2
Tommy Caddick
Art
Greg Evans
We look into whether the art around you influences your style of skating or just how you feel; if at all.
Beth Blatchford
Ideal
Charlie Bennett
What kind of skating magazine would we be without telling you about Birmingham’s most cherished skate shop? ...That’s right, a pretty sh***y one...
Ines Chan
Jodine JC
Fashion
Dean Green
Oh what’s that? Tiered of the same old labels? Well it’s cool, we’re breaking down skater stereotypes in more ways than one.
4
5
The skate community in Brimingham has been vibrant now for many years. It’s no wonder, considering that Birmingham has many spots dotted all around the city centre. Loads of gnarly parks and plazas are only a bus or train joureny away. Not to mention, Birmingham has been graced by the visits of teams such as; Lakai, Cliche, Thrahser, Kr3w and Nike SB. At the heart of the skate community is Ideal, a skate shop that has been around for many years. They’re not only a shop but they’re part of the skating community in Birmingham willing to go the extra mile to get involved with the local skaters.
Ideal
Ideal is an idependent skate shop run by former skaters that is located in the Custard Factory, the heart of the creative area in Birmingham. Many skaters in Birmingham hold them in high reguard and who can blame them when the shop is run by former skaters who are willing to help out any way they can and get involved in the local skate community by encouraging new skaters, promoting existing skater’s edits on their social netwoking sites and holding massive events where almost everyone can get involved? If you go down to the store you will see it packed with local skaters and you will witness first hand that Ideal rarely see memebers of the local skate community as just customers. Not only this but they stock high quality products as well as great customer service.
8
The Ramp
Ideal owns a ramp located just adjasent to the store. The ramp is indoors for when it gets rainy and for most of the time it is packed with local skaters who are visiting the store or coming for a skate. There is an amazing atmosphere in there, Hip Hop is blasting on the speakers, numerous people are skating together some are just sitting and chilling on the side talking to eachother and sometimes you will get the odd person recording for an edit. There is always a lot of life at Ideal’s ramp. They do a great job at maintaining it and making sure that everyone can have a good time whne using the ramp. It is paid for by local skaters and anyone who wishees to use it, Ideal will charge you just a little bit of money depending on how long you want to use it for. This helps keep the ramp maintained and will pay for anything that it needs. Some fudning also comes from the ‘Ramp Local’ Scheme.
Events
9
Ideal has seen many famous skate teams grace there ramp. Recently Ideal has played host to the Thrasher Magazine team, the Lakia team on their ‘See Me Eurollin’ tour and Cliche, who ahve been there on more than one occaision. On these events if you head down to the store the whole custard factory is buzzing with the skating community who are there to be a part of these events. The teams usually hold ramp jams on Ieal’s ramp where skaters can go and watch and skate with them. It gives them a chance to witness the teams first hand and also a chance to skate with a massive number of professional skaters. These events are the perfect way too bring the skating community together, which is exactly what Ideal does.
10
Skateboarding has always been considered as an underground or viral sport. Unlike sports such as football or rugby which get shown on television on a daily basis, skateboarding has been a sport that would have been shown only by skaters buying DVDs or videos. In recent year with the advances with technology websites such as Youtube and Vimeo skaters have
been able to network and share their videos easily. Skateboarding is rapidly becoming a sport that is being more widely shown on TVs, now the contest the X games is being aired on SKY. Although it is becoming more popular as a sport many people still reject it and prejudge the skaters themselves.
Wanna be cool? Put your SJ cap on when you skate!
Many popular skate spots in Birmingham are highly populated with pedestrians such as New street and Broad street. This photograph was taken inside a busy shopping centre where security patrol the area. As soon as they heard the noise of the skateboard we knew we would have around 30 seconds to get the final shot before being asked to leave. This is why people have prejudice perceptions of skaters who like to skate on the street.
14
An Interview with Brad
How would you describe your (fashion) style?
Well I usually wear skinny jeans, with a baggy jumper and a snapback. I usually skate in a semi baggy tee with tight jeans. That is what I would call my casual wear. I don’t really tend to take a lot of notice or time with what I choose to wear I’m not that bothered really.
15
What is your favourite style of skating ?
I love skating street rather than parks as there is so many different sets and locations that you can go through in one session. Whereas in parks you are usually stuck with around 2-3 ramps.
What do you do when your not skating? I am studying Graphic Design in college. I also work in a supermarket in my spare time. I hope to go to University to study [Graphic Design] when I finish my college course. My ambition for the future is to hopefully get a studio of my own and to work independently or for a company.
Why do you love skating?
I love the freedom we have when skating, theres nothing to hold you back other than the occasional body guard haha. I enjoy it so much though and it has become a part of my life that I would really miss it if I was ever unable to do it in the future. It’s definitely a way of life.
18 It’s not often that you come across a girl skater. girls just aren’t that Women are just not seen or known as skaters. “Let’s face it, most people say. This good at skating and don’t belong at skate parks”. This is what r of gravity, they say. It’s is to do with their structure and posture as well as their cente just science! good for one thing: Most people say that girls shouldn’t skate because they’re only on everyone’s looking good while hanging out with male skaters. They get rity of nerves and cramp their style. Statistics show that a vast majo n riders; millio 12 skaters are male. The US boasts that they have over per the number of women in this group ranging from twenty-five en cent. If we took a higher estimate, the number of wom skateboarding is roughly consistent with the number of women participating in such activities such as surfing, ballet and also snowboarding. But even though this is known to be fact, female skateboarders are still somewhat silent within the community. People just don’t see skateboarding as a female sport. It will always remain a ‘guys sport’.
