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As someone who is very passionate about winter sports, and snowboarding in particular, I have been keeping an eye on the big websites, waiting for the release of their new products for the fresh winter season. As someone who is interested in both snowboarding and product design, the revamping of all the websites to promote their new products is something I genuinely look forward to. Customization and collaborations (whether it be with a consumer or a well known artist) are continuing to grow in popularity. While these collaborations are nothing new, Oakley has been doing them for a long time, and doing them better than most, it’s invigorating to see such fresh energy being pushed into the designs. Smith Optics had never been known for their ‘unique style’, but rather had more of a generic look to the majority of their designs. However, in their new collaboration, set to hit stores this fall, you can see that they are really pushing forward and trying to break that reputation, offering original graphics as well as visually interesting packaging. Furthermore, they are going the added step and letting the user get involved, by packaging the products with special markers in order to encourage customization and originality.

The Smith Krink Collaboration

The customization aspect is something that seems to resonate with the younger crowd that snowboarding appeals to, specifically the ability to stand out and be original among a crowd.  A few years ago Forum Snowboards packaged one of their snowboard models with a stencils and encouraged consumers to spray paint their own design on them, encouraging individuality.  Burton has recently launched their project, Series 13, which is the evolution of what Forum started.  They are now offering users the ability to choose from pre-made elements that one can arrange as they wish, or even go so far as to upload their own artwork or photos to create the graphics for their own custom snowboard.

A quick example of how you can use Series 13 to create your own design

While other snowboard companies have not gone quite so far as Burton to encourage user interaction with the actual design, many companies are reaching out to other well known companies or artists to help drum up some excitement.  K2 Snowboards enlisted Original Penguin, a golf clothing company that has been worn by such legends as Arnold Palmer in order to bring a look to their snowboards that would be something you would not normally see in the snowboarding world.  Bringing something innovative and new to the product is always something that one should strive for.

Collaborations often get chastised for being nothing more than quick money grabs, but that doesn’t have to be the case.  When they are done properly, they open consumers up to a whole other avenue that they may not have been exposed to without such partnering.  They can inject creativity into a stale product, create a ‘buzz’, and if the collaboration is deep enough, it can help improve the overall product.