Design For Speed

Pratt Show Recap

In case you missed it. Here are some images from the 2009 Pratt Show.

Hot Skateboarding: Designing Color in Motion

Here is some of the material from my final presentation of my thesis project. This photograph shows a study of a surface that responds to non-rigid motion (a morphing or stretching surface). The surface changes from yellow to yellow and red striped when it stretches.

This concept is applied directly to the knee panels of an outfit for downhill longboard sliding, there is a correlation between the movements of the athletes knee joint and the intensity of its color expression.

The TARQ

This is the skateboard I have designed to embody my concepts of color-motion for my thesis. It is being made as a collaboration with Bustin Boards who are famous for their custom graphics and colors.

Patterns were laser cut into the top two layers of ply, then the interior edges of the cavities were painted different colors so that when the board is viewed from different angles there are different color expressions. When one moves the board there is a wonderful color shifting effect. In the cavities I have also put highly reflective mylar, which increases the effect and even gives the illusion that there are holes all the way through the board when viewed from afar.

The bottom of the board is not yet complete and hardware will be added. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Hot Skateboarding
Designing Color for Products in Motion

I just concluded my first session of product testing. I made a prototype pair of pants and one arm guard based on the drawings from my last post. These were quick mock ups to gauge two things, how do the colors affect the way people watch the tricks? and how well do the 3D color patterns protect the body. This video that I put on YouTube documents the testing.

I am also including photos of the pants so that you can see how the color changes as they rotate in front of you. The front of the pants are dark purple with bright accents at the knees, because that is an important point of complex motion during the execution of tricks. as you rotate around there is a corresponding color shift. The back of the pants are a lower intensity purple and there is almost no color accent at the back. The padding on both sides is also different to differentiate the two sides of the body, so that when the rider rotates quickly in front of you there is an alternation of colors adding exhilaration to the trick.

Here are some skateboarding apparel designs based on the color/motion concepts I outlined in my last post. There are 2 women's and 2 mens. 2 are for board walking/dancing and 2 are for sliding. Thanks to Cory, Micku, Brian and Russ for their inspiring riding styles.

The design inspiration came from the following images.

Apparel for Hot Skateboarding.

Here are some preliminary studies for my thesis entitled "Hot Skateboarding: designing color for products in motion" By composing color that elucidates movement on a 3D object the aesthetics of motion are better conveyed making the performance of movement more intriguing to watch.

The first component is to make 3D patterns that are colored to reflect the difference from surface to surface. When these surfaces are moved they generate a corresponding color shift for the viewer.

This concept works just as well if the object is stationary and the viewer is the one moving like looking at the side of a building as you walk past.

The second component is to color objects in a composition in a way that corresponds to the complexity of their movement relative to the rest of the group. The greater the complexity of motion the greater the intensity of color and contrast of colors should be to convey the motion. Here you can see a basic rectilinear 3D composition set in motion. The dominant form rotates about the y axis, the subdominant forms rotation is compounded by its dependency on the dominant and the subordinate element has the most complex motion because it is compounded by its dependency on the rest of the composition.

The same concept is employed for any moving object that has to be highly visible. Like a tennis ball or a javelin. But what if the entire outfit of the tennis player were coordinated to convey the entire performance from the tip of the racquet to their feet?

One of the most dynamic moving objects is the human body. Many style based sports employ thrilling performances of dynamic motion to enthrall audiences from freestyle snowboarding to figureskating. How can the body and the products on the body be colored to enhance the performance of the athlete and generate more visual interest for the audience. This is important to making the activity more fun to participate in more exciting to watch and promoting the lifestyle of the performers.

By distinguishing the performer from the background, by coloring the more interesting moving parts of the body so that the movements involved are clear and distinct from the rest of the body, by coloring the body to display the hierachy of motion to the viewer the experience of any trick will be improved.