Nine | Skateboard Deck Design

A calligraphy pen rests on paper beside several elegant, hand-lettered cursive capital letters.
A collection of black-and-white botanical sketches showing pine tree branches, needles, and a small pinecone.
Calligraphy practice featuring sheets with intricate flourished letters and two pens resting on a desk.
Calligraphic lettering practice on paper with sketches, finished ink letters, and a pen on a white surface.
A black and white image shows a hand-drawn calligraphy sketch on grid paper with a pen resting on the side.
Two vertical paper strips feature elaborate, ornate black calligraphy and sketch-like patterns on a white background.
A close-up of red ink swirling across a wooden surface, partially filled in with linework sketches on a craft mat.
Six skateboards with diverse typographic and decorative art designs mounted in a row against a plain white wall.
Two skateboard decks with white backgrounds and intricate red and blue abstract calligraphy designs, resting on wood.
A minimalist room with a table, chairs, a hanging lamp, and six decorated skateboards mounted on a wall beside text.

Two custom hand-painted skateboards

nine / nou concept design: what does a long-term relationship look like?

Both skateboards have the same message in English and Catalan:


“For the next (NINE) years together”
“Pels propers nou (ANYS) junts”


The Copperplate lettering is not very legible, making part of the message hidden (just for ourselves and a few of you now), nevertheless the sentences make sense without discovering the words “nine” and “anys”.


The background on both skateboards represent our native environments: Gum trees, palms and pines. I grew up with the smell of pine trees and the taste of pine mushrooms (rovellons) and these will always bring me back to my hometown (Costa Brava).

PROJECT BACKGROUND: ONGOING SKATEBOARD COLLECTION

In 2013, I designed a pair of skateboard decks to celebrate my partner and my sixth anniversary. Rob used to skate, and due to a knee injury, he now collects decks instead. Today, we have more than 40 hanging on one of the walls in our home.



Many moons have passed since that sixth anniversary, and over the years I’ve developed the habit of designing a new pair of decks to mark each one. Each pair reflects the emotions and evolving state of our relationship. You can explore past designs here.

A collection of colorful graphic skateboards mounted on a textured brick wall behind a wooden staircase railing.

Services

Lettering
Illustration

Original artwork

Industries

Skateboarding
Art & Culture

Credits

Self-generated artwork
Art direction: Maria Montes