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In The Know (6)
Posted by: John Bradbury on 22nd Aug 2008 in In The Know
Our occasional series where great design objects are described by those who know them best; their owners.
Design isn't just about Alessi tea pots and Eames chairs - New Zealand skate guru John 'Brad' Bradbury tells us why...
What is it? The Vision Gator skateboard deck.
Tell me more... Skateboard decks are lovely things. The best are made from Canadian rock maple laminated in a press then cut into shape. The Vision Gator was the first side-cut skateboard that I owned. It was a skateboard deck that had no significant technical advances for the time but I loved it. It was a board from the second generation of wide boards from a time when pool and vert skating was becoming the predominant trend in skateboarding.
Why did you buy it? I bought it because I liked everything about it. The 10inch wide by 30 inch long board was the size in fashion at the time. The board had a smooth flowing shape incorporating the side cut design where the deck is narrower from just behind the front foot placement to the base of the tail to reduce the overall weight of the deck - and I liked the graphic.
About its looks? Everything about the board was right for the time. The flowing lines of the shape, the rounded square tail, the rounded nose just enough to hold it comfortably for nose-grab tricks. I liked it that the surface area that wasn't used by my feet had been reduced. The board had gentle curves that removed the angularity of the earlier side-cut boards and gave it a streamline shape that modern skaters call a fish. Then there was the graphic on the bottom it has an angular time tunnel effect that contrasted with the smooth lines of the board. It was painted glossy black and the graphic on my board was in green like the one in the photo. The T shape in the graphic on the tail emphasised the position of the back truck (the metal device that holds the wheels in place and allows the board to turn) while the front truck partially covered the vortex design.
Technical advantages? The only advances were that the angular shape of some of the earlier boards (particularly the original side-cut produced by Gordon & Smith) had been smoothed out. Weight had been reduced from an uncut board but not significantly.
Emotional appeal? It was a board that marked a move further away from the surfboard derived shapes of the early and mid 1970's but still retaining some reference to them. The removal of the wood from the rails of the board was a pure skateboard design; earlier shaping like diamond and stinger shaped tails had been directly copied from surfboards and served no real function on a skateboard. It was part of another generation and rebirth in skateboarding. Gator (Mark Rogowski) himself was also a skateboarding superstar at the time who became a murderer.
Personally it was the board that marked my return to skateboarding after a two year gap caused by a badly broken ankle. I loved the time I wasted playing on that board in the company of my friends and I've continued to play skateboards for 25 years since then.
Could it be improved? It was improved. Mark Gator Rogowski had several later models released by Vision during his heyday which followed the changing demands and fashions in skateboarding throughout that period.
Not recommended for... Hanging on a wall (and that goes for anything functional). If you have one get it down from the wall or out of the cupboard and use it every now and again - or give it to me and I will.
Editor's comment: here's a shot of Brad putting that same deck through its paces...
And a more recent one on a more recent deck...
Posted by: John Bradbury on 22nd Aug 2008 in In The Know
Our occasional series where great design objects are described by those who know them best; their owners.
Design isn't just about Alessi tea pots and Eames chairs - New Zealand skate guru John 'Brad' Bradbury tells us why...
What is it? The Vision Gator skateboard deck.
Tell me more... Skateboard decks are lovely things. The best are made from Canadian rock maple laminated in a press then cut into shape. The Vision Gator was the first side-cut skateboard that I owned. It was a skateboard deck that had no significant technical advances for the time but I loved it. It was a board from the second generation of wide boards from a time when pool and vert skating was becoming the predominant trend in skateboarding.
Why did you buy it? I bought it because I liked everything about it. The 10inch wide by 30 inch long board was the size in fashion at the time. The board had a smooth flowing shape incorporating the side cut design where the deck is narrower from just behind the front foot placement to the base of the tail to reduce the overall weight of the deck - and I liked the graphic.
About its looks? Everything about the board was right for the time. The flowing lines of the shape, the rounded square tail, the rounded nose just enough to hold it comfortably for nose-grab tricks. I liked it that the surface area that wasn't used by my feet had been reduced. The board had gentle curves that removed the angularity of the earlier side-cut boards and gave it a streamline shape that modern skaters call a fish. Then there was the graphic on the bottom it has an angular time tunnel effect that contrasted with the smooth lines of the board. It was painted glossy black and the graphic on my board was in green like the one in the photo. The T shape in the graphic on the tail emphasised the position of the back truck (the metal device that holds the wheels in place and allows the board to turn) while the front truck partially covered the vortex design.
Technical advantages? The only advances were that the angular shape of some of the earlier boards (particularly the original side-cut produced by Gordon & Smith) had been smoothed out. Weight had been reduced from an uncut board but not significantly.
Emotional appeal? It was a board that marked a move further away from the surfboard derived shapes of the early and mid 1970's but still retaining some reference to them. The removal of the wood from the rails of the board was a pure skateboard design; earlier shaping like diamond and stinger shaped tails had been directly copied from surfboards and served no real function on a skateboard. It was part of another generation and rebirth in skateboarding. Gator (Mark Rogowski) himself was also a skateboarding superstar at the time who became a murderer.
Personally it was the board that marked my return to skateboarding after a two year gap caused by a badly broken ankle. I loved the time I wasted playing on that board in the company of my friends and I've continued to play skateboards for 25 years since then.
Could it be improved? It was improved. Mark Gator Rogowski had several later models released by Vision during his heyday which followed the changing demands and fashions in skateboarding throughout that period.
Not recommended for... Hanging on a wall (and that goes for anything functional). If you have one get it down from the wall or out of the cupboard and use it every now and again - or give it to me and I will.
Editor's comment: here's a shot of Brad putting that same deck through its paces...
And a more recent one on a more recent deck...
Comments
Posted by Ally Barr on 26th Aug 2008 12:07 PM
The Bradster is doing better Inverts at 40 than he did when he was 18.
Hows that work then ?
The Bradster is doing better Inverts at 40 than he did when he was 18.
Hows that work then ?
Posted by JB on 2nd Sep 2008 12:08 PM
The Magic of Photoshop - I was actually measuring for new curtains when that photo was taken.
The Magic of Photoshop - I was actually measuring for new curtains when that photo was taken.
Posted by ALB on 16th Oct 2010 10:57 PM
The Vision Gator II was the first real skateboard I owned. I wanted the original, black/green like you had, but when I went to the skate shop they were pushing the newer model. This was back around 1987 or 1988. I had the pink-to-blue fade color. I loved that board.
The Vision Gator II was the first real skateboard I owned. I wanted the original, black/green like you had, but when I went to the skate shop they were pushing the newer model. This was back around 1987 or 1988. I had the pink-to-blue fade color. I loved that board.
