1990. Art Center College of Design. Finally graduating into some solid debt and at the start of a recession. College President and graduation speaker informed us: "It's official...

1990. Art Center College of Design. Finally graduating into some solid debt and at the start of a recession. College President and graduation speaker informed us: "It's official. The country's in a recession. Good Luck." Thanks, David Brown! I caught up on my sleep for a few weeks, went surfing daily, and when paddling out one morning, fortuitously ran into a maverick designer, David Carlson. He remarked on my shiny new surfboards graphics, the now infamous Q12, and brought me in to meet Rusty Preisendorfer. Turns out Rusty's dad and my dad worked near each other at UCSD. Pretty cool, small world, huh? January 1, 1991 was the official start of Sandbox as Rusty loaded me up plenty of work to keep me busy. Sandbox is proud to have had David Carlson and Rusty play such an integral role in the company's initial breaths.

[project title:] Preisendorfer

Preisendorfer
 

[project title:] Rusty Ads - "The Surfer's Journal Ads"

Surfer’s Journal is the high end publication in the industry. This elegant magazine showcases the best photography and best-written stories, elevating the category in every way. As such, our Rusty ads had a lot to live up to. Working with world class photographers Aaron Chang, Michael Bloomfield, Mike Hill, and John Durant, we developed stand-alone series of “The Surfboard as Art”. Concepts that not only garnered a leading publication’s respect, but increased Rusty’s brand awareness, too.
 

[project title:] Found Art Signage

Under the watchful eye of David Carson, I aimed for something that was distinctively un-foamcore, authentic, a-typical. Graffiti culture, street works, found art projects from San Diego’s downtown industrial areas populated the materials mix. CNC-cut acrylic backing and the R-dot logo came together. Parts were assembled, the switch was flipped and suddenly this quirky little sign was turning heads toward Rusty’s booth. He asked for 100 more. Great start for my first project out of school.
 

[project title:] Rusty Trade Booth

Summer 1992. Is it still the 80's? By the looks of many of the companies, it felt that way. Sitting across they aisle as Mossimo, before his Target buyout, was still in the Action Sports Market. Add in other like companies and it was easy to see we needed a booth made from real materials. Real brick, real wood, real steel and real glass -- unreal reception. All the peel and stick booths felt it as Rusty's bomb shelter pushed back ... hard.
 

[project title:] Rusty Website

Rusty campaigns change seasonally, many designers are utilized, and it creates a nice collaborative mix. At Sandbox, having been awarded three Rusty websites in seven years, we feel like we’ve had a positive impact on the Rusty story. Skewed for teens and showing off boards and clothing, we’ve given the surf industry’s alwaysauthentic design landscape a good push, with fun and explosive sites that have little regard for what’s normal.
 

[project title:] Rusty Catalog

Tired of the overly designed shout fest going on in the surf industry (has it ever been different?), Rusty showed up at our office and showed me some high end car and golf catalogs and asked if I could help him tell his story in a simple, clean, almost crisp way. Sure thing. Getting Rusty to be concise when it comes to surfboard design and hydordynamics is like asking ..... you get it. After many interviews and having Mike Hill shoot some honest polaroid transfer portraits, we delivered. I've heard on more than one occasion this is Rusty's favorite catalog, ever. Click here to see the love returned, check the date of my board being shaped.