Tuesday 20 September 2011

Skateboard tricks.

  • 1 360 Spin
  • 2 50/50
  • 3 Anti-Casper
  • 4 Broken Fingers
  • 5 Butter Flip
  • 6 Calf Wrap (Flamingo/Figure Four)
  • 7 Casper
  • 8 Casper Disaster
  • 9 Carousel
  • 10 Coco Wheelie, Coco Slide
  • 11 Daffy
  • 12 End-Over
  • 13 Fan Flip
  • 14 Finger Flip
  • 15 G-Turn
  • 16 Gingersnap
  • 17 Godzilla Flip
  • 18 Gymnast Plant
  • 19 Handstand
  • 20 Helipop
  • 21 Impossible
  • 22 Incredible
  • 23 Incredible frontside-backside
  • 24 Jaywalk
  • 25 Kickback
  • 26 M-80
  • 27 Manual
  • 28 Monster Walk
  • 29 Multiple-board tricks
  • 30 No Comply
  • 31 Nosehook Impossible
  • 32 Old School Kickflip
  • 33 Ollie
  • 34 Ollie Airwalk
  • 35 Pogo
  • 36 Pressure Flip (or Pressflip)
  • 37 Primo Slide
  • 38 Railstand
  • 39 San Francisco Flip
  • 40 Saran Wrap, Wrap Around
  • 41 Shove-It
  • 42 Sidewinder
  • 43 Spacewalk
  • 44 Street Plant
  • 45 Switchfoot Pogo
  • 46 Toc toc spin
  • 47 Tre flip
  • 48 TV Stand
  • 49 Walk The Dog
  • 50 YoYo Plant
  • 51 YoHo Plant
  • 52 Varial kickflip/heelflip
  • 53 Darkslide

Dogtown and Z-boys.

Dogtown and Z-boys is a film based around the beginnings of skateboarding. I've never seen it but I feel it's relevant to a project based around skateboarding.


Dogtown and Z-Boys is a 2001 documentary film directed by Stacy Peralta. Using a mix of film the Zephyr skateboard team shot in the 1970s by Craig Stecyk and more recent interviews, the documentary tells the story of a group of teenage surfer/skateboarders and their influence on the history of skateboarding culture.

Much of the archival footage used in the film came from teenagers who wanted to be a part of the Z-Boys group but were not good enough skateboarders so they got to be a part of the Z-Boys group by filming and photographing them.
The film's $400,000 budget was financed by Vans, Inc., whose skateboarding shoes Stacy Peralta had been paid to endorse during his days as a professional skateboarder.



Cheeky pictures of Rodney Mullen

 Some photos of Rodney Mullen doing what he does best.

Best Of Rodney Mullen



The reason that Rodney Mullen is the Godfather of modern skateboarding.

Rodney Mullen...

From the list of pro skaters I found, Rodney Mullen seems to be the one that stands out most and has come up most frequently in my research... Here is a bio I found from a fan page.

Name: John Rodney Mullen
Gender: Male
Hometown: Redondo Beach, CA or Hermosa Beach, CA
Date of Birth: August 17th, 1966 in Gainesville, FL
Family: married to Traci Mullen
Occupation: Engineer / Skate Brand Owner / Skateboarder
Started Skating: 1977
Started Competing: 1977
Turned Pro: 1980
Favored Discipline: Street
#1 Sponsors: Almost, Enjoi, Darkstar, Tensor, Speed Demons, Matix, Globe
Stance: Regular
Nicknames: Mutt, King

Career Highlights

1977 - Mullen won the first freestyle contest he entered
1980 - joined the Powell-Peralta Bones Brigade
1984, 85, 87, 88 - featured in The Bones Brigade Videos 1-4
1988 - appeared in feature film, Gleaming the Cube
1992 - began World Industries with Steve Rocco
1990+ - featured in videos by Plan B, A-Team, Globe and Almost
2002 - won Transworld Readers' Choice Award for Skater of the Year
2002 - created Almost skateboard company
2003 - wrote "The Mutt: How to Skateboard and not Kill Yourself"

Rodney Mullen is widely considered the most influential skateboarder in the history of the skateboarding. The majority of ollie and flip tricks he invented throughout the 1980's, including the flatground ollie, the Kickflip, the Heelflip, and the 360 flip are regularly done in modern vertical and street skateboarding.

