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What They Do

Commercial and Industrial Designers Career Video

Insider Info

Surfboard designers, also known as shapers, design and create the long and short surfboards used to tackle ocean waves. Their medium is fiberglass, and imagination is their only real boundary.

Measuring between six and nine feet in length, a surfboard may seem simple. But tiny design differences set each one apart. They have names like Rocket Fish and Noserider.

Gone are the days of Gidget, when boards were basic slabs of badly decorated fiberglass. Modern boards have "skegs" or fins, to help them stay on a straight course. Others have small channels -- "bonzers" or "zingers" -- that funnel water away to make the board faster. And the graphics? Add up to a thousand dollars to the price tag for these fine works of art.

Most shapers start out as surfers themselves. Floris Scheepers started out off the shores of South Africa. Now, he is an industrious shaper with little time to hit the water. He spends lots of time in the shop, even during the winter months. "I haven't even snowboarded this year. It's a crime. [We're] very busy," he says.

Once confined mainly to the West Coast of the United States, surfing is now truly international.

Making a board can take several weeks, so shapers can be on a single project for a while. Part of the design process is to try new things, and that can cost you some time. "For us," says Scheepers, "everything is trial and error. We know what will work, but we always try new stuff to better ourselves. It's never the same and the more you do it, the better you get at it."

In addition to designing the boards -- still occasionally done on paper -- the shaper actually works the board into shape out of fiberglass. Early boards were redwood planks!

Some physical coordination and tool know-how is required for custom shapers. Much of the heavy work in larger plants is done by machine.

While Hawaii and California enjoy year-round surfing, demand for boards drops considerably during the winter months in other places. Many companies make snowboards during the cold season.

A lot of the work is about making decisions. The bottom of a board can be concave, flat or a reverse V. Should it have channels that move the water along but make the board less flexible under the surfer's feet?

Once the size, shape and design details of the board are worked out, the designer can truly have fun painting the surfboard and adding final touches. Sometimes, a shaper will have a graphic artist who is responsible for adding an eye-catching quality to the board. "We do all sorts of work and the graphics are very exciting," says Scheepers.

At a Glance

Come up with the best board for the waves

  • It can take several weeks to make a board
  • Most designers start out as surfers
  • The best way to learn is by watching the pros

Contact

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    From outside the U.S., please call +1 (424) 750-3900
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    ndcrn@nd.gov | (701) 328-9733

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