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Partner Skateboard Corp.

by Aidan Searle RGD

“Becoming a Certified RGD was something that I had wanted to do for quite some time. I gave myself a firm deadline of 2026 and achieved it in early 2026. My certification process involved selecting a couple of projects that were near, and dear to me (stuff I really enjoyed working on), and also projects that showed my range as a designer. Overall, the application process from start to finish was enjoyable, I wish I had done it sooner.”
Aidan Searle RGD
Role on the Project:

Research, Brand Positioning, Product Development, Creative Direction, Art Direction, Product Design, Pre-Press, Videography/Animation, Analyitics and Trend Forecasting

Context (Describe the client needs / project brief, including project goals and objectives.)

PROJECT GOALS:

Create an art-forward, experimental, and risk-taking skateboard company from the ground up. The company champions under-represented individuals in the sport of skateboarding (queer & trans folks, women, and people of all colours and abilities).

Produce ethically made, high-quality merchandise to sell online and in person at first (local sales & events) with the goal of ultimately being carried by skateshops in Canada, the USA, and Europe. Build a brand that allows everyone to feel seen and achieve brand loyalty through grassroots campaigns and community involvement.

PROJECT BRIEF:

  1. Create the building blocks of the core brand: Logo, colours, typography, grid systems.
  2. Design board graphics and merchandise to be released in quarterly product drops. Develop a formula for this, record data on sales so things can be tinkered with on future drops.
  3. Establish brand tone for writing. Write 2-3 taglines and an elevator pitch.
  4. Design a product catalogue to send to prospective wholesale buyers.
  5. Film, animate, and design social media posts/campaigns and ads for print media.
  6. Ongoing marketing, branding, and product development support.
Design Process (Outline the process from concept exploration to presentation and acceptance by the client; include research, analysis and other investigations that contributed to the solution.)
  1. Researching direct competitors: Find the strengths and weaknesses of direct competitors. Make sure Partner is disruptive to these brands.
  2. Create the core principles of the brand: Develop core principles that resonate with my values, creative vision. Help the skateboarding community and other small businesses as much as possible.
  3. Determine the target market: It was decided that the partner target demographic would be a group of people who are often overlooked by other skateboard companies. Working in alignment with these communities and promoting our core values is paramount for Partner. The brand also needs to appeal to younger audiences to ensure longevity.
  4. Design ideation: The design ideation phase begins after deciding what we didn’t want to be like, determining the core principles, and choosing the target market. No idea is a bad idea at this stage in the game. These were our design steps:
    1. Choose a name (with much research)
    2. Design logo(s)
    3. Determine the graphic style of boards
    4. Determine graphic style for social media
    5. Write taglines
    6. Experiment with typography, colours, grid systems, and illustration style
    7. Source manufacturing to ensure we could work within limitations and budgets
  5. Make some decisions: The name “Partner Skateboards Corp.” was chosen. The idea behind this name is that your skateboard is your partner, and so is the customer. We are all partners in this global community of skateboarding. The initial design ideas were shown to various close friends, fellow skateboarders, and members of various communities to see how the company felt to them. The feedback was positive, which helped lock in the current brand, art direction, and overall tone. The core branding tone for Partner is that we make fun of the fact that we are small and insignificant. “A STUPID SMALL SKATEBOARD COMPANY”.
Solution (Describe your solution/deliverables and how project goals and objectives were achieved.)

Primary logo: I went with a wordmark that was a traced version of Cooper Medium. I wanted it to be simple and feel iconic. I drew inspiration from high-end fashion companies that use simple wordmarks for their logos, but also wanted it to feel handmade with love.

Secondary logos: In skateboarding, it is common to have multiple logos for different products and use cases; all of these were hand-drawn in the Partner style.

Mascot: I wanted to create an androgynous mascot that would appear on various brand materials. 

General illustration style: It was important to me to use my natural drawing style for the brand since Partner is a personal project closely tied to my personal creative expression.

Taglines: The core taglines are most often hand-drawn and have a self-deprecatory edge to them

Typography: I knew early on I wanted to use one font paired with hand- lettering. I chose Cooper Medium for its timeless nature, unique letterforms, and the fact that it is not used by other skateboarding brands.

Core brand colours: I used colours I really like and go back to often. I wanted to make sure the colours I chose are ones that were flexible, unique (in the space), and that I wouldn’t get tired of quickly.
 

THE RESULTS:

  • Partner is available at 6 skate shops in Canada.
  • Working on first full-length video.
  • In 2024, Partner was picked up for distribution in the USA.
  • Partner has sponsored 8 community events since August 2024 - Nov 2025.
  • Partner supports 6 riders with product and travel expenses for skateboard trips