I've always been fascinated by the shared ephemeral quality of light and water, so I figured making an LED lit surfboard would be a rad visual experiment. We took an old surf board, sawed out channels for the LEDs, wired the electronics under the traction pad, painted the board, and re-glassed the whole thing.

We took the board out and surfed it in tiny Malibu surf, but it was just enough to get a video cut and a few crazy stills.

Neon was a huge learning process for me. I started the project by taking some time to do a photography study of light and how it reacted to motion. I tried a couple long exposures with EL wire, and learned a lot about capturing the textures.

From there, I learned how to make the electronics work, big thanks to my Dad's electrician background. It took 2 or 3 attempts to get everything working, but the board still works 5 years later!

I wanted something that felt futuristic and aligned with the neon glow element. I ended up starting from a futuristic font and then hand drawing the logo from the basic typographical structure.