pods
for primates : a catalogue of surfboards in australia since
1900
 |
surfresearch.com.au
appendix
: lam-art |
|
decals :
lam-art
Decal / sticker
usually a graphic logo or text
indicating
the manufacturer printed on rice paper and laminated onto the
blank.
Decal is the preferred term.
In pre-factoy production times riders
would often decorate their boards with paint, often a name in
decorative
script, cartoon character or club logo.
In Australia the Surf Life Saving Club
‘Reel’ logo was popular.
First production logo credited to
Outrigger
Canoe Club (Hawaii) circa 1935
–paddle graphic over “O” branded into
solid wood boards. Image 1.
Other variations included
metal medallion fixed by screws (circa
1940 – Tom Blake, (Hawaii),
laminated business card (circa 1947 x,
USA),
external metal foil adhesive sticker
(1960
Gordon Woods, Australia). Example : Image 2.
First rice paper decals possibly by
Velzy-Jacobs
(USA) circa 1955, first used in Australia by Scott Dillon circa
1958.
The Hobie decal, circa 1956, set a
precedent
in design, the highly stylized script and framing. Image 2.
In Australia, Keyo was one of the
manufacturers
that adapted the theme. Image 4.
Professional surfing in the 1980’s saw
a preference for clear boards and prominent positioning of
sponsor’s
decals.
Shane Egan : Graphic Artist
Hi Geoff,
I tried to get in touch with you a couple of
years ago when I first
came across your web site.
It seems you were snowed under and backlogged and I never heard
back
from you.
Anyway I noticed the site has been updated recently so shall try
again
to offer my help.
First off I have a nice collection of pristine board decals that
would
instantly fill a lot of gaps.
Most of them are my art or my polished up, hand drawn, colour
separations.
LIST ATTACHED.
My input in the surf industry (late 60's till mid 80's +) included
logo design, screen printing, hand drawn decals, design and colour
separations
for "Jim the Printer" of Brookvale, airbrush designs and murals,
surfboard
and fin design and shaping.
I also have an interesting collection of photographs of boards
from
that period as I worked with quite an array of great shapers.
Most works of mine were signed (one way or another) while many
were
not.
If I can be of any help in identifying and authenticating any
decals,
airbrush artworks or shapes please do not hesitate to e-mail.
Only too
happy to be of service for such a project.
Hope to hear from you this time.
CHEERS,
Shane Egan.
My small website:
http://www.bluebananastudios.com/shane-egan-art
Notes
on Decor Features
From evidence of the earliest
photographs
of the resurgence of Hawaiian surfing in the 1900's, riders have
added
decoration to their boards. This initially was as simple as the
use of
painted text to identify the owner, as many photographs of
the Kahanamoku
Brothers illustrate. Invariably these were positioned at the sweet
spot,
for obvious asthetic reasons, and this is common to the present
day. This
was to expand with the use of more elaborate script and graphic
images
and by the 1930's decorated boards were common and were precusors
to the
decal - a specific text/image to identify the board
builder/manufacturer.
As boards were made of wood (solid or hollow) this was either
painted,
branded or an affixed metal plate. The use of a brand for the
boards of
members of the Outrigger Canoe Club, Honululu is probably the
first example
of such marking. Examples of metal plates and adhesive stickers
identifying
Tom Blakes Hollow design date from around the same period,
although manufacturing
details were usually at the tail of the board, again a tradition
still
prevelant today. In Australia the use of logos (often the Life
Saving Reel)
indentifying the board with a Life Saving Club was common.
Although boards were usually
easily
identified by the inherent unique characteristics of the
timber,
the use of full colour paint was not unknown, although this may
have also
been used for waterproofing. More common was the painting of
graphic images
or the use of paint to highlight the design. The use of
'pinlines' - a
line that shadows the template outline - being another early
design, that
would come into it's own with the introduction of fibreglassing
in the
1950's. By the 1960's several designs, particularly the use of
stripes
and bands, were virtually standard. With the introduction of
foam and the
development of sophisticated fibreglassing techniques other
designs such
as deck and nose/tail patches were adopted. The use of pigments
and tints
to produce decor of high quality became an intricate and
demanding process,
an art form that vitually disappearred in the 1970's when colour
was applied
with a spray gun directly onto the foam blank. The use of the
spraygun
was to quickly expand the limits of decor imposed by the
standard use of
tints and pigments, in Australia notably in the much copied work
of Martin
Worthington ay Terry Fitzgerald's Hot Buttered Surfboards, circa
1972 -
see # 104. Although the use
of spray
opened the boundaries of decor design in many cases it simply
reprised
earlier devloped designs, while reducing production demands.
In the 1980's with the
professionalism
of surfing, colour decor virtually disappeared from the majority
of boards
and the prominant positioning of "sponsors" decals became
standard. Other
developments such as the use of acrylic spray to replace the
gloss/finish
coat and the application of spray paint onto the glassed board
(as opposed
to onto the foam blank) further reduced production difficulties
- if the
colour design was not right it could be sanded off and redone.
In the late 1990's colour began to
reappear
as a desired decor feature, particularly with the resurgence of
Malibu
models that were similar in dimension to boards of the 1960's.