1HDC 09.01 - Discussion Forum

I figured I’d post some images I found while cruising the interweb of cut grip tape. Some of them were mentioned as being ‘laser cut’, others appear to have been hand done. Though it does show that the grip tape itself seems to be pretty resilient if cut into semi-intricate shapes. There’s some rad submissions, I cant believe there are 23 pages so far.

bustinry is a member of the Bustin crew and posted a couple of concepts here:

Does the level of detail in bustinry’s concepts reflect what can realistically be applied as griptape artwork?

I’m really just trying to establish a reference for the mechanical and precision constraints of the laser cutter and application process…

Maybe I’m wrong but this is a DESIGN competition and not a rip and paste contest isn’t it??

First of all, how many competitions have you entered where, about half way through, they say, “oh, by the way…just thought we should give you some further input about the parameters of what we’re looking for”.

That’s the basic argument I have after submitting 26 entries which were based off of internet sources. At least 30 minutes were spent on each which comes out to at least 13 hours of driving in the wrong direction. Needless to say, it’s time that could’ve been better spent. Who wouldn’t be upset about that? But, I’m over that now…

Second, who are you to judge the methods by which we create the art that’s submitted:

Andy Warhol didn’t “design” the soup can but he did make it art.

I’m going to assume you’re up to par on historic pop art figures. We can debate how you define design as a verb or noun but the fact of the matter is there’s still an unanswered question regarding the constraints.

The tolerance question right now is the biggest thing and the application process could use some more defining. Otherwise, I feel comfortable thus far with the recent change but I’m only speaking for myself.

Again, people can make me out to be the bad guy or just someone who’s inclined to do the best he can. I don’t have a problem following the rules but I will take issue when I see something that needs to be addressed.

I will say that I do appreciate the Bustin sponsorship and hope to finish in the top 3 because there’s plenty of Panama City Beach I could explore from the deck of a Bustin skateboard which would be sweet!

Right from the guy who will be applying the grip tape:

I think if they have to question if it is too small, then it is. Tell them to think about having to apply this by hand, which I will be doing. If they don’t think that they could lay their design down, then it should be tweaked until they are comfortable in the likelihood of its application. I don’t want this to stifle creativity and since I am applying the grip, I am will willing to go out on a limb for the sake of design.

A hint for the designers: Using both clear (opaque) and black grip together is the key to the functionality of the design as well as its application. The more negative, unused space, the more likely the grip is to tear away. Filling negative space with clear tape with strengthen the design as a whole.

I just want to reiterate what I stated earlier for anyone confused:

We are not saying that reconfiguring found artwork is something that can’t win. I wanted to give an indication of feedback I have received so far from those who will be making decisions as to what is standing out so far.

I repeat: We are not trying to stifle any form of expression nor are we stating that it is impossible to win if you’re reconfiguring someone else’s artwork.

As an example…don’t expect to win if you put Hello Kitty on a board with a clever tag line.

A good chunk of the work in the first 2 weeks was not “original” artwork. I was hoping to guide/encourage some new and different explorations…which I would say has worked positively so far.

Thanks IP, I can totally respect that…

There are greater legal ramifications with using images which may by protected by copyrights so I’m not against being more original.

I understand that the grip designs will be applied by hand but if the pieces are cut with a laser cutter, do they then come out as individual pieces without any form of registration or does the sheet of grip stay intact with some sort of transfer paper keeping them together? That part is still kind of sketchy…I’m basically assuming that applying the grip tape designs will be sort of like putting a puzzle together.

They wouldn’t happen to have a YouTube video visually explaining their process would they? That would help explain a lot and just be a good basic tutorial reference. It’s a challenge to say the least trying to explain a manufacturing process using words only. A minute or two of video would clear things up.

In any case, I do appreciate the guidance. :slight_smile:

I dunno if this is the same process as the griptape (again, could use clarification), but just came across this vid of the weeding process for vinyl art…

dunno if it’s applicable or helps, but anyhow-

R

Another “straight from the mouth of”:

The laser cut grip tape will be sent from Ponoko with transfer tape holding all the pieces together. This will be applied to the underside of the grip tape so I’m not sure it will help too much with the application. I don’t think it will stick too well to the grippy side of the grip tape which would be ideal for making the application easy. It will keep all the pieces together though, to make piecing the puzzle together easier.

Another thing to remember is pieces that are smaller than 1/4inch may fall through the bed of the laser and get lost.

That’s the money shot…I can double-check the tolerances to meet spec, now it’s a design competition! The “on” button has been depressed. Thanks!

