Christian smith
Freshman Technology
Wednesday January 24th
You are able to find Santa Cruz skateboards just about anywhere in California. The Santa Cruz skateboard company doesn't just sell skateboards but a large variety of items. Now Santa Cruz sells all kinds of clothing, stickers, and random collectibles. This company distributes their products all over the world. “Santa Cruz’s simple dot logo is probably the most prominent iconic image to ever come out of the Santa Cruz county and these days it's bigger than skateboards and Santa Cruz itself”.(Baine, 2010) …show more content…
Santa Cruz skateboards was created in 1973 in Santa Cruz California by three men by the names of Doug Saut, Jay Shuirman, and Richard Novack. The original warehouse still resides in the same area as when it was first built. “It was never about the money just a bunch of guys caring about surfing”.(Pittman, 2013) The factory has not moved to any other location because the founders have said that it would ruin the brand name and purpose of the company being called Santa Cruz. The first board design they had made was a simple oval that was flat across the whole thing with steel trucks and rubber/gel wheels. “The new wheels that had been released the road riders had taken the world by storm and evolutionized skateboarding.”(Roderick 1974)
One of the first major changes in Santa Cruz skateboarding was in 1973 when they started using actual wood, carbon, and actual fiberglass.
This was a major event because they had not had enough sells or money to buy some of the necessary materials for their boards because they had been building with raw fiberglass. This had been a huge breakthrough because now they had started to have tons more sells and being able to afford new materials and supplies. Later in that year they had gotten a call from a friend Jimmy Hoffman and he had ordered 500 skateboards, and so Santa Cruz had built 500 skateboards and they got sold immediately. After that order they had gotten tons of more orders for 500 skateboards do to the new material. “I always knew how to sell and buy stuff.”(Pittman, …show more content…
2013)
The second and latest biggest change in 1985 in Santa cruz was when the new logo had been released. This was a huge change and a big deal because the original dot logo was loved and people thought that the new logo would change the company. The new logo had been the screaming hand designed by Jim Phillips. Almost everyone had thought that the new logo would bring down the company. But later after the big reveal of the logo a lot of people had changed their minds. After this logo had been released the sales had gone through the roof and Santa Cruz had sold more clothing than they ever had before. “The cartoon image has become the pillar of the art scene especially in Santa Cruz, since it's conception by artist Jim Phillips in 1985.”(Bhanot, 2016)
In 2018 the company has progressed astonishingly compared to what it is now.
Santa Cruz now is a multimillion dollar company with sellers all across the world. Santa Cruz Skateboards is currently earning $10-$25 million a year. Santa Cruz has recently started to have fundraisers for the kids and teens who are unable to afford boards and they teach the kids how to build and sell boards. “Most of the other projects, the science I’ve been able to, it’s more explicitly taught. This project, I think because they’re just so into it, I can’t really stop them for working long enough to really teach them about the science.”(York,
2017)
Sources cited:
Baine, W. (2010, September 12). The Santa Cruz Skateboards 'classic dot' logo is famous around the neighborhood, and around the world. Retrieved from http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/zz/20100912/NEWS/100917995 Bhanot, A. (2016, August 3). 30 Years of the 'Screaming Hand'. Retrieved from https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Iconic-Screaming-Hand-Santa-Cruz-Museum-389082732.html Phillips, J. (n.d.). Screaming Hand: August 5, 2016- March 26, 2017 – Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. Retrieved from https://santacruzmah.org/2016/screaming-hand-august-5-2016-march-26-2017/ Pittman, J. (2013, October 20). NHS celebrates 40 years of skateboarding innovation and the creation of an industry. Retrieved from http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/ZZ/20131020/NEWS/131027523 York, J. (2017, May 12). Santa Cruz alternative education skate shop lesson avoids the grind. Retrieved from http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20170512/NEWS/170519881