Santa Cruz is a legendary American skateboard bike brand. It is part of NHS, Inc., which distributes sports equipment and equipment. The brand’s founders are three friends: Richard Novak, Doug Haut, and Jay Shuirman, who enthusiastically supported the new direction in extreme sports and contributed to its active development. The company was founded in 1973. Its location is the city of Santa Cruz, California.
Meaning and History
What is the Santa Cruz logo?
Santa Cruz is an American manufacturer of legendary high-end skateboards and bicycles. It appeared in 1973 through a business partnership of three friends: Rob Roskopp, Rich Novak, and Mike Marquez. In 1993, the company started producing bicycles.
The current logo is a red circle, across which the brand name is located, and below in small letters is marked “SKATEBOARDS.” The central inscription is placed diagonally, the lower one – in a semicircle. In Santa, both A’s are ramp-shaped.
First, the parent company NHS was founded, named after three friends. To obtain a concise and understandable form, they used the first letters of their names – Novak, Haut, Shuirman. At first, the company specialized in the supply of surfboard materials. Skateboarding in the lives of young entrepreneurs came later when the fateful call from the head of the McCully’s Bike Shop in Hawaii rang in the office. He approached them with a request to customize 500 skateboards. Friends accepted the application, and in 1973 they introduced the Santa Cruz skateboards. At the same time, the famous Road Rider Wheels and Independent Trucks wheels and bases were produced.
The debut models resembled a mini-cruiser. The decks were small and looked more or less like modern Penny skateboards. Back then, boards were the main task of skateboarding – fast downhill and speed racing. Therefore, their design was slightly different: a narrow base, large soft wheels, noisy bearings. But with the advent of the trick era, they’ve been refined, so Santa Cruz is now believed to make the very best skate components, and their wheels are sold separately.
With the development of the production base and the improvement in the performance of skateboards, ramps began to appear massively in the backyards of Americans and skateparks in every corner of the United States. In parallel, precision bearings, urethane wheels, and boards with the iconic logo emerged. The brand owners have also focused on highly artistic graphics for their decks.
What does the screaming hand symbolize?
The Screaming Hand is a style icon in the world of skateboard branding. The logo is equated to works of art and stands for a cry of horror because its author (Jim Phillips) is an incomparable artist of various emblems in a shocking style.
But in the 1980s, the parent company and all the brands it owns suddenly fell into crisis over the passing of Jay Shuirman. Thrasher Skateboard Magazine helped save the day. He became the “Bible” of skateboarders, brought attention to the sport, and put the industry on its feet. The rebirth of this brand took place in 1984-1985 with the help of Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello, founders of Novak and Independent Trucks.
In the mid-1970s, NHS hired freelance designer Jim Phillips, who was instrumental in the brand’s success. It was he who designed the legendary Road Rider Wheels emblems, the early “oblique” Santa Cruz logo, the Santa Cruz “Red Dot” insignia, and the “cross” symbol for Independent Trucks.
In addition, he presented a series of decks with the Rob Roskopp logo, which in 1989 became the most popular. Before that (in 1985), Jim had a revolutionary design that became a skateboarding style icon. This is the legendary symbol of the Screaming Hand. He was present on almost all brand boards and even earned the attention of world art exhibitions. The Santa Cruz brand also owns other iconic skateboard icons. This is the logo of Neptune & Sungod (Jason Jessee), Toybox (Jeff Grosso), Atomic Man (Jeff Kendall). All of them gained incredible popularity and became classics of skateboarding design.
The oblique stamp with the word “Santa Cruz” is the company’s iconic label. It is associated with the city in which skateboards were first produced. The mark consists of a red disc with a black line on the edge. In the center is the brand name diagonally in yellow letters with a few italics. The font is in uppercase. Each character has a shadow, which makes the text seem voluminous. “S” (it is elongated, ribbon-like) and both “A” (made in the form of pyramids) have an unusual design. At the bottom of the red circle is the word “Skateboards.”
Another iconic emblem is the Screaming Hand. It is the most recognizable logo in skateboarding, equated to a work of art. Its base is a turned left hand, which is depicted with an open palm forward. It is blue and looks like a stump, as evidenced by the veins and blood. A mouth is drawn on the palm. He opens wide in a cry of terror. Strong white teeth and a red tongue are visible against the backdrop of gaping darkness. All elements are complemented with shadows, which makes the hand volumetric. “Santa Cruz” is written under the lower lip in small letters.
Font and Colors of the Emblem
Where did the Santa Cruz logo come from?
This brand has several legendary logos, each of which emerged from a creative concept. Graphic artist Jim Phillips suggested Screaming Hand. And he came up with the current version of Red Dot together with Jay Shuirman.
What is the Santa Cruz brand known for?
The Santa Cruz brand is known for its skateboards, which it launched back in 1973, and mountain bikes. She launched their production in 1993, separating it into an independent division.
Although the inscription is made in a typeface of our design, it is very reminiscent of the Santa Carla font. Its creator is Kirk Shelton, who focused on the techno style. The S looks like a railing and a skateboarding ramp at the same time.
The branded palette is bright, juicy, rich, corresponding to this sport because skateboarders are always at the peak of their emotions. Black, blue, red, white, and yellow is the main components of the logo color scheme.