The creative industry: Yeesh. On one hand, working in it can result in the most un-careery of all careers; an endlessly fulfilling extension of what you love into what you do. On the flipside, that same industry can be the ultimate soul-smoosher; a creativity killing monster leaving utter suckness in its wake.

If you’ve worked in it, chances are you’ve experienced both sides of it. The ideal client, the idol client, the client that shouldn’t even be a client because they should be out of business; they’re everywhere, and we’ve each developed our own way to deal with them. But when times get rough, we need reminding of why we’re in it in the first place– and when we need reminding, we need Joshua Gajownik.

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Although this is old news to Spear Collective comrade Tom Judd, who did the illustration work for this Burton collab nearly two years ago in the Summer of ‘06, and was subsequently sworn to secrecy, it’s new news to us. This 2008 Burton GTwin deck has ‘Tom Judd’ written all over it, although the top sheet was censored a bit to — I’m guessing — scale down the loudness to comport with traditional Burton style. At any rate, whenever Mr. Judd fancies splattering his ideas on a canvas — no matter what type of canvas — we like it. This deck is ladies-specific, so rejoice Tom Judd groupie-snowboarder-chicks!

If you consider yourself a graphic designer, you’ve probably heard of Joshua Davis. As one of the first adopters of Flash, a significant new media artist, an author, and one of the design world's weightiest members, Joshua Davis is a name that rolls off many tongues during discussions regarding progression, experimentation, and development. A pioneer in the word's most technological sense, Joshua has never been one to find a niche and stick with it, instead choosing to find what's next — or in what's often his case, to create it. We chatted with Joshua about things like Praystation, philosophy, and his plans for the future, and wound up feeling a little bit like we do when we look at one of his mathematically composed graphics. In other words: utterly enthralled.

Joshspear.com: For our readers who aren't as familiar with your background, can you give us a brief rundown of your life up until today?

Joshua Davis: My name is Joshua Davis, born 1971 in San Diego, California, moved to Littleton, Colorado where I pretty much grew up. I had always been interested in art and in high school I entered a statewide competition and took second place in the state for painting. After spending ‘89, ‘90 in Huntington Beach, California skateboarding and ‘91, ‘92 moving back to Colorado living in Frisco to do some snowboarding, I moved to New York in November 1992 and eventually attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. At Pratt I worked on Design and Illustration and through fellow classmates got into working on the web in 1995 (Netscape 1.1). When Netscape 3 was released (at the end of 1996) I had a moment of clarity to use technology and the web to create my work. 13 years later I run Joshua Davis Studios where I use design and technology to create work for corporate clients, private collectors, galleries, museums, and personal exploration.

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Two years ago, Paul Smith and Burton collaborated to prove that the words “gentrified” and “snowboarding” can glide nicely into the same sentence. This was significant for a few reasons, primarily because attempting to place high-fashion in the land of slopes could have resulted in something far less pretty than a foot of new powder. The resulting pieces not only proved to be a success, they also managed to garner the admiration of many riders expected to laugh at the alliance, resulting in a new segment of style-conscious, mountain-friendly gear. This winter, the two world-known apparel companies are at it again with another blend of traditional Paul Smith design and Burton Mark XIII collection snow-sense. The collection, while small, mixes classic elements with streamlined functionality, resulting in pieces like this Burton Paul Smith Single Breasted Jacket — a topper that hides all kinds of Christmas magic under its three-layer traditional English yarn-dye shell. In any case, the collection adds a little humor to the transition from meeting room to chair lift, and girls really like doing dirty things with guys wearing hunting checks on chair lifts. I mean, not me personally, but you know. Some girls.

In August 2006, Burton photographers Dean “Blotto” Gray, Jeff Curtes and Adam Moran (also Burton Snowboard’s team manager) hit the road with six major international snowboarders, from Norway’s Terje Haakonsen to America’s Shaun White, to such far-flung destinations as New Zealand and Chile. 28 Day Winter: A Snowboarding Narrative is a culmination of that trip, a coffee table book that puts readers there in the flesh with the photographers as they witnessed these stars doing spectacular 720’s, grabbing air on their boards, soaring over objects like gasoline barrels. The photographs are stunning, showing magnificent backdrops of terrain, sometimes with a brightly colored speck in the distance that is the rider cruising across a blanket of white. Other photos depict riders bonding in their down time, an experience that snowboarders know are very much a part of the whole picture. When you reach the end of the book, you almost have to hold yourself back from hopping on a plane with all your gear and heading to snow country immediately.

The book comes out in December, but you can pre-order it at Amazon for a discounted price.

Josh Brown and Jeff Rooney, founders of creative agency Capacitor Design Network, formed their roots at a well-known Vermont studio called JDK. Sometime in the middle of working on some minor stuff — like working on the Xbox logo (in conjunction with cinco design) — the two boys decided they were ready to branch out on their own. Perhaps I should say two branch out on their own, because the resulting company landed Josh and Jeff in separate locations, and almost 3,000 miles apart. Over the next few years, Josh (in Vermont) and Jeff (in Portland) slowly gathered clients, and soon they were doing some of the things they’d dreamed of doing — like album covers and branding for the biggest snowboarding company around.

