EA SKATE: Hardcore Simplicity

How do you grab the hard-core skater by the short hairs and still differentiate your new breakout skate-genre IP from the Tony Hawk franchise? That was the gauntlet EA tossed at the feet of the design team at Blind. While not known as a print based design company, Blind proved up to the challenge.

EA entrusted skate. into the hands of the Blind creative team without the compulsory pitch phase, preferring instead to work in tandem to develop a pack design with some genuine street cred. For months the design team produced a variety of highly illustrative, photographic and cg enhanced designs. Numerous rounds of revisions followed, as designers worked to reduce the image down to it’s essence, creating something that would ring true to the legions of hardcore skaters. After much blood, sweat and tears, their efforts culminated in a pack sporting simple, gritty black and white photography. The end result? an iconic image without superfluous detail.

Simplicity. It’s a feat no easier than a backside tail grab 900.