2019 was a busy year. Perhaps too busy! Some stuff fell off the list and I maybe stretched myself at times and rushed a few things!
Lessons learned.
But thought it was worth a wee chronological look back at the highlights!.
Doric x Honk Part 2 -Jan/Feb
The year kicked off with a collaboration with my old mucker Justin Lawrie aka Honk! This one we called Freedom. Freedom to do what you want (as long as it isn’t something despicable!). Tees and decks were done and this was my best multi screen print to that point. 4 screens that combined to create the graphic plus another to create the logo on top and bottom. First run was sold out as were the tees - so we added some more. Lesson learned there as I still have a few left. I’m not Santa Cruz yet. 😂
These went on display at the flagship Brewdog bar for a while - really appreciated that opportunity to give a little more exposure.
You can still grab a deck and a tee!
Doric Drop In Number 2 - 8th February
We put on our second Doric Drop in at Transition in February. The idea was/is to attract those folk that stay away. Maybe they are intimidated, maybe its been a while, maybe they just want to hang around the first time and see the skatepark. This one wasn’t as well attended as the one the previous (Nov 2018) but we still saw some folk come through for it and at very least we are trying something.
AALF - Arts Across Learning Festival with Creative Learning and Small Stories - Feb/March
Around February/March time we were lucky enough to get involved with AALF - Arts Across Learning Festival. We were honoured to be asked by Creative Learning to pair up with our pal Small Stories to create a number of workshops for primary school children. This all culminated in us screen printing some of the designs to donate to the schools. You can read about it here!
Doric 2nd year Bday bash - March
March saw us take over Transition Extreme for our 2nd bday bash.! Cake. Pop up. Free skate. What more could you want?
We had folk from Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Elgin, Inverness, Perth, Glasgow and of course Aberdeen all there having a skate. Same time next year? Aye maybe!
Inspired Nights on the Green/NuArt - April
April 18th saw NuArt return to Aberdeen. Its never really away - all the artwork remains and its great to see it change over the seasons - but each year see’s a new influx of artists and events.!
We were lucky enough to get a pitch at the Inspired Nights event -if you haven’t been please check it out next year! Good food, drink, music and a great place to join in the NuArt tours or just explore on your own. This year we were also asked if we wanted to provide a little something for the artists, so we did a limited run of Doric Skyline tees using the colours of NuArt. We added a little something to the design to differentiate - look closely to see!
We returned to Inspired Night another two or three times during the summer and glad to say we didn’t get rained off once!
Chris Graham - Collaboration Spider from Deep Fried Mars - April
Around the same time in April we launched a new design. Spider from Deep Fried Mars - designed by local lad Chris Graham. Check out his instagram here.!
This all started with a Spider with wee lightning bolts in his eyes. This made me think of Bowie’s Spider from Mars. And whenever i think of Mars i think of Mars Bars….and so it became Spider from Deep Fried Mars (deep fried mars are a bit of a delicacy in certain chip shops up here!). This was our second dabble into deck printed “digitally”. We’ll use this when it works and this one certainly did! These decks flew out and we’ll look to always hold a few.! You can grab one here.
Really happy to have worked with Chris and he’ll continue to be part of the Doric team for the foreseeable future if he’ll have us!
Fraser Price - 1st Doric Team Rider - April
We’d never really thought much about a “team” before. Seen a load of brands do teams before they are even a brand. I take my time with everything (mostly) so it took me an age to make this decision. Once i did it was easy to pick the first rider. I’ll say it until i’m blue in the face - the first thing i’m looking for is attitude. I’ve got zero interest in grumpy, wannabe tough guys who skate with a grimace.
Fraser ticked all the boxes. Good guy. Supportive. Enthused. Empathetic. And of course - he can skate.! Look forward to working more with Fraser next year! Thanks to him for getting the Doric brand!
Doric x John Walter Collaboration - April/May/June
Around early 2018 a chance encounter saw me chatting to John Walter on Instagram where he suggested getting his mural on a deck. For anyone not in Aberdeen - John was commissioned a few years back to create a mural consisting of “Aberdeen” people (i don’t think thats the exact wording of the brief but you get the idea!). The very first Doric deck design was of Aberdeen’s Annie Lennox - John had also included her in his mural so i was very excited to do this one! Some time passed and it wasn’t until this we really got going - i produced a test deck and then a proper “artist proof”. John was involved in the Look Again Festival here in Aberdeen so it made sense to launch the deck then. I won’t lie - i was very nervous about showing him the deck. My screen printing has improved but these were a real test.! Happy to say John was really happy with them and you never know - we might do something again in the future!
