DPI
The 2010/11 season marks the third installment of the DROP Pure Inspiration (DPI) Series which is a tribute to creative individuals who inspire DROP through their artistic pursuits.  For this year’s exclusive DPI Series product offering, DROP has proudly teamed up with two world-class masters: Andy Jenkins and Bigfoot.  Featuring custom graphics on the frame and strap, both artists put their creative stamp on DROP’s new top-of-the-line ESPI goggle which has innovative “Supreme Fit” memory foam technology built in.  Plus, as an extension of his goggle creation, Andy Jenkins also customized DROP’s new high-performance 1080p pipe/park glove. More images after the jump.

Image source: Drop MFG

 

TWSnow goes Digital with the iPad.
Jumping onto new mediums is the way to go, and snowboard media is no exception. With that said, TransWorld Snowboarding+ is the newly released digital version of TransWorld Snowboarding magazine for the iPad. It’s a re-designed and enhanced version of the content from the mag that is fully interactive, taking the magazine concept forward that much more. The TWSnow app for your iPad is free to download, with a special limited-time introductory offer of $2.99 US per issue. Get it here

Image source: TransWorld Snowboarding

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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