Your Custom Skateboard x Doric Design Challenge

First of all - huge thanks to all who got into the spirit of this challenge/competition.

Although there was an actual physical prize up for grabs I hope that the posting, tagging, sharing and the engagement across all the social media pages has brought some new followers to your page, some inspiration, more friends and contacts, perhaps some future collaborations and ultimately maybe even a commission or project.

I wanted to get something here on the blog - social media comes and goes so quickly - at least this is here forever.!

Big shout out to Adam and the team at Your Custom Skateboard for collaborating on this and offering discount codes should anyone want their design printed. Get in touch if you want to do that.

The winning design by Alex aka mokoyo.robo definitely caught some eyes early on in the challenge! Congratulations to Alex - can’t wait to see the deck printed.!

But because there were so many entries YCS wanted to give special mention to two others.

Steve Stark design aka stevestarkdesign on Insta was pretty much the first to submit so it was nice to see that his Croc design didn’t get lost in the pile!

And Hello Radical on Instagram with their Fish Food design. Definitely a favourite of mine.!

For these two they will be offered a special discount if they want to print their designs and to everyone else who entered they will also get a discount should they wish to do the same.

From my point of view i wanted to give something away too. So a blank deck each will be making their way to Corey and Reuben to design their own in any way they like.! Well done guys!

That’s it for this year. Lets do this again next year.!

Cheers

Gary

Back in time.

I took this picture in 2013.

Way back in the late 80’s and early 90’s when I was at school I would draw skate stuff all the time.

Logos and ramps.!

I turned those drawings of ramps into something more formal and sent it to the council asking if they would build something.

To my surprise I got a letter back and was asked if I would come in to speak to them. I went with my mum and we were shown the plans for this ramp at Westburn. Obviously I had no real impact but I was grateful that they entertained me. I walked out of there with the blue prints for these under my arm.

I think by that time the exhibition centre that briefly housed facilities was long gone so there was no purpose built stuff at that time.

And so despite any design issues this ramp might have had I was excited. I remember going there when it was opened, can almost still smell the soft bark that was put down around it.

I was sad to see it had been taken down a few years ago. This ramp had a twin nearer my childhood home in Northfield. The one at Heatheryfold was opened a little later if I remember right. It’s also gone. Heatheryfold I believe may have been home to an early concrete skate park. It certainly had a BMX track that’s ghost can still be seen I think.

Northfield now has a skatepark near Byron shops. It’s a bit of a mess but if I had that as a kid? Wow.

I have strange dreams about the skatepark at Byron. I’m a kid again and I suddenly discover this amazing place and it’s empty. But as much as I try to get there I can’t ever quite get in or I don’t have a board with me. Wonder what that’s all about?

What I've Learned Part 6 of 6

Part 6 - Be Nice.

The last for now of what I’m learning.!

It seems like a ridiculous thing to say. Be nice.

Being nice is often seen as a negative. And being nice isn’t exactly an adjective that goes with any business - particularly skateboarding.

Edgy, aloof, cynical - those are probably more closely associated! And you’ll see it in the words some businesses use (or lack of - words are for losers), the product pictures (standard miserable pose with a gritty backdrop - don’t smile), don’t follow anyone on social media, use the word kook. Essentially imagine how you looked and communicated when you were 14. That’s about it.

But obviously I’m a good bit older and about as edgy as a blob of custard (with the body consistency to match!).

So all I can do is be myself. I’ll probably smile in most photos. I’ll create long wordy social media posts. I’ll genuinely say thank you. And I’m about as far from cool as you get. Kinda like David Brent x Ned Flanders.

None of this means that edgy can’t be nice. But you get the idea.

Be yourself. I just don’t believe that every skate and street wear brand is run by someone who looks and sounds like they canna be arsed.!

Go on. Crack a wee smile.! This is supposed to be fun.

What I've Learned Part 5 of 6

Part 5 - No Better Time.

Continuing what I’ve learned/what I’m learning. Here’s some of how I’m learning.

I regularly listen to a fantastic podcast called Creative Rebels. A pair of talented chaps talk to each other and a guest each episode about their creative endeavours and their speciality. I highly recommend it - it’s pulled me out of the doldrums on occasion but also full of inspiration and good ideas.

One thing they have often said is this:

There’s no better time than right now to launch a business.

And I totally agree. If you have an idea or more importantly a passion - then with WiFi, a phone with a camera and some creativity you can get that idea/passion seen. You can attract attention. That doesn’t mean to say that it has to be a “business” per se. But it can be something that you do that feeds your soul while your day job feeds your belly.!

Maybe eventually it would be a main source of income - I’m sure that comes with its negatives. I’m not sure I ever want to pay my mortgage with how many tees I sell a month!

But setting aside the money. When I was in my teens and twenties it never really occurred to me that I could explore anything creative. You went to work, went out with yer pals and that was that. But after going to Uni in my 30’s it awoke something in me that took a while to manifest. Once that did I realised that we are in an age just now where we have access to so much information - much of it free (setting aside laptop/phone/WiFi).

I listen to podcast and audiobooks across a wide range of subjects but try to take something from each.

As mentioned in a previous post - creativity goes hand in hand with problem solving. With resources like YouTube at our disposal we have so much out there to take from.

But I think it’s also important to give something back. I’ve done videos on screen printing decks, plenty of social media content about that sort of stuff and posts like this. I hope someone finds it useful.

