Handcrafted
Something we don’t see very often in this sport are innovative designs that stray a bit from the norm. Japanese designer Taro Tamai has been designing hand-made boards for over a decade. An answer to the homogenization of board shapes that happened as snowboarding gained mainstream appeal.
Tamai’s goal is no less than to “perfectly blend into the terrain miraculously made of snow and wind, just as if birds flying in the sky or fish flowing in the stream.” The end product of his philosophical approach to the sport is a line of boards renowned for their flexible fins, oversized sized fish tails and ride-ability in almost any snow condition.” More information on these special boards at Gentemstick Snowboards.

Image source: Selectism

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Made in Japan
Burton Japan, FYi, and Fragment Design have merged forces to work on a joint collaboration project to develop high end technical outerwerar. The result is the [ak] 457 jacket, which can be best described as technical equipment for mountain enthusiasts. It’s the most functional and technically developed outerwear coming out of the Burton camp, and for now it’s only available in Japan.

Image source: FYi Design Department

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Adam Weiss / Landscape Studio for Burton
Some great design work for the current line up of Burton Snowboard packaging conceptualized and designed by Adam Weiss of Landscape Studio, with Illustrations done by Travis Millard. The packaging redesign encompassed Burton’s entire product offering: boot/binding boxes, board labels, outerwear hangtags and accessory boxes. The aesthetic was later carried over into all communications for the brand.

Image source: Landscape Studio

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Beastin’
For its 20th anniversary this year, Timorous Beasties, a design studio from Glasgow Scotland, has collaborated with Nike ACG to create a capsule collection of jackets and soft-goods featuring their signature style of visual imagery in a limited run.

For this collection, Timorous Beasties have merged traditional 19th century motifs with designs of the day to create an interesting pattern that compliments itself well. This graphic has been applied to a Nike ACG TB Vertical Shell BK Jacket, in both black and blue colorways, and feature fully taped seams and a wind and waterproof lightweight shell that utilizes the ACG Storm-Fit technology.

Image source: Freshness Mag

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New Kicks
With SIA this past weekend, there was an opportunity to see much of what is coming down the pipes gear-wise for next year’s riding season. This current season saw the introduction of this technical boot from Nike Snowboarding, released with an ACG inspired colorway as a throwback from the archives of Nike. What we see coming in 2011 for the Zoom Air Kaiju is no different, as Nike likes to use their resources to add to the aesthetics of these boots. This time around there is an obvious poke at the tech challenge tennis sneakers from the Agassi days, as well as one that touches more on the color palette made famous by late 80’s Jordans. For snowboarders that are also sneaker heads, and for those with taste, next season is looking good to pick up a pair of Kaijus.

Image source: Rad Collector

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Live Series Boards & Bindings
We gave you a first look at Endeavor Snowboard Design’s 2011 lineup the other day, now we have a better look at the Live Series, done up by Bristol artist Mr. Jago. The Live Series has always been a show piece for Endeavor. In keeping with this style, they chose to use the Live as Mr. Jago’s canvas for 2011. Having worked with such brands as Addict and Rossignol, and having exhibited his work around the world, it’s clear that his collaboration with Endeavor is a great match. Going to his studio in Bristol, Endeavor selected nine pieces of work from Mr. Jago’s portfolio and photographed them to be used as the graphics for this series of boards and also as the inaugural graphics for the forthcoming Live Series binding.

Image source: Endeavor Snowboard Design

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Since 2002
One of the brands that I am most interested in seeing year after year is Vancouver Canada’s own Endeavor Snowboard Design. Coming into their 8th season in 2011 and looking to drop an impressive catalog of both hardware and softwear products, Endeavor is still hitting strong with their attention to detail and collaborations with some of the world’s best artists. Mr. Jago, Hydro74, Vince Chan and Derek Stenning are only a handful of the artists that have done work with Endeavor for 2011. New for next season are two models of bindings to round it all out and complete your kit. Keep your eyes out for these!

Image source: Endeavor Snowboard Design

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In other online news…..
New website design from Elan Snowboards with site design and direction from VBG Creative Design Studio out of Slovenia. Lots of nice stuff coming out of that studio for both the Elan Snowboards and Artec brands.

Image source: Elan Snowboards

SFxVT For The City
Burton’s relationship with FTC in San Francisco dates back to 1984 when the shop first started selling Burton boards, helping to pioneer snowboarding in Northern California. 25 years later, the relationship is still going strong and this jacket commemorates the long-standing friendship between the two iconic brands and their dedication to snowboarding. The jacket features smoke detailing on the zipper and the inner lining pays tribute to the SF lifestyle. Sold exclusively at FTC stores in San Francisco and Tokyo for $225 USD.

Image source: Hypebeast

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Get Vectorfunked
Matt W. Moore is an artist, designer and Illustrator from Portland, Maine. You may recognize his signature style from the countless projects he’s produced over the years for clients such as Burton, Mountain Dew, Nike and Google. We had the opportunity to talk with him about his style, influences, action sports and what’s next on his list of big things to do for 2010.

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