In 1992, alongside Steve Rocco, Rodney Mullen created World Industries. Throughout the 90’s Mullen was featured in numerous videos, including World Industries’ Rubbish Heap (’89), Plan B’s Questionable (’92), Virtual Reality (’93), and Second Hand Smoke (’95). Some recent videos include the Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song series, Globe Opinion, and Almost: Round Three.

Tricks Invented

  • 50-50 Saran Wrap
  • 50-50 Sidewinders
  • 360 Flip
  • 360 pressure Flip
  • 540 double kickflip
  • 540 Shove-it
  • Airwalks
  • Backside 180 Flip
  • Casper 360 Flip
  • Casper Slides
  • Caballerial impossible
  • Double heelflips
  • Flatground Ollie
  • Frontside Heelflip Shove-its
  • Godzilla Rail Flip
  • Gazelles
  • Heelflip
  • Helipops (360 Nollie)
  • Half-cab kickflip underflip
  • Helipop Heelflips
  • Half Flip Darkslide
  • Handstand flips
  • Kickflip Underflip
  • Kickflip
  • No Handed 50-50 Kickflip
  • Ollie Impossible
  • Ollie Nosebones
  • Ollie Fingerflip
  • One footed Ollie
  • Rusty slides
  • Sidewinders
  • Switchstance 360 Flips




Pro skateboarders.

Chad Knight
Chad Muska
Chet Thomas
Colin McKay
Daewon Song
Danny Way
Elissa Steamer
Ethan Fowler
Josh Kasper
Matt Mumford
Mike Rafter
Omar Hassan
Rob Dyrdek
Rodney Mullen
Tony Hawk
Andrew Reynolds
Steve Berra
Geoff Rowley
Arto Saari
Bam Margera
Eric Koston
Colt Cannon

This is a list I compiled from a much larger list and I simply chose the names I recognised, I thought the original list was a little over the top.

Monday 19 September 2011

Skate brand logos.























A selection of my favourite skate brand logos. Ones that stand out to me as being well considered and nicely designed, often with interesting or nice colour combinations... However black and white seems to be a running theme in skateboard company logo design.

Skate brands.

Here I've chosen all those from a list of brands that I recognised, as there was a huge amount of brands I didn't feel it totally necessary to put them all.

Alien Workshop
Almost
Anti Hero
Baker
Birdhouse
Black Label
Blind
Blueprint
Chocolate
Enjoi
Fallen
Flip
Foundation
Girl
Habitat
Heroin
Krooked
Plan B
Speed Demon
Toy Machine
Third Industries
World Industries
Zero
Zoo York
Destructo
Independent
Grind King
Tensor
Venture
Autobahn
Bones Wheels
Darkstar
Fracture
Hubba
Pig
Ricta
Spitfire
Lucky
Shortys Skateboards
Billabong
DC Shoes
Etnies
éS Footwear
Volcom
Adio
Airwalk
Circa (company)
Duffs
DVS Shoe Company
Nike SB
Osiris Shoes
Vans

Skate magazines.















Rodney Mullen vs Daewon Song round 3

Rodney Mullen VS Daewon Song Round 2

Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song - Round 1

Adrian Lopez - Zero Thrill Of It All

Mike Maldonado - Toy Machine Welcome To Hell

Mouse - Girl Skateboards 1996

The parts of a skateboard

 A skateboard...

