Behind the graphic – the Burton Slush Puppy
Behind the graphic – the Burton Slush Puppy
Keep scrolling for the story behind the visual creation of Burton’s newest baby with graphic designer/artist Jackson Tupper.
For the story of our visit at the Burton Snowboards headquarters. CLICK HERE
PHOTOS: RYAN LEBEL
Sup Jackson! First, tell me a bit about yourself and what you do over at Burton.My name is Jackson Tupper, I’m 28 years old and I’m a hard goods creative designer for Burton. I mostly work on snowboard graphics, but I also work on bindings and overall design for hard good products. From establishing the color palettes to building presentations to show the graphics to the rest of the team and everything in between.
What’s the process of designing a board graphic? Do you know what board you’re working on first or do you create graphics and then find a board to put it on?Usually, you start with the board because it already has some kind of identity. Say we’re working on a graphic for the Custom, we have to do it with a Custom vibe that will be in line with the product’s personality. So yeah, first we get to know which board we’re working on and then we come up with ideas for that graphic in particular.
Was the Slush Puppy different since it's a new Burton board?This one was different for sure because it was the first time the board was being made, so it was a bit open ended. Plus I got to put my own signature art on the board. At first, I just knew that the board was called the Slush Puppy and that it was meant for Spring riding and slashing side hits. From there I pitched several design concepts so we had different ideas to choose from. That’s usually how we work. We pitch 3-5 concepts, see which one resonates the most and work from there.
We love the Slush Puppy graphic over here! The chilling dog, the cactuses and all the cool little details are awesome. What was your main inspiration for this one?Right off the bat, I established this Slush Puppy Dude, the dog with the little cowboy hat. He kind of started the creative process and became an easy jumping off point. I basically wanted to build the graphic around the idea of this dog and then the western vibe has to do with the board’s springy specs. Spring means that Winter is over, it starts getting warm and all. I wanted to bring the idea all the way to another spectrum with the western/desert scene and put that kind of style into it.
I actually ended up procrastinating this graphic pretty bad. After pitching 5 graphic concepts earlier on in the season, I was given the full go-ahead to do my own thing for it. Suddenly it felt like the pressure was on, and with lots of other work to do on other boards in our line, I kept putting this one on the back-burner for a couple months until the last minute. The week that I had to finish this design landed on the same week that I had booked a snowboard vacation to Sweden, so I ended up drawing this whole graphic on the overnight flight to Stockholm. I think it ended up working out in my favor though because working fast under pressure to hit a tight deadline forced me to be loose and not think too much about it
We’ve been lurking on your Instagram page a lot recently and we really dig your style. Must be nice to see your own signature art on a new type of Burton board.What you see on social medias is my stuff, I rarely post about the projects I work on at the office, but it’s nice when those two worlds collide. I get to mix my two jobs which are working at Burton and just being an artist outside of the office. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s sick to be able to combine those two things.
Thank you for designing a great board graphic and keep these sick drawing ideas coming! What’s in store for you as an artist, anything we should know about ?To see more of my stuff, you can check my Instagram page @jackson.tupper or my website jacksontupper.com. I also got an art show planned for this summer at this place called Safe And Sound Gallery in Burlington. Come check it out if you’re in town!
On this note, we strongly encourage you to check out the Slush Puppy board as well as the rest of our flawless Burton Snowboards arrivals. Season is still young, equip yourself with the best and go shred like you never did before! See you on the slopes!