Pete Barrett - 2nd Doric Team Rider - 21st June
The wonderful side of social media is the ability to reach out and connect with people. I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with some of the skate groups on Facebook over the years where I’ve met (virtually and in real terms) some great folks! One of those is Pete! When i started Doric Skateboards he was on board straight away and after meeting him i knew that if i had a “team” he’d be on it! So i was really pleased that he was up for it! More from the team next year and maybe an addition or two? Who knows!
Etsy Summer Showcase - June
This years pop up for Etsy was at the Anatomy Rooms. Great venue and a really good laugh. The bum bag was back out and sales were made.! Its always great to see returning customers. And always appreciated. Also - the efforts the Etsy team make (as well as all the other sellers!) is worth a mention!
Broch Skate Club - July
This year we cemented our friendship with our pals in the Broch by screen printing some Broch Skate Club decks to raise money and the profile of their efforts. They are currently hard at work trying to get a major upgrade to the skate park facilities there - i’m always happy to support them. There is no pretension with these folks - just a total community and inclusive vibe. And i’ve had major support from them from day one. Can’t wait to get involved next year with whatever they are doing and in whatever capacity!
Young Creatives Skateboard Screen printing with Gary Kemp Hosted by Peacock Visual Arts - August
In 2018 we dipped our toes into some presentations and workshops. This year we went full on and did a screen yer own deck at Peacock Visual Arts.
Peacock Visual Arts is where i prepare my screens to screen print with. Its where i learned and continue to learn! But i screen all my decks at home. I’ve not really screen printed in front of anyone. I’ve done some videos to showcase it but not really with actual people there!
So doing this and walking people through it was a challenge! But i think the people that signed up enjoyed it. I think next time we could do a two part class - first one design, second one print. Keep your eyes peeled!!
Grays School of Art - YES SKATEBOARDING and 2nd Year Design Students Skateboard Project
A chance encounter with John Welsh at Transition one evening led to this. John works at Grays and was looking to work with the Denis Law Trust on some skateboard designs. The Denis Law trust had successfully rid the city of No Ball Games signs - perhaps someone could do the same or at least highlight the No Skateboarding signs. Myself and John chatted about various designs over a few months and eventually John produced some absolute belters! They are for sale and in the new year i’ll make some space on the website to try to facilitate this.
Sometime later in the year i was asked to come in and talk to the 2nd Year design students about what i’ve done and skateboard design. Really honoured to do this.! They class of 60 had a project to design a deck with the winning one getting printed. Myself and Adam of IFive and Your Custom Skateboard picked our top 5. Happy to say we both picked 4 of the same! Congratulations to the winner Anca Tomescu for the playing card inspired design.
Doric X Fit Like Collaboration. November 1st.
The latest collaboration was with local artist Fit Like. A play on the the Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls - this one was full of Aberdeen based imagery.
Another chance for me to screen print multi layers that complimented Fit Likes spray paint - i really enjoyed this one and it proved popular. All decks were sold by launch night. Speaking of launch night - we held this at Fierce Bar. A cracking pub that is the flagship for local brewery Fierce Beer. Some serious hangovers the next day for sure.!
This collaboration gave me the first chance to screen print the clothing too. I’ve been building up to it and went for it with this one. We ended up doing nearly 40 T-Shirts, 20 Tote bags, 9 or so hoodies and 20 decks. A few tees remain - grab them here and a few totes - grab those here!
Read more about this collaboration here.
Doric & Friends Drop In at TX - November 23rd
For this Doric Drop in we decided to invite a few folk. The idea was to create a sort of Pop Up event with artists/.makers/organisations/brands. You can read all about it here!
Suffice to say it was a success and plans are afoot to follow up next year with something similar!
Etsy Christmas Showcase
As winter approaches so do events. Really pleased to be part of the local Etsy community. If you’ve never been then keep your eyes open for summer 2020. Its packed full of talented makers/designers etc - and us! ; )
This one was no exception. At most events I’ll get some passing trade - people who’ve never heard of us but like it. But what’s also really exciting is the return of people who’ve made purchases before.
Thanks to all that came and supported all the makers there.!
Christmas in the Quad
This leads us directly onto Christmas in the Quad! Within the confines of the magnificent Marischall College we had our wee hut for two stints this year. Much like the Etsy event we saw plenty of new customers and loads of returning ones.! Can’t thank folk enough for just saying hello - its all much appreciated.!
This last weekend finished on the 22nd and was a really successful one for us.!
And that’s that for 2019 pretty much! We have a wee sale on (discount code DORICBOX gets you 20% off!).
Thank you to everyone who’ve supported us and look out for more in 2020!
