Fresh out the oven - Donuts for Daze

Online now.!

Well that was a massive effort.! And a lot of lessons learned. Some painful - as are most lessons worth learning.

Over 3 years ago when i was sitting at my desk facing possible redundancy i had made the decision to do something creative. Something that wouldn’t cost a lot and that i could control. At that point the idea of Doric Skateboards was pretty much as it is now - i wanted to screen print as much of my own stuff as possible. Its taken until last year to venture into clothing. A couple of factors contribute to this.

Mainly Time and Confidence.

It takes time to plan venturing into new process’s. And i really had to wait for the down time of post Christmas to achieve that. And thanks to all the lovely people that support us i ended up with the budget to purchase new equipment too.

A four screen rig, new screens (you can’t use the same type of screens on a skateboard as a tee.! ), squeegees, ink (again - some different inks can be used.).

Its been a tough learning curve and i hope i’ve got that message across on social media. I’m not sharing the process to show how busy i am or anything like that. It’s meant to be a way of being totally transparent. I’ll share mistakes and concerns. No faking it (although i did used to think “fake it till you make it” was a way forward). I got very despondent that the tees etc weren’t printed “perfectly”. I’ve kinda got over that and realise i am still learning and i hope that people who support the brand will be ok with that too. If i wanted perfection i’d do them a different way - this way you can see the work that’s went into it all.

I’m not a confident person in many ways. I allow that negative voice to dictate - sometimes its my voice, sometimes its other peoples. But i’ve pushed through and am really proud of the new range. Its the fullest, most complete range we’ve done yet. Big thanks to Designer Chris Graham - amazing work by him again.

We both hope you like the new stuff - generally Doric Skateboards is a playful brand and this design keeps that. Although wait until you see the next design/collaboration. This one ain’t playful… ; )

Until then - thank you for all the positivity sent my way. Never taken for granted, always appreciated.

Cheers

Gary.

Doric x Fit Like at Fierce Beer Bar Aberdeen

Well that was a fun night. Next morning wasn’t too clever but thats a distant memory now,.!

We decided to do something a little different with this launch - firstly we revealed the full graphic a couple of weeks before release. By the time we’d announced the collaboration we’d already sold nearly half the stock of decks and tees. When we revealed the actual graphics we had to do another run of tees and were left with just 3 out of the 20 decks. Really pleased with that and can’t thank people enough.!

So on the night at Fierce we sold the remaining 3 and a few other bits and pieces but also got a chance to have a chat with some new people and some friends who’d come down to have a beer.!

Its pretty gratifying when folk from the local community support what you are doing - i hope i do the same for them. I try to share other peoples stuff on the Doric page and on my own page. It really can make a difference.

Coming up to Christmas you’ll see a load of posts about supporting local and F Amazon (the website, not the jungle - i hope). I say support what you can. If you can’t afford to buy bespoke clothing or hand made something or other then lets not guilt each other into debt. Sharing a FB post or re-tweeting or commenting/recommending is a fantastic way to help out your local business’s. Buying stuff is obviously welcome but not everyone’s budget stretches that far. I’ve definitely benefited from both and very much appreciate it.!

And talking of appreciation - big thanks to Fit Like for this collaboration. And to the team at Fierce Bar Aberdeen for hosting us.!

So whats next in terms of collaborations? Well we’ve almost definitely got 3 lined up for next year already. Some artwork locked, some not even thought of! So watch this space!

Part 9 - Whats a Bon Accord?

So its around June/July time and i'm beginning to get the anxiety that can be best described as "2nd Album syndrome". 

Its around this time that i think about my youth and the joy of Bon Accord ale. For those not in the know - this was a drinks company that rolled around the housing estates in big flat bed trucks shouting "bon accord". Occasionally you would convince your mum to buy a bottle of their finest Limeade or Red Kola! Great days. Bon Accord is of course (i say of course in terms of those from Aberdeen!) the motto of Aberdeen, and is French for Good Agreement. I won't get into a history lesson here but this also involves Robert the Bruce and Wars for Scottish Independence. Interesting stuff! Doric Skateboards also happens to reside on land gifted to Aberdeen by Robert the Bruce. 

And so the cogs turn.

Many a skateboard design has incorporated a bottle.

Maybe i could do that too. I take the idea to Nicola and she runs with it and comes up with an amazing sketch that incorporates the shortened Doric Skateboards logo whilst still keeping the Bon Accord label face - see some early pics below!

I can tell early on that this is a step up in terms of complexity to screen. Screening onto shiny curved wood is a challenge. Screening 4 colours and lining each screen up precisely is a tough nut to crack! 

Next time in the Doric Blog - multi screens & multi colours!

Part 2 - Learning

Where was I? 

Oh aye. Got the name, got the thinking behind it, got the idea for the first graphic. Logo is being designed. 

Need to learn to screen print. Just a small minor detail eh? ; )

Lucky for me i have a brother who has experience in it and a fantastic facility in the city - Peacock Visual Arts Studio. For a very small fee you can use the equipment there for a variety of artistic endeavours. But first you need to know what you are actually doing. 

I set up a one to one session with a chap there called James - he's patient and answers questions without you feeling daft for asking! After a 3 hour session i walk away in a bit of a daze trying to remember everything thats been said and done. He promises to be on hand to shadow me when i'm ready to go with my own designs. I fear it will be a less shadowing more me clinging to him for dear life..

One thing is clear and its something i suspected from the beginning - i can't screen print decks down at Peacocks. The shape and size of a deck and the method of lining it up to print (or "registration" as i would learn to call it!) means i need to build something bespoke. 

In the meantime I've also ordered the first batch of blank decks.

So, like the threads of a complicated film things are beginning to come together. Or so i think at the time but like all good films things are not always what they seem, and there is a Marvel-esq post credits sequence waiting to bite me on the arse for this first part of the journey.

Join me for Part 3 - Setbacks, where i'll consider why the lack of a window in my loft space was a good thing.