Thank you to the folk at Lignum for creating the custom trophies for our 2017 WSL surf contests.

Using local sustainable materials and craft was important to us. Local surfboard shapers Lignum sourced the timber for the project from a supplier based in Dartmoor, Devon. The timber of choice was Elm and Ash, both grown and harvested in the South West, from plantations established over 100 years ago. The stringers were made from offcuts generated from their surfboard building business.

They used in-house CAD/CAM to create the shape of the iconic Boardmasters 'B' icon, then sanded the timber by hand and finished the trophies with natural linseed oil to bring out the rich colour and grain of the wood.

It is great to have such passion and authenticity going into a key part of our surf competition, and the trophies were really appreciated by the winners. Using ecologically-friendly natural products is a key part of our brand ethos, and to have locally-sourced wood crafted by pro shapers into the Boardmasters symbol has given us an iconic trophy that represents the key values of the brand.

ella williams womens open winner by jason feast 9.jpg

NASS (6th – 9th July 2017) is a unique festival in the UK events calendar, providing a celebration of key passion areas within street culture: music, skate, BMX and street art. Showcasing some of the best urban acts, artists and athletes on offer, the festival at Bath & West combines high-octane action sports with big tunes and night time revelry, all with a backdrop of top quality art.

The creative team were keen to combine these elements for 2017’s artwork, so set about finding the ideal artist to collaborate with. The chosen man was Greg Stobbs AKA Squirl, part of the Lost Souls crew, who was the perfect fit as he is both an illustrator and street artist. It was the best of both worlds: assets were provided to us in a format that was easy to use and adapt, and we knew he could translate the artwork onto 20-foot-high walls for any announcements or onsite. He had also previously painted with us at the festival, so had a good sense of what the event represented and it helps that he is a lovely chap. Due to his large variety of illustration styles, we worked together to choose and develop the ideal route – one that was fun but with a dark side.

We discussed the brief over a few beers and a theme emerged. The festival represents urban culture but is located on a greenfield site. Even though our audience can skate and ride much of the site, the large amount of grass and trees gives it the feeling of a classic camping festival. We wanted to capture both sides in the creative, so together we developed this idea of a post-apocalyptic urban world that was overgrown and inhabited by strange souls representing different parts of the event. Think Twelve Monkeys meets Spirited Away with a sprinkling of Ghostbusters.

Squirl sketch: Skate / Street Art / Music

Greg found his thinking fitted well with what we were after:

"I painted at NASS in 2016 with the Lost Souls so had a good feel for the festival. Working with the creative team made it much easier to get the visual vibe, and after a solid meeting talking about how you would skate a post-apocalyptic world, it felt like my work could fit pretty much perfectly with the kind of characters you find at NASS. I had a loose leash creatively that gave me the freedom to take it my own way, whilst knowing that the NASS team had the skills to pull a lot of the elements together into a cohesive set of designs. Now I'm looking forward to getting some of this stuff up, large-scale on site."

Combining the core pillars of NASS (music, action sports and street art) is always the team's goal when showcasing the event, and this is particularly true with this years' announcement videos. The festival's first release saw headliner Pendulum stencilled onto a canvas of ten skate decks amongst Squirl's festival creative, to the backdrop of their monster hit ‘Tarantula’, and to date has had more than 410,000 views on Facebook.

The eight characters covered every requirement for the festival's promotion - skate, BMX, music, street art, photography, hedonism and camping - bringing both consistency and flexibility. The background assets were provided in vector form as clusters and individual elements as the NASS team would be rolling the artwork out across all touch points, from website and social channels to print ads and video content.

Street art character illustrated by Squirl

It is always a pleasure working with talented artists who add something extra at every stage. I’m excited to be rolling this artwork out, not least at the festival site, where we plan for Greg to paint these awesome characters somewhere huge onsite: either on 14 foot ramps or all over NASS’s pub (the Truck & Bearing).

UPDATE: Squirl's artwork on the facade of the Truck and Bearing Pub 2017 — **UPDATE:** Squirl's artwork on the facade of the Truck and Bearing Pub 2017

Onsite, NASS collaborates with Bristol-based Upfest, Europe’s largest street art & graffiti festival. In 2016 the site was transformed by street art from some of the UKs best graffiti artists, muralists and stencillers including Captain Kris, Si Mitchell, SPZero76, Squirl, Loch Ness, Paul Monsters, Voyder, Lemak, Kid30, Lokey, Soker, MOA and more. Find out more about NASS street art here.

NASS Festival takes place 6th – 9th July 2017 with headliners Method Man & Redman, Pendulum and Kano. Tickets are available online. Street artists can apply to paint at the festival here.

NASS 18 | Merch Lookbook

Boardmasters Trophies 2017

Boardmasters x Marley Speaker Collaboration

Soul Arch: Surf Session IPA

NASS 2017 Trophies + Medals

Fanakapan + Cheba @ NASS Festival 2017

NASS Festival Branding with Squirl

NASS Skate Contest Branding