All Skaters on Deck
Shred the Stereotypes
In this issue of All Skaters On Deck (ASOD), we invite readers to explore the intersections of a common paradox: the exclusion of femme skaters within skate spaces.
Gritty, Layered, Binary, & Noisy.
Voice & Identity
Skateboarding imagines alternative uses of public space to create new realities for community, identity, and culture. By using public space to counter the strict narratives about who and what are able to exist and move in the public sphere, the sport has mobilized groups to achieve political goals and personal autonomy. While these spaces do not forbid people from entering, they still present invisible barriers and sustain dialogues primarily occupied by normative users.
In this issue of All Skaters On Deck, we invite readers to break these barriers. Through an open Q&A discussion panel, members of the skate community explore the intersections of a common issue: the exclusion of femme skaters within skate spaces.
Invisible Barriers
The Challenge
Skateboarding—like climbing, surfing, or skiing—has been categorized as an extreme alternative sport and subculture. Although the subversive culture opposes many mainstream institutions, it still has developed a normative male-dominated configuration: empowering masculine identity, visibility, and financial success. Despite having a laidback mindset and individualistic nature, skate culture has fabricated barriers marginalizing those who don’t appeal to the dominant image.
Although femme skateboarders have been integral to the development of skateboarding as a sport, their entitlement to skate in public spaces still receives contestation. In this issue’s Q&A, we bring femme skaters to the forefront. By challenging our interviewees to analyze the scene, we can explore the barriers that disrupt our view of the femme skater and their relationship with the board.
Action Starts With a Push
Design Strategy
Services: Art Direction, Brand Identity, & Editorial Design
When approaching the concept for ASOD, the goal was not for femme skaters to fit into a pre-established male-dominated sphere of skating but instead to stand out of it, highlighting the influence femmes have had on the sport since its founding.
Immediately, we immerse our readers into the architecture of the skatepark; wooden boards grind against metal rails, wheels clack against smooth cement, and loud whoops rise into the air following the landing of a kickflip. We turn the pages to see our favorite femme skaters rising out of the corners and into the frame. Graphically, ASOD draws on visual elements inspired by integral objects of skate culture. Through the use of photo collage, gritty texture, and eclectic typography, we remind our readers action starts with a push. Femmes have always been agents of the skateboarding community, and even when they’ve existed on the fringe, they continue to challenge the status quo.
