From Sketchbook to Snow: My Snowboard Collaboration with Gilson

A big part of my inspiration comes from the outdoors, board sports, travel, and everything that surrounds that lifestyle. So getting the opportunity to design a snowboard with Gilson Snow honestly feels like a dream come true.

 

Designing a board, the Zooloo way.

 

When Gilson reached out, they gave me something every artist loves to hear: creative freedom!

The idea wasn’t simply to create something that looked good on a snowboard. They wanted the board to truly feel like a piece of my universe. Something playful, colorful, a little retro, and filled with that sense of freedom you get from being outside and chasing your next adventure.

 

 

The “Road Tripping” theme came pretty naturally. The mountains are connected by long, winding lines that represent those adventures on the road, traveling from one spot to the next in search of the best snow and the next mountain to explore.

The shape of a snowboard is pretty unusual. Its long format calls for a completely different composition from what I’m used to working with. I wanted the illustration to flow from one end of the board to the other, with no forced direction, no matter which way you look at it.

From the first sketches to the final vector artwork, the composition slowly came together, with plenty of exploration and experimentation along the way.

 

Finding the right colors

 

One of the last pieces of the puzzle was the color palette.

The illustration and overall composition were established pretty early in the process, but I experimented with several color combinations before landing on the final direction.

The result is colorful, bold and, most importantly... very Zooloo!

 

 

From screen to snow

 

There’s always something special about seeing an illustration leave the screen and become a real object. But seeing this one come to life on an actual snowboard was something else.

A snowboard isn’t something that’s just going to hang quietly on a wall. It’s going to travel, get scratched up, see mountains, powder days, chairlifts, road trips and, hopefully, be part of a whole lot of adventures.

And I LOVE that.

It’s probably one of my favorite things about working on products: seeing an illustration become a small part of someone’s life rather than simply being something they look at.

 

The final snowboard

 

After hours of sketching, vector work, color tests and little adjustments, here it finally is!

 

Zooloo Design × Gilson Snow.

 

A little mix of mountains, adventure and good vibes, all wrapped up on a snowboard. Seeing my universe come to life on something so closely connected to a lifestyle I love makes this collaboration particularly special to me.

A huge thank you to the whole Gilson team for trusting me and giving me so much freedom to bring my universe onto one of their boards.

Now there’s really only one thing left to do... take it to the mountains. 🏂✌️

The board is available directly on Gilson’s website. And if you grab one, make sure to tag me in your photos! I can’t wait to see where this little Zooloo board takes you. 🏔️