Today, Nick Jensen, Paul Shier and I launched Isle Skateboards: a new home for some of the incredibly talented skaters who used to ride for the OG Blueprint brand. There’s no question of ever trying to replace what Dan Magee, Shier and everyone had done previously: without any doubt, Blueprint changed skateboarding forever with its unique aesthetic. Seeing what’s happened to the brand since the original team left, if you’ll pardon the pun, is heartbreaking. Many of my favourite skaters rode for Blueprint at one time or another. Mark Baines, John Rattray, Franklin Stephens, Rob Selley, Flynn Trotman, Danny Brady, Colin Kennedy, Chewy Cannon… the list is endless. And that’s without including Shier and Jensen.
Being involved since day one of discussions about Isle has been a great experience. Nick Jensen is a fantastic art director and we spent months honing the visuals and communications before releasing anything. For as long as I’m involved, nothing will ever be released on Isle unless both Nick and Shier are backing it 100%.
The Push Pull series was inspired by something that Nick and Shier had seen and liked, whilst the Studio series was compiled from objects and images that Nick had collected and which were then arranged by the both of us. My brother Phil stepped aside from his day job at U-Dox for a couple of days and took care of the photography for us.
There are a number of things happening behind the scenes since we launched. My role has been formalised into ‘creative director’ but that is the broadest use of the term ever: I’ve been hopping from photo shoots and board graphic duties to copywriting and website development constantly. The first run of boards is due to arrive by the end of April 2013. I can’t wait.
The early feedback has been great so far and we appreciate the support.
Check out the website here: http://isleskateboards.com.