Now, over a decade after Josh and Jeff first opened shop, CDN can take credit for a large amount of notable work. Probably their biggest accomplishment to date is a three-years-running relationship with Anon, Burton’s optics division. Anyone who’s spent time on the mountain would know this relatively new line of eyewear killed it from the moment it was born, and much of the credit lies with CDN, as well as the great branding they did — and continue to do — for the company. Another area in which Capacitor shines is album design, a few of the results of which we’ve even written up before (the beautiful His and Hers artwork, for instance, was theirs).

We had a chance to toss a few questions Jeff’s way, and he responded with some very candid answers…he even threw in a few pictures from his incredible sketchbooks for good measure. Read on for a closer look into the sometimes exciting, sometimes gruelling world of marketable creativity.

Joshspear.com: Tell us a little bit about yourself: what led you to design; what keeps you in design; what’s on your to-do list for the future?

Jeff: I got into design by accident in school. I didn’t make it into the architecture program and fell into design as Plan B. Luckily for me, I loved it. Once out of school my biggest influence as a designer was working at JDK in Vermont. There were so many talented designers there who I got to work with. It certainly shaped the way I think as a designer today and the kind of work I’ve been involved with since. READ MORE…

Hope you all are ready for another roundup! This time it’s winter-oriented gear from ‘the vault’– from coats, to snowboards, to high tech snowboard outerwear, we’ve got you covered. As we dip deeper into December and the low temps that come with, make sure you’re wearing the right stuff, and also be sure everyone special on your holiday gift list are taken care of.

• Section Outerwear: We've had the distinct pleasure of spending some serious quality time with the guys over at Section in the past few months… Continue Reading

• Patagonia Quilt Again Jacket: I have been wearing Patagonia gear for the past 25 years (it has been known to show up in my baby pictures). Growing up in a sub-zero alpine climate… Continue Reading

• Burton Mark XIII Cashmere Sweater: This morning was one of those bitter cold, windy November-in-Colorado mornings. I sure wish I had one of these Burton Mark XIII Cashmere Sweaters for the walk to work… Continue Reading

• Ridehouse Clothing: Coming to us out of Quebec is new clothing label Ridehouse, who's board-sport inspired designs scream function, but also blend art and style… Continue Reading

• Trovata Concord Peacoat: Everyone is familiar with the classic and timeless peacoat, but maybe you didn't know that the name ‘peacoat' comes from the Dutch or Frisian word ‘pij' for a type of cloth… Continue Reading

• The iDiom Gray Scale Series: For those who like to spend way too much money on your snowboard outerwear — and like to be the the person who somehow… Continue Reading

• Nau: Nau is almost here (god I love puns). Really though, Nau's new website, complete with a preview of their Spring 2007 line… Continue Reading

• Bamboo Snowboard: The Dutch based company Indigo Snow has introduced the worlds first bamboo snowboard. The board is super light weight and made mostly… Continue Reading

• Burton Faux-Croc Collection: As long as there have been snowboards there has been Burton. The creative force behind the evolution of snowboarding… Continue Reading

• Quicksilver Heating Vest: I'm all about the times when technology crosses with fashion, so this Go Vest from Quiksilver seemed worth a mention… Continue Reading

For all of you who will be in the Lake Tahoe area on or after December 15, you should definitely head over to Northstar at Tahoe and check out Burton’s new on-mountain project– The Stash. The Stash is somewhat mysterious at this point, but it is reportedly some sort of natural features park, set up to combine conventional park riding with natural features fluidity for a unique riding experience. With snowboarding legends like Craig Kelly and Johan Olofsson serving as inspiration for The Stash, how can this thing not be amazing? The brains of Jake Burton, Burton Global Resort Manager Jeff Boliba, and some of the uber-talented Burton team riders are behind this one, and Bob ‘The Chain-saw Picasso’ King is responsible for the aesthetically impressive (and jib-able) native-to-tahoe wood signs that will lead you to The Stash. Gnar-gnar-shred-shreddy.

Via Transworld

This past weekend, Burton made the hordes of Japanese Shaun White fans jump for joy when they opened their first Japan store in Harajuku (known to be a swanky, trendy area of Tokyo). They issued this standard t-shirt/sticker gift ensemble to those in attendance of the grand opening, but what we really want to see are some photos of the inside of the store. Was anyone there with a camera willing to share the love? The Gravis store in Harajuku is great, and the Burton store in SoHo has some impressive traits (although they failed to follow their ingenious trade show merchandising strategy of pairing together all of the gear from each ‘collection’). I am guessing that– given the popularity of snowboarding in Japan — Burton probably threw some serious Yen at this one.

Via High Snobiety

As long as there have been snowboards there has been Burton. The creative force behind the evolution of snowboarding, Burton has always effortlessly mixed sport with style, creating some of the most innovative apparel and equipment in the industry and their new Faux-Croc Collection illustrates this to a tee. With a smooth, black reptilian pattern, innovative features, and tech functionality, the new Faux Croc Collection will keep you in first class style. Of course no crocodiles were harmed to make these bags.

I don’t know how I feel about anyone snowboarding, or skiing wearing this. That sounds like a recipe for disaster on the slopes. For cruising around town, sitting in the back row of chemistry class, or anything else this Burton headphone & beanie combo seems pretty neat. They don’t tell you what kind of headphones your paying for in there, so for $40 they better sound good. I’m yet to see these around on someone, just floating around the web.
Headphone Beanie