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Deckmakers collective article / Behind the scenes story

Introduction

Hey there people of the internet. I came to this world under name Simon and I’m the only man behind the cruiserjoy.
At the moment me and my tools for creating decks are located in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

Chapter 1. First contact

Let’s make this more interesting and for people with longer attention span than 8 seconds.
Let’s get back in time a little. In time where i remember was my first contact with fingerboard.
I remember an article in old Transworld skateboarding magazine with photo of tech deck in someones mouth, i dont know what was the article about but the photo resonated.
That happened approx. 14 years ago. After that there are memories from elementary school where i saw a classmate with tech deck, blew my mind.
We were making diy decks from plastic sheets and sand paper as a griptape with kicks so high you could lock the deck with two fingers outstretched
and use it as a hoverboard, haha. One year passed and i bought my first tech deck as a Christmas present for myself, because when i told my parents
what i wish for they didn’t understood a word so they gave me money. I was really a happy and excited kid at that moment. Visiting only core skate
shop in my hometown left huge impression in my mind so me telling you that skateboarding came along, is not that unexpected right? I really started to dig
through the current scene where i could, believe me it was limited here in Slovakia. One skate mag called “Board” from Czech republic, had one or two pages
dedicated to fingerboarding. I was sold and that’s how i discovered the whole German scene beginning with mr. Winkler (my first pro wheels) Boris Dietschi,
Elias Asmuth, Dimitri Schlotthauer, Timo Kranz, Timo Lieben and whole Berlinwood thing, Blackriver-ramps,......hard to name them all.

Chapter 2. School

My artsy-fartsy talent allowed me to spent all my study years on schools such as “school of applied arts” and than “academy of fine arts and design” so i was
constantly accompanied with many creative people and surrounded with
material and technologies that helped me with experimenting an finding the right mold. It was the longest process of creating that i experienced,
long breaks here and there but i always came back to improve where i left it. I got my hands on CNC machine during academy years and thats where magic was happening.
Along with that I saw how this tiny world of fingerboarding was growing with internet and social media boom. I was doing my research along with upgrading the mold
to my hight expectations. It also helped me to came up with the idea of making only cruiser and different shapes, because i saw a gap that i could possibly fill.
At that time , 2016/17, there were loads of brands already but only few made different shapes and in a very limited quantities. Popsicle shapes changing
only by graphics and veneer combinations were everywhere. “Not that creative” i thought. The time was ticking and i knew that it’s just a matter of time
that other people would discover this way of shaping things differently.
Let’s make some fast forwarding with some dates.
November 14th 2016 is the date of my first instagram post that i was “cooking something”. 17th of May the first batch was live. Almost another half a year
it took me to release it and i thought that i missed the “right place right time”. I was mistaken because of the guys behind Fingerboard TV. They made a post
with beautiful shots of “Piglet” shape with mahogany veneer and yellow logo. Much love goes their way.
From that point i felt that it is going to be one interesting ride.
Chapter 3. Little insight
My deck making is pretty much the same as the other nice “brands” out there. Glue, mold, drilling holes, sanding, final clear-coats or maybe no clear-coat....
but when it comes to shaping that might be different a bit, since every individuals approach is different so mine is too. There are no cnc machine to do
the shaping for me. I enjoy using simple tools combined with my sight and skill. That said i believe it is understandable when i tell you that every deck is unique.
Even if will try to make them all look the same, they won’t be the same, that’s just man vs machine comparison. During those aforementioned study years i developed
a skill in doing things really detailed, spending too much time perfectioning one thing, sketching some tiny details was and still is my thing. So that later
translated and affected the whole process of how i make decks.

Chapter 3. Last words

It started as a hobby, creative outlet, escape from the world of daylong sitting behind computer screen as my regular job. This is the main reason why the releases
are not so regular and even more limited. I am not really proud with the irregularity so that is one of my goals as what to improve. I will keep the limited but i am
planning to change irregularity with the opposite. I think it will be a harder and longer process but i am trying my best. I don’t want to finish this with a cliché
phrase “big things are coming with cruiser joy” because i don’t know what the future holds and i think lots of things are already happening. My mind is filled with
so many ideas so i won’t get bored or get stuck with the same thing.
Makes me also think more about the whole scene and watching other brands thrive brings smile on my face and it reminds me of a quote by Pontus Alv “inspire
others to inspire themselves”. I am not sure if i understand that 100 percent but i feel it fits nicely to this topic. Makes me feel that i contributed to it too,
if not ok let me live in this naive bubble, if yes, i am honored.
Anyway, rest assured that i will do it as long as i can. Batches with different shapes that i will update or change over time, different logo applications,
interesting wooden combinations, new ideas in general and, of course, custom decks. They are always fun and i am enjoying the act of transforming customer to friends.

Peace. See you out there somewhere. Simon