Skateboarding grew from a Southern California hobby born out of surfing to a nationwide trend, and has since developed into a visual style. While the bottoms of skateboards have always been adorned with graphics, back in the day only a handful of skateboard manufacturers existed. Today, vast amounts of visuals are created for skateboards, with more than 40 major brands in the market. Because of how the sport has grown, however, many of these graphics are used for only a season, and then are forgotten about – until now. From spreads of full-board designs to detailed crops of patterns and graphics, New Skateboard Graphics features the best, most innovative work going on today. Interviews with designers and creators of major brands help elucidate this colorful phenomenon.
J. Namdev Hardisty is a designer, author, educator and occasional artist. With his wife Kimberlee Whaley he co-directs the creative studio The MVA. The MVA specializes in print design producing books, magazines, t-shirts and posters for Mark Batty Publisher, Analog Clothing, Minneapolis College of Art & Design and others. Their work has been published in the best-selling design books Hand Job: A Catalog of Type and Over and Over: A Catalog of Hand-Drawn Patterns (both by Mike Perry for Princeton Architectural Press). To see a portfolio of work visit http://the-mva.com
Namdev is the author of two books, New Skateboard Graphics a collection of contemporary (you guessed it!) skateboard graphics and DIY Album Art: Paper Bags & Office Supplies which documents the hand-made record covers of the 90's hardcore/punk scene (both Mark Batty Publisher, 2009). He is currently writing a book on typography for 2010 publication.
Since 2008, he's been teaching typography and graphic design classes at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design.
Namdev and Kimberlee live and work in Minneapolis, Minnesota with their daughter Patience and loyal, but mischievous mini-dachshund Zoey.