Deck
Most decks are constructed with a six to seven-ply cross-laminated maple wood. Some of them have special materials that help to keep the deck from breaking: such as fiberglass, bamboo, resin, Kevlar, carbon fiber, aluminum, and plastic. Some decks made from maple ply are dyed to create various different coloured ply. Modern decks vary in size, but most are 7 to 10.5 inches wide. Wider decks can be used for greater stability when transition or ramp skating. Skateboard decks are usually between 28 and 33 inches long. The underside of the deck can be printed with a design by the manufacturer, blank, or decorated by any other means. In early 2010 a European Company Gravitis introduced the proprietary asymmetric shape, with decentered twin tips to enhance the rider's stance.


Trucks
Attached to the deck are two metal trucks, which connect to the wheels and deck. The trucks are further composed of two parts. The top part of the truck is screwed to the deck and is called the baseplate, and beneath it is the hanger. The axle runs through the hanger. Between the baseplate and the hanger are bushings, also rubbers or grommets, that provide the cushion mechanism for turning the skateboard. The bushings cushion the truck when it turns. The stiffer the bushings, the more resistant the skateboard is to turning. The softer the bushings, the easier it is to turn. A bolt called a kingpin holds these parts together and fits inside the bushings. Thus by tightening or loosening the kingpin nut, the trucks can be adjusted loosely for better turning and tighter for more stability.


Wheels 
The wheels of a skateboard, usually made of polyurethane, come in many different sizes and shapes to suit different types of skating. Larger sizes like 54–85 mm roll faster, and also move more easily over cracks in pavement. Smaller sizes like 48–54 mm keep the board closer to the ground, require less force to accelerate and produce a lower center of gravity, but also make for a slower top speed. Wheels also are available in a variety of hardnesses usually measured on the Shore durometer "A" scale. Wheels range from the very soft to the very hard. As the A scale stops at 100, any wheels labeled 101A or higher are harder, but do not use the appropriate durometer scale. Some wheel manufacturers now use the "B" or "D" scales, which have a larger and more accurate range of hardness. Modern street skaters prefer smaller wheels (usually 51–54 mm), as small wheels with lighter trucks can make tricks like kickflips and other flip tricks easier by keeping the center of gravity of the skateboard closer to the deck, thus making the deck easier to spin. Street wheels are often quite hard as this allows the wheels to slide easier on waxed surfaces for bluntslides and nose/tailslides.


Grip tape
Grip tape is a sheet paper or fabric with adhesive on one side and a surface similar to fine sand paper on the other. Grip tape is applied to the top surface of a board to allow the rider's feet to grip the surface and help the skater stay on the board while doing tricks. Grip tape is usually black, but is also available in various colors, camo, and even clear. Often times they have designs die-cut to show the color of the board, or to show off the board's company logo.

Bearings
Each skateboard wheel is mounted on its axle via two bearings. With few exceptions, the bearings are the industrial standard "608" size, with a bore of 8 mm, an outer diameter of 22 mm, and a width of 7 mm. These are usually made of steel, though silicon nitride, a high-tech ceramic, is sometimes used. Many skateboard bearings are graded according to the ABEC scale. The scale starts with ABEC1 as the lowest, 3, 5, 7, 9. It is a common misconception that the higher ABECs are better for skateboarding, as the ABEC rating only measures tolerances, which do not necessarily apply to skateboards. The ABEC rating does not determine how fast or how durable a bearing used for skateboarding will be. In particular, the ABEC rating says nothing about how well a bearing handles axial (side-to-side) loads, which are severe in most skateboard applications. Many companies do not show the ABEC rating, such as Bones Bearings, which makes bearings specifically for skateboarding, often marketed as "Skate Rated". Each bearing usually contains 7 steel or ceramic ball bearings, although other configurations are used as well.

Hardware
Mounting hardware is a set of eight 10-32 UNC bolts, usually an Allen or Phillips head, and matching nylon locknuts. They are used to attach the trucks to the board. Some sets have one different colored bolt to show which side is the nose of the skateboard.