Quiksilver hosts All 80s All Day Vert Challenge

Quiksilver ALL 80s ALL DAY VERT CHALLENGE Secret Location

Quiksilver, a Huntington Beach-based lifestyle and apparel brand, held a flashback to the 80s contest on Saturday, Dec. 6, in conjunction with Tony Hawk and his newest business venture, shredordie.com, a Web site where everyone from top athletes to everyday users can post their favorite sports clips.

Launched in October 2007, the site had very little press coverage – until now, that is. The All 80s All Day Vert Challenge, held at Quiksilver’s headquarters, featured 21 well-known skaters of the 80s, such as Huntington Beach native Christian Hosoi, Steve Caballero and Bucky Lasek. These skateboarders – now successful business people – were decked out from head to toe in 80s garb.

Hawk flashed back to his roots with his blue shirt – worn in the 1987 skate film “The Search for Animal Chin” — highlighted hair and, of course, his bright pink skate deck, which he got out of storage specifically for the daylong challenge. Hosoi outfitted himself in spandex pants and a cutoff T-shirt, finishing off the ensemble with a wig. Pink highlights, ripped denim and high tops were some of the other flashy fashions worn during the event.

But the skaters weren’t the only ones who dressed up. More than 800 people attended – and they were required to don clothing popular during that time period. Side ponytails, bright pink high heels and hoop earrings were in abundance – and that’s just the girls! Guys wore torn T-shirts, big hair, suspenders – the works.

Amidst all the 80s mayhem, a skate competition ensued. The 80s-style vert ramp and skate decks proved to be a challenge for the skaters, but they were determined to skate to the best of their abilities.

“We gotta ride the real deal here,” says Hawk. And they certainly did. With 80s punk bands like The Ramones and The Clash playing in the background, the skaters competed in three challenges: Vert Challenge, Big Air Session and Jam Session.

Cash prizes were awarded to the first through 11th place winners, and Hawk took home the first place prize of $1,980, which he distributed amongst the skaters who didn’t place. Other awards include the Overall 80s, which went to Hosoi, and the Big Air, which went to Bucky Lasek.

The only video allowed at the event was from shredordie.com, which will release it, relying on the viral lure of Internet video to get the word out about the site’s features to action-sports buffs.

Quiksilver also debuted some of its Spring 2009 collection – with an 80s theme, of course. The brightly colored, printed and patterned vintage fashions were on display in the company’s expansive headquarters. The vintage outfits will be available in January.

Preview Video and photos after the jump.

All photogrpahy is copyright Luke Hodsdon @ ninethreestudio

Written by Kristen Schott @ ninethreestudio

Please contact Luke Hodsdon or Kristen Schott @ ninethreestudio if you would like to use any of this material. Thank you.

Continue reading

23 signs you’re becoming a Design Geek


First off, let me say thank you Design Bump for leading me to this post, and secondly a big thank you to Sverre Sjøthun at Crestock.com for making this AWESOME List. I can in no way take credit for this, but i sure as hell can 95% relate to it. ahhhhhh, the good life of a designer. Look out world, we’re over-worked, under-paid and looking for our bosses to get all our hard earned recognitions. (kick up the feet on the desk and bask in the goodness)

  • You smile that spanking-kind-of-smile when you use the CSS property: padding-bottom.
  • You know exactly what I’m referring to when I say “Make my logo bigger”.
  • Every now and then you go through a ‘herbal tea’ phase to try and reduce your dependence to coffee, but you always go back to the inky demon eventually.
  • You’ve caught yourself more than once hitting CTRL or CMD+N when you need a coffee refill…
  • Sleep and nighttime are no longer irrevocably linked.
  • You have woken up in the middle of the night your sleep and started recreating the dream you just had in Photoshop.
  • When getting up, you wish you had a healing brush/patch tool for those unsightly blemishes and undereye luggage.
  • Your keyboard could definitely be someone’s grocery list – you’re eating there constantly.
  • You know several Photoshop shortcuts that require 4 fingers (Shift+Ctrl+Alt+K anyone?).
  • Whenever you see fog on a forested hillside, you think, nature is making a gaussian blur.
  • You’re sitting in the movie theater watching the movie titles, shaking your head at how badly they’re kerned.
  • Your biggest fear is Papyrus becoming the new Comic Sans.
  • If you could go back in time you wouldn’t go back to see the rise and fall of civilizations, you’d go back in time to destroy Comic Sans and Papyrus.
  • Your most romantic date was when you went to see Helvetica by Gary Hustwit.
  • You’ve considered naming your children things like ‘Kern’, ‘Pica’, ‘Bézier’, ‘Nyala’, and ‘Serif’.
  • You are trying catch the post-it notes at your monitor with your cursor.
  • You know that, by default, if three designs are shown to a client, your least favorite will be chosen – or any combination of worst components of each.
  • You also know that if you ask for more copy it will be sent as a Jpeg; If you ask for images they will be sent as PowerPoint presentations; if you ask for a vector logo, it’ll come in the form of a Gif – from their website.
  • You have an uncanny ability to automatically see when something is lined up properly without the need for tools or devices, for instance if a shelf is straight, and where the center of the wall is to hang a picture.
  • And as a direct cause, get an almost uncontrollable urge to adjust a painting that’s tilted ever so slightly.
  • And when in doubt, you automatically think CTRL or CMD+;
  • When girls are picking up Vogue and Cosmopolitan drooling over the latest trend in eye makeup and trying to figure out how to accomplish the the same effect, you’re drooling over the most amazing 2 page advertising spread you’ve ever seen – trying to figure out how to accomplish the the same Photoshop effect…
  • You actually understand this post and pass it on to your fellow geeks friends.

Guest post to win a free Apple MacBook Air?!!

Right now Smashing Magazine is holding a contest to it’s readers with a grand prize of a free Apple MacBook Air. All you have to do it write intriguing, original guest posts for them. The requirements are fairly short, 400-1200 characters.
Apple MacBook Air

Please follow the jump to see the entry from Smashing Magazine.
Continue reading

Writing: Cookie Season by Kristen Schott

Springtime: sunshine, blooming flowers, light rains, birds chirping, and the sensation that the world is starting anew. It also means Girl Scout Cookies.

All across the nation, little girls and their mothers post themselves in front of grocery stores, on street corners, and up and down neighborhood streets, always with an array of the most delectable assortment of cookies imaginable in their Red Radio Flyer Wagons. Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Samoas, Treefoils, Do-Si-Do’s, and All Abouts wait anxiously on display for their next customer to snatch them up greedily.

During the Girl Scout Cookie season all resolves for healthier eating die as men, women, children, and pets see the little girls with eager eyes and a plethora of cookies staring up at them begging courteously to, “Please support our troop!” And for three dollars a box, what sick person wouldn’t support this battle for little girls everywhere?

Continue reading