VANS
SNOW // SKATE // BMX
I worked at Vans from the Summer of 2002 to the Winter of 2004. I was paid $30k/year, but loved the work, and I tried really hard to learn more about design and design implementation while there. I had immediate exposure to the innumerable manufacturing processes involved in making snowboard bindings, snowboard boots, helmets, pads, and the necessary components.
While at Vans, in those two years, I designed 2 binding lines for our pro team, 2 highbacks, 1 cable lacing system, 1 set of knee guards, and 4 helmets.
I was lucky enough to work with a phenomenal group of people who were accepting of a fresh kid from a Georgia college who was doe-eyed, and, if I’m honest, ignorant and naive. I owe all of them for their guidance and patience. Except one guy. He was terrible.
05/06 AGENCY
The 05/06 Agency binding line for the Vans Snow brand was led by Jared Bevins with athletes like Danny Kass, Andreas Wiig, Eddie Wall, and Scotty Arnold.
Each binding was to reflect the athlete’s personal style from color to straps, leading to some incredible themes and color ways as well as technical achievements such as velvet-like materials on snow and a refreshed highback.
Some highlights from the process were riding with the team at Mount Hood in the summer and working with Danny to reach a color and style he preferred.
Danny. initially asked for the binding to “look like a sandwich”, so we explored sublimations of olive loaf, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, and pickles. He deviated from this when Jared tactfully mentioned that he’d sell more units and make more money with a dark themed binding rather than a deli sub.
We ended up gravitating toward a “pimp” aesthetic with John Deere and Crown Royal colorways seen used in low riders and by Bishop Don Magic Juan.
04/05 AGENCY
IT STARTS WITH ONE
I don’t have the photos to do this line justice, but this was the first line of product that I worked on for Agency. Agency was a significant attempt to rebrand the Switch binding company that Vans bought in 1998.
We retooled the Tro’it highback to offer more lateral support as well as offering unique colors for each rider and updated ratchets on the higher end models. It was fun and intimidating to work with the pro riders on this series with Kass wanting a mustard color like Caterpillar and a Louis Vuitton parody look on another.
Distinct challenges for this one were getting a dark red, a tartan print that matched Scotty Arnold’s request, and working though the process of licensing a Real-Tree camo print for Eddie Wall.
AGENCY COMPONENTS
Once the overall look and feel was done for the bindings, the process of creating the technical packages was necessary to communicate with our manufacturing partners. The bindings we were developing were molded but also combined elements of cut/sew, and it was necessary in many cased to provide assembly process instructions. While the design work was more creative, the technical process was necessary to make sure we received the look/feel we desired.
VANS BOA SYSTEM
In 2005, I was tasked to come up with alternative lacing options for the BOA lacing system in Vans boots. The goal was to remove potential cable breakage and wear while also presenting some option for potential zonal tightening.
The design process went through a few options to hide the cables as well as sheath them in a protective lace that looked more traditional to laced-up boots worn by most pros at the time.
The BOA lacing system has since become a much stronger cable that doesn’t need the same level of protection offered here although some brands like DC and ThirtyTwo offer variants where they cover the cables under a piece of zippable fabric.
ACE / FULL FACE
The Ace Spade’s initiation was to take the current Ace Helmet and update the prior chine/face guard. The older design suffered from a hockey-mask, silence of the lambs look to it with the face protection too close to the chin. The updated chin guard flowed more with the design for the current branding as well as looked closer to traditional full-face protective helmets used for more aggressive riding.
The design took cues from old-school racing stripes while incorporating the ProTec iconic “three-dot” hole pattern.
MERCENARY & DESCENT
The Mercenary and the Descent were my first helmet projects while working at Vans/ProTec. The Descent was ment to utilize and in-molded construction combined with a more european venting system.The helmet also benefitted from a Bernoulli set of front vents that pulled hot air away from the goggles.
The Mercenary was to be a hardshell update to the helmet line using a new EPP bead instead of the standard EPS. The Mercenary would share an inner EPP mold with another helmet but it would be a hardshell. The Merc would also use the new Audio Force headphone system for listening to music while being worn (something unique for the time)
05/06 KNEE SHIN
The Knee Shin combination was my first attempt at doing pad design work. The product was meant to be an update to an older pad set offered by Vans/ProTec. Guided by Patrick Kaye, at avid rider and former developer with GT, the knee/shin was to function as the design guidance for the coming pad line.
I started with attempting to mimic the body’s internal structure with the underlying shin bone and musculature dictating the form of the product, but, while intersting visually, we opet for a more traditional approach and with bolder branding on the shin.
The final product, the Pinner, kept the medial and lateral venting options as well as adding peroration for breathability.
PARTING THOUGHTS ON VANS
Vans was a great out of school experience that exposed me to a number of products and manufacturing techniques across multiple markets. I was able to quickly learn about managing vendor partnerships, the importance of refining product in Asia, and the effects of unified branding in addition to learning new design techniques like clay to surface modeling.
While not all in this site; I was able to bring 4 helmets, 8 bindings, multiple technologies, 1 patent, and 1 set of pads to market in my 2 years there.
While I learned a lot and I was part of a great group of people, I wasn’t paid well, so I bought an 05 WRX wagon, and spent the winter of 05/06 snowboarding in the Lake Tahoe region. After my mini-retirement, I’d move on to New Balance in Boston where I would really begin to stretch my desires to build brand presence and cohesion.