Pink Flowers, Hearts, and Bunnies?

While we all would like to say that we pick our snowboards based on more technical qualities such as performance or durability, it's hard to ignore the design of a board from a purely aesthetic standpoint. No matter how well a board rides, if the graphics are boring, trite, or just plain ugly, it's pretty hard to justify spending a lot of money on it. So, this year, while we were at the annual Snowsports Industries of America conference in Las Vegas, we took a look at some of the trends in graphics for next year. While some companies still had rather cliche graphics, we were happy to see some really creative designs.

There were several notable trends in this year's board graphics:

- Doodles, cartoons, and hand written text.
- Pop culture nostalgia from the 70's and 80's
- Fabric inspired prints, such as pinstripes, polka-dots, and plaid.

When we got back, we showed our photos to a couple of girls with backgrounds in graphics, Lauri Durnin, and our very own art director, Julie Verone. Below are some of their favorites:

2008 Option Paloma

Julie:I’m generally not a fan of women’s boards with graphics of flowers on the topsheet because I think that’s pretty much the most hackneyed idea out there. However, I think this board is a case of flowers done right. The designer moved away from having a simple computer illustration of a generic flower and used a hand-drawn water plant (I think?) instead. The result is a flower design that is actually interesting to look at rather than simply being “feminine.”

2007/2008 Option Echo (Base)

Julie: If I bought boards purely based on the graphics, this is the one that I would definitely have. I love the color they used: this really warm, goldenrod yellow isn’t something you generally see on women’s boards. Also, the illustrations are fantastic. Cute, yet slightly disturbed with plenty to look at. The sketching looks almost like a stream-of-conscious thing, as if it’s something you would see in a student’s notebook. I think this is completely brilliant. Wait...Option makes good boards, right? I want this one!

Lauri: I love it. It's fun, weird, simple, and interesting. I get a kick out of boards that make you want to look at them, and every time you look, you notice something different. My favorite image is of the Bunny with the HUGE front tooth and antlers. Cute, yet strange.

2008 Rome Blue

Julie: Even though up-close there is a little interesting stuff going on here, I have to wonder what Rome is thinking with their graphics. It’s just really uninspired and boring. I like how they have the little tree people in there. I wish they would have taken that concept and created a graphic that focused more on these quirky characters.

2008 LibTech

Julie: There's nothing like carrying your politics on your board. I think the message is really cool, and I’m impressed that Lib Tech is willing to so blatantly display their view of the world today. While this certainly isn’t going to appeal to everyone, it will definitely get people’s attention. Plus, the messages create a really cool visual, especially if you step back a bit from it.

Lauri: Close up this board is hands down the most interesting of the boards I've seen. All of the little boxes on the board have various statements, all of which in some way are a response to present day society. It's a statement in and of itself.

2008 Venture Snowboards

Julie: I really like how subtle this one is. I love the look of using natural wood (especially the one with the reddish stain in the middle), and the single bold image of a snowflake works really well on it.

2008 Bataleon Violenza

Lauri: Batalleon stepped it up with this simple and elegant board. Not too girly, not too "trying to be not too girly"... The animals of decreasing size are standing on each other's backs until you reach the top where there is a bird flying away. It reminds me a bit of the Arbor Push in that it's pretty enough to be art but definitely something you wouldn't mind riding. What I don't like about it is that the bottom level... looks like the sandpiper smells something kind of funny near the llama, no?

Tell us what you think: