Why be bored in school? Go to a Skateboard School! This Toronto District School Board alternative school design program helps students earn high school credits and graduate by creating their own brand and running a skateboard business / professional design studio. OASIS SKATEBOARD FACTORY (OSF) "ON THE GRIND": TDSB's ART & ENTREPRENEURSHIP O.G.s since 2006!

Friday, November 2, 2018

A new deck from Playground Skateboards:



























I'm 17 and I run Playground Skateboards. Playground Skateboards exists to celebrate your inner child. This is my third semester at OSF. 
For this board I wanted to make a deck with a shape I've never done before. While we were doing the OSF Old School Indig project last year, I was inspired by Alva's classic surf-style boards. The shape is really pleasing to look at and I wanted to make a new filmer board because I sold my prototype at the Bentway skate park this summer. This board will be a smooth and sturdy cruiser. 
I started by researching shapes online. Looking at the veneers we already had in class I decided to cut this board out of a pre-existing pintail shape to save time and resources. For the graphic I initially wanted to try experimenting with texture and art styles, but once I realized the shape already looked like a duck, quaked like a duck I had to make it into a duck. The graphic was applied using tape stencils. For the elements and principles of design I focused on using shapes with no outlines because it's unusual and really unifies my artwork. 
This is my favourite board I've made so far because I was more independent and able to use the techniques I've learned over the past year. Compared to my first board my cuts have gotten way more clean and I've become more confident in adding more layers to my stencils. This board makes me want to venture out and try more shapes and keep experimenting with my art style.

SAVE the DATE: MARCH 28 OSF YEAR 10 CELEBRATION for Past Students & OSF VIPs at Gladstone Hotel (details TBA)

🎃 🍕 Happy Halloween from OSF! 🍕🎃

Sinsation Season 2:


SINSATION I’m 17 and this is my second semester at OSF. Sinsation exits to trespass on highfashion. My brand is about being iconic and is inspired by my sense of fashion. I want to bring an element of elegance to street wear and skating.

To start off the year Sinsation has created a cutting edge Holographic Skateboard. The repeating text was inspired by album covers, and the graphic gives off an overall clean and modern feel.

This Board was pressed using Roarocket technology to laminate the 7 veneers of Canadian Maple, the board was woodworked by hand. The Board was then covered with a sheet of Holographic Vinyl. I taped on top of the vinyl and traced on the lettering. I cut the tape stencil out by hand then peeled off the negative space, the board was then sprayed with Montana black and sealed matte. The hope with the matte finish is to draw a contrast between the shine on the letters and the rest of the board. The final step was peeling up the tape to reveal the holographic effect underneath.

I’d say this has been my most labour intensive project so far at OSF, I feel I’ve progressed since last semester when I was doing much simpler designs.
Seeing the vision I had in my head for this board go from paper to reality was nerve-racking... I wanted this board to be perfect every step of the way, and even though it took time it’s always worth it to have a finished product you’re proud of. Moving forward I hope to grow my brand by producing a line of clothing and other fun merch.


MONKEY BO$$

MONKEY BO$$ is my new brand that I started in my first semester at OSF. MONKEY BO$$ exists to show the similarities between humans and animals. Humans seem to think that we aren’t animals or evolving; we have huge egos that make us think we are alien to the natural world. On my first board I represented an ape on the US dollar bill as the President. On my board I am showing apes as the top of the food chain as supreme in our civilization.
This was the first board I pressed and made by myself. I hand sanded it and then dipped the whole board green with spray paint. Then I stenciled areas for a second color of analogous green. The details were drawn on with paint marker to get a variety of fluid lines of similar line weight; there are a lot of details, especially in the focal point of the President Ape. I used the paint marker to create textures using dots and lines to make the graphic less flat or 2D. 
Overall, I am really happy with how my first board turned out. I learned that its easy to mess up with paint markers because they smear and you need a steady hand. I made sure I knew where the lines were supposed to go and I went over them multiple times to make them look smooth. I think that my graphic turned out looking a bit vintage so its a good match for this old school pool deck shape. I’m looking forward to developing the style of my brand on clothing and other skateboard shapes.
Instagram: monkeeboss

Weston/Pro Bono Lawyers talking about the ABCs of Starting Your Own Business