Hand-Lettered Design and Painted Deck

This original piece was made for Belle City Boardshop, located in Racine, Wisconsin. The final, hand-lettered design was painted on a recycled deck, and was gifted to the shop. The city saw its population peak in the '60s and '70s, after decades of growth as a factory town. Remnants of this era can be found throughout the city, which informed the classic brush script style of the lettering. It felt fitting to design the lettering as a nod to the history of the city, which has been without its own skateshop for over a decade, as opposed to the DIY look generally seen from skateshops.

Drafting Process

The process of designing the piece started with sketching and research, using The Disposable Skateboard Bible by Sean Cliver as a starting point. With over a handful of sketches, and more than 15 digital iterations, the design required extensive refinement.

Painting the Deck

Using an old skateboard deck as the canvas for the finished piece, I first had to remove the old griptape and sand off the original graphic. After prepping the board, I printed the vectorized design to transfer to the board via graphite. The board was painted with acrylic paints, and sealed with high-gloss polycrylic spray.