Snowboarding began as an extension of the sleek, taut sports culture of skiing. After the introduction of freestyle snowboarding--a response to freestyle skateboarding--in the late 1980s, snowboard manufacturers began taking design cues from skateboarding. Designers and studios such as Jager di Paola Kemp in Vermont, Modern Dog in Seattle, Scott Clum in Oregon, and Carlos Segura in Chicago have applied carefully detailed typography, intensive image manipulation, and deluxe printing techniques to trade catalogs for snowboards. Such publications contrast with the crudely made product literature generated by the skateboard industry while employing similar motifs, such as scientific diagrams. Although snowboarding has a street-wise style, it is an expensive sport with luxurious graphics to match. [back] © Copyright 1996 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

Burton Marmot Dealer catalog, 1994, offset lithograph Designers: David Covell (b. 1965) and Keith Brown (b. 1970) Creative directors: Michael Jager (b. 1965) and David Covell Publisher: Burton Snowboards, Burlington, Vermont Collection Cooper­Hewitt, National Design Museum, Gift of Jager Di Paola Kemp World Academy Training Manual Catalog, 1994, offset lithograph Designer: Steve Rocco Art director: John Thomas Photographer: Rick Kosick Illustrator: Marc McKee Publisher: World Industries, El Segundo, California