So what’s actually stopping you from doing that thing you wanted to do? Obviously there are some things that would be financially challenging! But whatever the subject you can get involved and get going. Start a FB page - jump on Tik Tok. Tell people what you are about. For better or worse you no longer have to quit your job, cash in yer savings (does anyone actually have savings?) and chase your dream. You can do it from the comfort of your bed, living room or even on the toilet....

Go for it, definitely no better time. And as long as you manage your own expectations then you’ll look back and wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.’

What I've Learned Part 4 of 6

Part 4. Despondency and Perspective..!

Carrying on with what I’ve learned, what I’m learning and what I’ve observed.

I think it doesn’t matter who you are or how successful you are, you will feel despondent at some point.

Sales slowed down?

Lost a bit of fire in your belly?

Believing everything that everyone else is posting on social media?

Wandering what in gods name you are actually doing?

And on and on.

Generally I just ride it out. Let it take its course because somewhere deep down I know I’ll come out the other end and be ok.

Sometimes I feel like quitting but then I feel like I’m in too deep. Easier to swim on and take a rest at the next stop than turn and go back.

Gotta keep perspective. It’s easy to do nothing, take no risks, snipe from the sidelines - God knows I’ve done a lot of that in previous years.!

But If you’ve got up and put yourself out there then you’ve done something that a lot of people want to do but don’t quite get there.

So if that’s you? Give yerself a break. It’s easier if you are doing things for the right reasons. Not so easy if you see yerself as the next “insert famous rich person here”.

So go have a pie and look at what you’ve done.

What I've Learned Part 3 of 6

Part 3.

Social Media.

Before I set up Doric Skateboards i set up a Movie related page on Facebook so that I could learn the very basics on how to post, how you respond as the page, how to build an audience etc. If you’re setting up a business page I’d highly recommend doing this.

I also set up my social media pages way before i launched. This gave me the chance to build up some content so that when we went live there was actually things for people to look at straight away.!

Again - I’d recommend that.

Something that people talk a lot about is the “algorithm”. How each app decides what it’s going to show your followers.

Personally I couldn’t give two sh*ts about the algorithm.

Here’s my take:

Not getting the usual “likes” you used to get?

Don’t worry - you can try again tomorrow!

Not getting any/much engagement on your posts - i.e. no comments/shares?

Really take a look at what you are posting. Have folk seen it before? Is it informative? Is it even mildly interesting? Be honest with yourself.

Go back to the drawing board and see what you can come up with. Be creative.

Obviously I sell stuff. But I know that when I put a post up about something for sale it generally won’t do very well. That’s not necessarily the algorithm - it’s just human nature. We don’t like the hard sell.!

So we tend to scroll past them. They aren’t that interesting unless it’s something new for sale perhaps.

Giveaways. Seen as the saviour for all social media accounts everywhere! Share. Like. Comment. I’ve done it. We’ve all done it. But what does it actually get you? People genuinely interested in what you do? I don’t think so.

My advice for what it’s worth.

Be happy with the followers and engagement you get. And make sure you engage back!

Don’t worry about having tens of thousands of followers. Hopefully that can come with some hard work, creating interesting stuff for people to read and share, and with some time and patience.!

Also - be generous to others. If you are hoping for likes, shares, comments - then remember to reciprocate.

What I've Learned Part 2 of 6

Part 2.

Carrying on with things I’ve learned, observed and am still learning with Doric Skateboards.

Make Mistakes and Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Mind.!

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

This doesn’t just mean in the field/medium you specifically work in. I think that should go without saying - you will NEVER get things right all the time, particularly when starting out. Mistakes are just practice.

But also don’t be afraid to make mistakes in your approach, strategy, ethos etc. Worst case scenario you are a hypocrite!

Best case - you’ve found a way to work and an approach that feels right.

Plenty of people will want you to do things a certain way, maybe even produce certain type of work. Now that can come from two opposite ends of the spectrum! The friends who are genuinely enthused and the non-friends who shout at the internet all day. Try to listen to your own voice.

I’ve had to learn that it’s impossible to keep everyone happy - including myself.

Nothing is written in stone though. And I find that trying to screen print clothing and decks myself can be a huge strain/impact on a variety of things:

• Quality

• Skill limitations

• Time

And so I’ve needed to use more 3rd Party help than I ever thought I would. But I’m ok with that.

So make mistakes, don’t worry about what you said before, did before - look ahead. If the last 9 months has taught us anything it’s that we should stay loose and flexible because you never know what’s coming.!

What I've Learned Part 1 of 6

As promised.

Over the next wee while I’ll share some of what I’ve learned in the last 4 years and some of what I’ve been doing to keep the brain active over the last 9 or so months.

Problem Solving.

To create anything you need to solve problems.

From my point of view there were loads:

• How do I screen print?

• Where will I get blank decks from?

• What will my logo be?

• How do I do a website/social media?

And a 100 other.

Most of which NEVER GET FULLY ANSWERED.

And that’s ok. Doing anything that involves setting up a business and doing something creative is a constant challenge - even if you don’t take into account the current circumstances.

But the answers are out there.

My one piece of advice that I would give is this.

Use the vast amount of content on the internet, in books, in podcasts etc to help you solve your problem and get over those hurdles. If this leads to mistakes then so be it.! That’s a really important part of learning.

I get asked a lot of questions about various things. And for the most part I’m happy to answer (apologies if I’ve not answered some yet though!).

But for me the process is as satisfying and important as the outcome. Probably more so. It’s where you learn what works and what doesn’t. It’s where you really understand how things go together.

So get your hands dirty. Be curious. Solve problems by doing, not just asking.

And make mistakes! It’s all part of the fun.