Scenes from the launch video for Jupiter - Full Video

BRANDING

Original promotional ad for the Jupiter longboard

BACKGROUND

I started longboarding about a year into college and it very quickly became the thing I did most. Over the course of a few months I was able to teach myself a few tricks and catch the attention of a few people around my school. After kindly being given the nickname "longboard guy", it seemed right to go and explore designing and building my own longboard. I mentioned the idea to a few of my friends, and the rest is history.

Easy. You start by gathering all of the aspects you like and dislike about existing longboards and then you mash them all up and make something better.

Simple. Find a friend, or make a new one, who is realllly good at woodworking and has a perfectly equipped underground woodshop. Describe your dream board to said friend with an esstential set of schematics and order a bulk shipment of super thin bamboo veneer that comes with its' very own pallet. Then let them do their magic and try to help without getting in the way too often.

Action shots from the basement workshop

Voila. Now that you have your dream board, go out and ride it around to make sure it is truly the best. Be careful not to ride it too much, because you need to use that board in order to create a nifty pair of board presses (copy machines for wood) so that you can start cranking out as many longboards as you can.

No worries. Now is when the fun really begins. Go outside and shoot an awesome video with your friends. Next, make a website complete with a bit of ecommerce sprinkled on top. Then get to posting that video everywhere you can think of and cross your fingers that people want to buy one! ✌️

Cofounder Matt Johnson preparing boards for shipping

So that's the story of Bluegreen Boards. I was unbelievably lucky to have a very cool group of friends that were ready to go on this sweet adventure with me, and I am beyond satisfied with everything we were able to accomplish during the ride.

Not many people are able to say that they started their own company, successfully, yet clumsily, negotiated business deals with South Korean business men (hi Ken Boat) over email with Google Translate, sponsored skating competitions, hand-delivered a longboard to an unspecting Canadian family because it was cheaper than shipping it in time for the holidays, and most importantly made a bunch of people happy along the way.

It's not always easy to make something out of nothing, but the pride, relationships, and sense of accomplishment that comes as a product of successully making your own thing is something I feel very lucky to have experienced.

The end.

Written in memory of John Stathakis, cofounder, shipmaster, and genius behind the logo.