For my upcycling project, I have decided to create an iPad holder for my desk that fits into the Skateshop Aesthetic. Before I talk about my project I would like to explain what the Skateshop Aesthetic looks like. At its core, the skateshop Aesthetic encompasses anything that looks like it belongs in a skateshop. This includes skateboard equipment as well as clothing and graffiti. Some features of this aesthetic are listed below.

• Graffiti style graphics
• Colorful
• Equipment focused (decks, trucks, wheels, stickers)
• Lots of exposed wood
• Hats and Hoodies
• Loose fitting clothing

Photographs taken by Jeremy Mazur [1]

When I lived on the East Coast my local skateshop was Switch Skate and Snow and was located in Newark, Delaware. This shop, which is shown in the images above, is the main inspiration for the aesthetic of my project. Another inspiration was the aesthetic of longboard competitions held by Faceplant Boardriders. At many of these events, equipment such as jumps, skateboards, and helmets were covered by overlapping stickers so I plan to incorporate this look in my design. When brainstorming project ideas I wanted to create something that not only fit my aesthetic but also served some function. Since I will be using my ipad a lot more to sketch and doodle in this class I thought an Ipad holder would be useful. I sketched out some initial ideas which can be seen below.

Back when I was longboarding every day, I remember our wheels used to get flat spots from holding long slides. This would force us to get a new set of wheels and while a flat spotted wheel would be useless for longboarding it would work just fine as the base of my ipad holder. For those who do not know, the image below shows what a flat spotted wheel looks like. I plan on exaggerating the flat spot until it reaches the core of the wheel so that the base of the ipad holder is stable.

Photo of flat spotted wheel from Lush Longboards [2]

I decided to create my project out of old skateboarding/longboarding equipment that I no longer used for its original function. I went home last weekend and picked up some of my old equipment from my parents’ place. I also grabbed a bag of stickers I had saved up which I can use to give my project the aesthetic I am looking for. My next steps are to take the woodworking workshop at the Idea Forge so that I can begin modifying the materials above into my design. I am excited to get started and to get feedback from others on how I can implement my vision for this project. If there are any suggestions for improvement or cool ideas, please let me know in the comments.

Citations:

[1] Jeremy Mazur, Photographer

     Website: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbmazur/6126387352/in/photostream/

[2] Lush Longboards, Longboard Wheel Guide

     Website: https://lushlongboards.com/workshops/longboard-wheel-guide/