Good video too R, brings back memories of my gig at DCL in Orlando. The next time any of you take a stroll through O’Hare, I got to do some of the directional signs using that process. Very methodical but a crucial part in the design process. It really helps to have some good tunes on the radio. ^)^

So, what are your favorites? There’s 25+ pages and would love to hear what people are thinking makes for a cool long board.

IP,

I’d suggest to almost to a first round of cuts to start to narrow it down. Cut out all the ones that are impossible to apply (some show gradients, microscopic bits, etc.), the ones that are ripped straight from a photo or have unusable logos on them, and then see what you get. I’d guess that first cut should at least take away half of them…

Would maybe be also good to put together some kind of a contact sheet to help judge/comment on. Going through 25 pages is almost impossible…

R

Good call. Definitely feeling a tad…overwhelmed with this one.

shoot, man, you got your work cut out for you. :open_mouth:

but, I was about to suggest something along the lines of what R suggested.

I’d even go by a check list:

1.) Manufacturability and functionality through good coverage of griptape(probably the most important)

2.) Originality (may be the most time consuming judging criteria)

3.) Pop (how does it appeal to you from a graphic perspective, usually a strong yes or no answer, it’s an “eh” that’s probably a no)

There’s about 15-20 images per page. If you can answer those 3 questions in less than 15 seconds per submission (5 second for each question), that would equate to around 300 seconds per page or only 5 minutes. Theoretically then, it should only take around an hour or so to go through everything to include documenting your answers. That’s basically 2 half-hour tv shows you might have to give up if you watch tv if you do it all at once. It might be better just to do it in chunks.

While it may seem daunting, it’s not as bad as it seems because some submissions should be faster to answer than others which will help your decision making process.

If it helps any, I think I’m about to burn out. LoL!

I have to give Core77 one thing, sometimes it inspires a creative streak in me.

I really miss that the most considering I’m not at a design job anymore…I need an outlet for my creativity and Core77 provides that so I just wanted to say thanks to you guys (and gals) and to everyone at Bustin and Ponoko for their sponsorship. I feel like I could do this forever but there has to be a stopping point, mostly for my sanity because I do get obsessed with these things. I also stopped at 52 because that’s how many weeks there are in a year. So, in my head, I could ride a different board every week!

Just to show my appreciation, I’ve put all my concepts that I’d like to submit into one file which I created as a poster. It reflects the influences that went into this competition whether it was from design research, nature, politics, my own body, pop culture, or from my own personal experiences. Some of the other designers who submitted work also stoked my fire, there’s some really talented people here and its great to be in your company. I wish everyone the best. :slight_smile:

I know it’s an existing logo, but jerry’s energy star concept is cute. I like it.

35 pgs
:open_mouth:

interesting repetition: zippers, razors, arrows, multivariate balloons, stripes, flowers, piano keys.

I like the simplicity of the flags: US and UK shown, could be almost any flag. Maybe not too appealing to the skater crowd, but many flags are graphically beautiful.

I shortlist:

any of the geometric tilings
hexagons (p48)
Super sweet candy board (p33)
herhair1 (p39)
chessboard (p43)

Stylistically fairly simple, graphically clean and probably comply with installation limitations. “herhair1” could be customized to any silhouette; not so keen on standing on a female’s face however. Chessboards of any design are beautiful, power of the grid design.

But vote for Apartment (p47). Unique, could have customized dioramas in each window individualizing the board to the owner, even leaving little blank windows for the eccentric board owner to draw in, or send the clear grip tape unistalled so boarder could put his/her own ephemera in behind then capture it.

So when and where will we know who the winners are?

Thanks for the compliment benny…I also like the energy star concept. I think it would have great potential when applied to a zero-emission form of transportation like skateboarding.

I was digging your cafe wall griptape pattern. It was easily the most trippy of the geometric patterns submitted.

Some of my other favorites include guntar’s bulldozed asphalt wave, lorenzo’s character, and mikeserafin was bringing some good concepts to the table too.

It would be interesting to study the submissions for things they shared in common as pier pointed out. I was humored by the hot dog patterns.

BRIEF:
After a string of increasingly complex 1HDCs we figure it’s time for a simpler task…

The beauty of simplicity is that it’s actually quite difficult to achieve wherein lies some great challenges especially when you consider the pencil and the paper clip. I think judging this competition will be the opposite of simple.

49 pages :open_mouth:

Should we brew some coffee for the judges?

Looks like its gonna be an all-nighter…

Good luck everyone!