Specimen Snowboards

Freelancing has its downtime. During these periods, when I'm not out walking the pup, I seize the opportunity to further develop my skills. I've always harboured a keen interest in branding and the impactful motion designs synonymous with brands like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. Though it may resemble a graphic design module from my GCSE days, I saw it as an exciting side project to craft a brand from scratch.

Embarking on this ongoing brand identity journey serves as invaluable practice in creative direction, animation, rendering, modelling, and beyond. As this brand identity evolves, much like any real-world brand, its name may shift, but in this realm, I'm the rule-maker. Witnessing its growth alongside my own evolution as a motion designer promises to be both intriguing and enriching—a journey primed for skill honing and potential future endeavours, perhaps even my own studio branding one day.

My focus naturally gravitated towards a sport close to my heart: snowboarding. Despite never having the chance to live near the slopes I dreamed of, this project keeps me tethered to that world, offering a potential gateway into the industry. Growing up during the late '90s in the States—amidst the skateboarding renaissance, the heyday of VHS tapes, magazines, gaming, and baggy jeans—left an indelible mark on me. With two brothers equally enamoured by skate culture, snowboard PS1 games, Tony Hawk, X-Games, and the extreme sports channel, our collective influence undeniably echoes in the designs I gravitate towards and produce.

Despite the challenges posed by climate change to snow sports, I believe there's tremendous potential within the snowboarding realm, with ample room for expansion as accessibility to the sport increases.

My journey with this project began with a focus on modelling, immersing myself in online classes and setting out to craft a snowboard and binding setup. Modeling has never been my forte, but with age comes patience, and now I find immense satisfaction in mastering good topology and refining edge loops.

Later in the year, feeling the urge to delve into rendering, I created a product video centered on snowboard wax. Embracing the intricacies of rendering in the ACES color profile in Octane—a realm that delves into computer science territory, often daunting for designers—proved to be a challenging yet enriching endeavor. Mastering color spaces is undoubtedly a vital skill that significantly enhances the quality of renders—a lesson I'm determined to learn.