, if you are creating graphics to cover the entire top or bottom of the deck, you’ll need to make sure your design fits well into an oblong shape. Tall faces, vines, storks or other tall animals work well with this shape.
Think motion and color. Imagine the skateboard in action to help further decide your design. Long, lean lines in fluorescent paint around the board’s perimeter, for example, will really stand out while riding. You may also want the lines to have some swirly adornments, jagged edges or bold stripes that will also result in an eye-catching display when in motion.
Be as original as possible. For example, flames are cliché. If possible, choose something meaningful to the skateboard's owner (or yourself, as the case may be). Think of it as designing a skateboard tattoo.
Remember the wheels and the bottom. Once you have the designs created for the topside of the main portion of the skateboard, also called the deck, create something to match the theme for the wheels. Wheel graphics will look best if you pick something small to go around the outer edge of the wheel--again, consider how flashy it will look when spinning around. You can also create a design for the bottom of the board, which will be visible when you do tricks that involve flipping the skateboard in mid-air or running up the side of a steep slope.
Posted in: skateboarding
