Over the past few years, the number of corporations getting involved with skateboarding has escalated to unprecedented levels. We thought the time was ripe to hear from the folks on both sides of the fence. Kevin Imamura works at Nike in their skateboard division. “Birdo” heads up Consolidated Skateboards and is also involved with the newly reactivated “Don’t Do It” campaign. We asked these two the same set of questions. Their answers may or may not surprise you.

About eleven years ago, I picked up a book called “The One to One Future.” In this ground-breaking work, authors Don Peppers and Martha Rogers examined what happens when technology allows companies to market to customers on a one to one basis. The book originally was published in 1993 and a decade and a half later, it’s incredible to see how on point they were. I couldn’t help but think about the one to one future while I was preparing this article on skateboard customization. It is my belief that skaters all over the world will pick up on the benefits of having skate gear that is uniquely created for them. This article examines three areas of customization: deck construction, board graphics and grip tape. I am sure it’s only a matter of time when we see truck and wheel customization. Until that moment arrives however, there is still a tremendous amount to explore.

In the mid seventies, I remember reading about Lonnie Toft. One of the first skaters to be seen riding a wider board and also the creator of the 8- wheeler. One of my all-time favorite skate photos was from that same era. The one of Lonnie cruising outside City Hall in Toronto, Ontario on his 8-wheeler, wearing a tuxedo, top-hat, and red Vans deck shoes while holding a cane on the deck. To this day, that photo is timeless and a classic. I was honored and lucky enough to be able to catch up with Lonnie.

Lynn Kramer, a mechanical engineer from San Diego, started showing up at slalom races in 2002 during the Fat City Racing era, and quickly became the fastest woman racer in the U.S. Within two seasons Lynn was winning every major race that had a womens division. She went to Europe to find more women to race.

We knew Oregon gets too hot in the summer and too damn rainy in the winter—so fall it was. I don’t recall the three in the morning wake up call was not on the itinerary. I woke up in Fresno and took over the wheel to Weed. The wheel was steering the Gravity Team to the concrete art recently labored in Oregon. The Team included, Jesse Parker, Roger Mihalko, Dustin “Ddog” Taylor, Ed Latus, Paul Santilli, myself and Breamo, who organized the expedition and brought a bunch of camera bags. We chose to enter the beaver state from the East and head North to Klamath Falls.