Le t's fa ce it, gir ls ju st ar en 't th at go od at sk at ing
19
20
How often do you see a ska teboarder in a of you will be suit? Most thinking neve r. Ask yourself typical male sk w h y. Most aters are know n as being na obnoxious do rcissistic, uchbags. Far too many perp these stereoty etuate pes, making th e rest of them look bad. When you roc k up to a skate park there are different looki a few ng people. So m e of them can known as ‘the be cruisers’ ‘the lu rkers’ ‘the spo guy’ and last nsored but not least ‘t he punk rocke typical skater r’ . The would mainly be wearing sk below their bu inny jeans m with a big b aggy hoodie with some kin to match, d of crazy log o on, maybe keep the look a beanie to going. But this is what I am tr across, not all ying to put skaters look e xactly the sam e. Some love the art of skatebo arding but do dress the way n’t like to the typical ska te r dresses. He c smart looking ould be as in wearing a suit. This cou certain style th ld just be his at he wants to put across to typical lookin all the g skaters out th ere, follow yo style, not wha ur own t everybody e lse wants to se unique and st e. Be and out from the crowd. Yo own person. u are your
22
Fashion or Function Function
Originally thought of as purely a fashion statement; the cap has more recently proven itself as a much loved method of preventing the skater from face-planting the floor. Because kissing the floor is never cute. Although, perhaps not so effects when travelling over 15mph...
Fashion
Realistically, any old t shirt will do. But a skater will argue that if it isn’t branded, it’s not worth wearing. Dressing to impress is apparently still a high priority.
Fashion While skinnies are preferable for aerodynamics, as long as you don’t go out in your birthday suit, we’re fine with it.
Function Q: Is there anything better than skating with flashy new shoes? A: Yes... A skater’s shoes aren’t just for fashion. They need thick soles to absorb the shock when landing tricks. What’s better than looking good? Leaving the skate park with your bones in tact.
23
Bro Tip Function Pockets, pockets, pockets! If you don’t have a man bag there’s no need to panic. A trusty winter coat with 101 secret compartments to store all of your gadgets can save you from stressing about keeping your belongings safe. They’re all on hand – but you can still skate as free as a bird.
26
SKATEBOARD PARODIES
Within the artwork surrounded by skateboarding lies a element of parodies that features well known animated shows, films and such. This creates a sense of sarcasm in which members of the culture can known and understand. The artists within the skating community have one thing in common, and that is the ability to inspire skaters around the world to transforming their works of art into tattoos, vinyls and collectables; ultimately developing the skating community.
An experienced skater, is shown by scratchmarks
DECK WALL OF FAME
v
Ideal, the home of skating, in the heart of the UK. With indoor ramps and skate parks in general close to being extinct, Ideal satisfies its community by supplying everything they truly need and right in the heart of the Custard Factory. Yes, if you’ve been skating around Birmingham and haven’t visited Ideal in Digbeth, then you my friend need to hop on your board and find yourself there. Like many skate-shops, Ideal displays a wall of fame featuring decks that present a variety of artwork for its consumers to appreciate its versatility.
The development of the skateboard community has really expanded the creativity within the culture. The skateboard deck art allows skaters to express their own individual tastes of artwork and now most professional skateboarders own their own decks signed by their favourite artists. You will often see limited edition designs created by notable artists present on a wall to appreciate their individual pieces. It also demonstrates a passion of the art work and indicating they are a collective of valued deck art.
And
w i t h t h at i n m i n d t h e T r e e o f H o p e h a s c o m m i s s i o n e d a h u g e p i e c e o f s t r e e t a rt i n t h e c e n t r e o f B i r m i n g h a m , c ov e r i n g a n e n t i r e w a l l o n t h e s i d e o f a p r o m i n e n t c u s ta r d f a c t o ry .
Tree of Hope
Images by Greg Evans & Ines Chan; Quote from http://www.treeofhope.org.uk/street-art/
TREE OF HOPE IS CONVINCED THAT USING ARTWORK IS ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO CATCH PEOPLE’S ATTENTION.
After hours of looking around custard factory, I have seen a lot of graffitis in the car park.
In my opinion, the best street art in here is Tree of hope (Left page). Other graffitis such as below have very distinctive styles compared to this one. Not saying my chosen piece is not unique enough, but it wgot different content.
What I like about this street art is, it is trying to convey more than one thing. It is promoting art, while it is also raising awareness in order to help children. And I can tell it appeals to all age groups too.
of Hope is passionate about improving the health and lives of sick and disabled children resident in the United Kingdom by providing and assisting ‘inTree the provision of grants to enable them to obtain medical surgery, treatment, therapies and equipment which would not otherwise be available to them.
I might not have seen a lot of street art, but seeing a mixture of street art and fundraising, knowing graffitis are not only produced for showing your work off is definitely a new thing to me. From looking at the colour, this street art avoided aggressive colours such as bloody red, dark blue, black‌etc. The person who did this art also kept the idea simple so it is not off the topic - Tree of Hope. Talking about techniques used in the art, the children are drawn with light lines so as to maintain the simplest way to display the art. Zooming in to the tree, it looks like an oil painting! But there is no way the painter oil painted on a building? Perhaps there is a special technique to do it with the paint spray? This remains a mystery.
The yellow band around the tree represents Hope. The children represents they are living happily because they have hope. The reason being because people donate to help them, giving them chances to be healthy and to live just like other normal children. And the white heart on the tree says it all - Love. In conclusion, If I were to analyse this street art to explain why i think this is the best street art in custard factory, I would say these points: 1. Colours used are fully engaged with the aim and idea behind the art piece 2. Very different style and theme compared to those around 3. It is beautifully made and is appealing to everyone