This ever happen to you? You design and shape a beautiful board for somebody and then they come at you with some ridiculous, chicken scratch airbrush idea? “My kids drew this up so It’d be great to get it on the board”. On some level I realize the “customer is always right” but the design is lame and I don’t want to ruin the board with it. I’ve told him it wouldn’t look good, would be very expensive, etc. but he’s sticking to his guns. UGH.
Kirk
Let the customer know that you will make them anything they want, but that your logo won’t go on a board that doesn’t meet your design criteria.
I have found that lame art looks better and more “arty” if you can do it SMALL. Like print on rice paper in a size less than 8.5 x 11" and place it off to one side of the stringer.
I like Phebus’ idea
Well you have just as much ground to stand on and say no to putting it on something with your name on it. It will however probably bring consequences like you looking like too cool for school and him telling everyone under the sun that you burned him.
If you dont want to deal with customer requests dont give them options. Just make boards that you like and sell them or realize that you are in the business of stoking people out and if a board with their kids lame drawing on it does it, that is something you can be proud of.
Its not an issue of function, what does it matter?
agreed w/ wideawake. i realize the process w a car is different, but Ford doesn’t go blast customers for custom-painting their mustangs, ya know? personalizing a board (especially a custom board) can mean a lot to the user, even if no one likes or understands the paint.
half the graphics/designs/art that show up here on sways and get kudos from a lot of members, i find horrendous. that doesn’t mean that one opinion of them is more or less valid than the other. it’s just too subjective to make a fuss over.
I think I’ve seen his kid’s artwork - is his kids name Dane Reynolds?
a lot of stuff that looks kinda goofy by itself actually looks pretty cool when it’s on a surfboard
We gotta know what we’re talking about here - post pictures!
Another thing I do is offer to give them a white, sanded finish board with your logo. Tell them to go out and get some posca pens and krylon crystal clear and go nuts…
Make him a clear board and give him the name of a local airbrush artist. They can pay you for the clear board and take it to the air brusher of their choice.
One of the favorite boards I’ve made the owner had someone paint it. The paintjob looks terrible to me but the owner likes it. To each his own. Most of the art you see these days is done on top of the glass job anyway. This is the new millenium…not the 80s.
Agreed Mako, some of the most disappointing sprays I hated received the most praise…?? Go figure.
make it white…let them art it up…
…I had this customer who wanted a frog ¿?! near the nose on top of this, in my opinion, vivid simple and lively color work. I knew (due to I have been painting boards for 27 years and deal with people…) that was a mistake; in the concept, visually and he would ruin the work, so I said OK, yes; I painted the board, glassed it sanded, did the pinline and THEN airbrushed the frog. I called him before to apply the finish to show that both concepts do not work together; he reconsidered so I sanded the frog and here s the board:
https://swaylocks7stage.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/P2240477.jpg
https://swaylocks7stage.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/P2240492.jpg
I’m a frog fan!
did he say any particular size , kirk ?
if not …
… you could always do it on one on his small thruster fins , perhaps , eh ?
[ sort of like how bad tatoos could be confined to the perineum ]
Just wondering Ben. Can a tattoo artist say no to the guy who wants it on his perineum? I mean, who would want to give a guy a tatoo there? Funny. Mike
A “Frog” would have “boinked” a classic clean shape with taseful color work. At least your customer had since enough to realize that. Lowel
However-------- If it’s your board and you’re feelin’ a little “froggy”. Why the “boink” not???
I don’t know??? A “Chick” tatoo artist, who has been known to do other things on the side??? Lowel
When I am glassing I stick to classic tape-offs like Reverb’s board above. I’m just not much of an artist and admire guys like Huck and Reverb who can come up with frogs and old signs etc. I’ve had a few requests that I didn’t really want to do but was able to print off the internet on rice paper or use a stencil. Of course when you are working out of a glass shop there is sometimes someone available who can do more than just pull a good line with tape. The best way to deal with it I suppose is as mentioned above and just give the guy a sanded hot coat that can be cleared later after he’s ruined your bitchin’ shape with the artwork of a toddler… Did “Scooby Doo’s” head on a rice paper lam for a guy once on Maui. He was lucky I had owned at one time a big Rottweiler by the name of “Blue” who personified “Scooby”. So I did it. The thing with rice paper art is that you are never completly sure how the color on the lam may change when you lay it down over a painted blank and hit it with lam resin. I like to keep it simple unless I’m on Maui and can pay a guy like John Glomb to get crazy with a Posca Pen. If you remember BYB (Backyard Boards) you know of what I speak. Lowel
It taint gonna hurt at all. Probably right Ding! I like frogs too. Seems to me if your in it professionally you give the customer what he wants. Bid it high if it’s gonna f-up a nice board. Mike
One of the benefits of doing what the customer ask is that when they see the results ,They then get to tell you " You Suck." Of course before you did their oh so cool design you were in their view the worlds greatest artist.
This is just one of the many joys of doing custom work.