Hey, this is my first year at OSF. I’m heavily interested in skateboarding and graffiti. My brand name is Olympian, and I aim to remind my fellow skaters about the heavenly escape from reality that is skateboarding.
The approach is a clean abstract crystal effect and calligraphy. My inspiration pulls from multiple artists impacting the current handstyle or “calligraffiti” scene; Saber, Faust, Sniper, StompDownKillaz, etc. Templates used for the InTrap videos on Youtube influenced the abstract triangles used. The deck was personally pressed and hand crafted. The geometric shapes were achieved by a misting technique I use that utilizes overspray. The calligraphy was free-handed and faded onto the board through tape stenciling. The Elements and Principles of Design I used were Shape for the background, Proportion for the calligraphy, and Contrast for the colour. With this board in particular I was promoting the modernization and evolution of graffiti beginning with handstyles/tags. I’m quite fed up with graffiti’s reputation to be looked at as old-school and grimey. The graffiti world has moved on people!
My first personal board came out exactly the way I wanted it to, but I can’t ignore the few lessons and personal notes I’ve learned along the way. #1 thing I’ve learnt is to keep an eye on your bag when pressing your deck to avoid delamination and warping. I’d also like to create my own mold the next time around so I can fully personalize my brand.
